Meet the Maker Podcast SENOREATA Short Version 4.0
[00:00:00] Welcome to the Crafted Kitchen Podcast, where we talk about more than just food. In this episode, you'll meet Evanise Hulse, the founder and executive chef of Senorita, a modern Cuban catering company that was the first plant based winner of the Food Network's Great Food Truck Race. After becoming a vegan as a teenager in a Cuban American household, Evanice turned the dream of creating plant based versions of her favorite childhood dishes into an award winning business, featured in numerous publications.
In this conversation, recorded at our facility in downtown Los Angeles, Cindy and Evanice dive deep into what it takes to survive and thrive as an entrepreneur in this wild industry we call food, beverage, and hospitality. Have a listen. I am so happy to have you here. I'm so excited to be here. Thank you for having me.
And hi, hi everyone. I can't wait to dive into all this food chat. Let's dive into the food chat. Why Cuban food? [00:01:00] Well, it's the food that I grew up eating. Um, and the food that connects me to my cultural identity and my heritage. And also the food that I had to give up at a young age because I stopped eating meat.
So I went vegan, plant based, at around, I think I went vegetarian at 15, and then vegan at 18, and then all of a sudden, I was like, you know, not eating at my grandma's house anymore, couldn't eat any of the Cuban food that my dad was making at home, and I just started feeling really left out from my heritage.
We didn't speak Spanish in the home, and I For me, with Senorita, it was kind of like coming home to my cultural identity and awareness as a senorita, and kind of reconnecting in a way that made sense to me. So I make Cuban food plant based because it is how I live. When you began speaking about your company, you [00:02:00] said vegan, plant based.
What is the difference between vegan and plant based? I've always wondered. So, I think There's two different ways to think about it. When it's vegan, um, I think it comes with the lifestyle too. Like, You know, if you're a hardcore vegan, you are not wearing leather, you are not consuming obviously any animal products in your food, but also your lifestyle is also very sensitive to anything that would pertain to the abuse or cruelty of animals.
Plant based is basically the same diet. You know, you're just eating everything made from plants. I don't like using the word vegan when I reference my business. I used to in the past, um, but I find that it is, in this society right now, it is a little off putting. As we're plant based, I think it's a lot more acceptable and, um, approachable.
And I think words are so impactful in the way that you're describing your food, and I just want to make it [00:03:00] something that seems like something someone would want to try. Vegan food gets a bad rap. Yeah. As being, I don't know, fill in the blanks. There are so many blanks to fill in. Yeah. Cardboard. Um, it's not good.
What does it mean to you that as a plant based, as a vegan food truck, you won A sh you want a cont a television contest for food that gets a bad rap. It was incredibly validating. I mean, I'm not gonna won't lie about that. It was. It was so difficult because I don't, I'm not the best at like celebrating wins, but I knew how big of a deal it was.
But I had five and a half to six weeks of knowing what a big deal it was and knowing in my deepest soul that I, this team was going to win. Yeah. I just, I just, it just had to be that way. We were working too hard. I was, you know, manifesting it every [00:04:00] single day, praying, like, so to me, like, it was a monumental thing and it was huge, especially because a lot of the crew, I mean, I think out of the entire production, I was the only vegan, including like all the, so like my lunch would always get screwed up because they would forget to order like a vegan thing.
Um, but to me, it was incredibly validating because we were up against eight other of what they found to be some of the nation's best up and coming food. And we just, You know, some cities that we went to, we didn't even tell people we were vegan. I mean, talk about reading the room. I'm like, here we are in the middle of the desert, I'm not going to tell them this is vegan food.
Just eat it. You won't know the difference. And there's some incredible stories that I had while on this show of people finding out later because they ended up maybe doing an interview, uh, on camera for the show about the food. And they came up to me afterwards, like shocked that it was plant based, which was amazing.
That's the biggest compliment to me. That is what I hear from [00:05:00] other vegan chefs. Is that that is the compliment that, Oh, I didn't know. You are an entrepreneur, a female entrepreneur, a female woman of color entrepreneur. What do you think is the hardest part for you about being an entrepreneur? What's it like that you didn't expect?
So much work. Why does this suck so bad? Why doesn't it stop? How come I just paid this bill and then there's five more bills? No, that's what I think. How come there's tax on everything? Why are there so many? It's, it's stuff like that. You know, I always tell people, uh, I've always wanted to be a chef. I've always wanted to build community and serve food.
I've always loved entertaining at home. I just love having people over and cooking for them and playing music. I never wanted to own a business, but that's Here we are. Here we are, seven years later. It's how I was, it's how I'm able to do that. Um, [00:06:00] so it kind of comes with the territory and I still, I still don't think I'm doing it quite right.
Um, but, um, I'm doing it doing it quite right where there's just so many things that slips through the cracks. I think a lot of people don't realize. And it, you know, for you and your business too, there's just so much minutia that like is over, it just, there's oversights every day. Um, and there's like, Oh, I'll get to that or I'll get to this.
And it's just, well, I also need to keep my business running and do this, You know, it's just so much work. It, it is. And, you know, as a solopreneur as I am, um, you are. You know, the good news about being a solopreneur is that you don't have to lobby for your beliefs or your vision with another person or people.
The drawback is that you don't have shoulders that understand. And help you make decisions and navigate through certain circumstances. So, and that's part of actually what I, [00:07:00] uh, what I envisioned here was the ability for people who had the same experiences to be able to lean on one another in a way that, you know, created a natural support system.
Yeah. I mean, I've had many of those, especially during the holidays, me in the kitchen crying, making my 150th tamale of the night. And then I have like chef Michelle in the background making her thousands of the week. And I'm like, okay, it's not so bad. I can do this. You know, if she can do it, I can do it.
Yeah. It's very that. And I also love that so many of the business owners here at crafted kitchen are females. Um, it's just sometimes, even if you're getting like a, I got to like, it's like getting a little like. Pat on the bottom, like go, go, you've got this. What myths are there about this industry that you would like to bust?
Yeah. So I think it kind of leads back to the entrepreneurial question. And also I think that a lot of [00:08:00] consumers might. Go to restaurants now or they're ordering from a pop up now and think that the food is just so overpriced Food is so overpriced the business owners are just trying to profit But really it's the margins are so low food costs are so high that like If I wanted to actually be that, you know, make that statement true, I'd be charging you 40 for a Cuban sandwich and it can't do that, you know?
So what I'm charging now, like even if you're going somewhere and you're getting like a, I don't, I don't know if you can walk away from most places getting something with tax for under 20, it's a little bit more difficult nowadays, especially if you're supporting an independent. small business, the prices are high because we need to still be around and we want to stick around and be able to serve our food that so many people relate with or resonate with.
But the truth is, I don't know how much money we're actually making even with these higher prices because you can only charge so much for food. I don't know how [00:09:00] much value people really see. in food that isn't like, Oh, I know I'm going to a Michelin star restaurant and I'm going to pay x amount. But what about if you're just supporting a street vendor?
You expect to pay almost nothing for that food. You think so? I, I, I do think so. And I've, I've seen it. Um, and especially as a Latina owned business, I think that. There's a very big difference from like in the pop up world or in a food truck world. If you say see like a food truck or a pop up that's selling Italian food and you see one that is selling Cuban food or Mexican food, you expect you're going to pay cheaper prices for the Latino food than you would for the Italian.
Is there such a thing as a food truck selling Italian food? Yeah, actually it was on the great food truck race. I was like, Oh yeah, that's, I know that. In doing this podcast, you're a business owner, you're a food business owner, and I like food business owners to bring us samples. [00:10:00] of what they make so that we can, we can share it together.
So what did you bring? Um, I brought some pastelitos, some meat pies, um, baked them this morning right before I got here and assembled them. They are puff pastry filled with, um, Cuban picadillo, which is traditionally ground beef, olives. Bell peppers, um, tomato sauce, onions, garlic, um, raisins, they're really tasty and they're my favorite thing.
They're the one thing that, there are certain things on the menu I can get sick of and then I'll come back to, but this one is something I just always like. It's like very comforting and I used to have like 12 of these in one sitting when my dad and I would go to the Cuban bakery and I would peel off all the layers of puff pastry and just eat it like one by one.
Oh, a little ASMR. I don't even know what that stands for, but yes. I don't either, but it's the sound thing. It's the sound thing, right. That's all I know is the sound thing. Okay, here we go. Oh, that crunch. [00:11:00] Mmm. I mean, I've never had this before. Yes, I've put them in the hallways before when we have leftover tons of times.
Yes, but people get to them before I. Oh my gosh. This, I, I would have had no idea this was vegan. Oh, stop it. I am 100 percent serious. They're my favorite thing. This is so good. The simple syrup though on top is what really gets me going. Because I'm not a sweet and savory person at all. I actually don't, that's not my thing.
But with this. It's just so yummy and so delicious. And this is, it's no different from what I had as a kid. And you know, everything we make here and everything's very just natural ingredients and easy. And I think, I think with plant based food, what, or with just a lot of cultural food and a lot of people don't realize is [00:12:00] picadillo until you put all the plant ingredients into it and the seasonings into it.
So what I found with. making the picadillo or making the meat pies is that veganizing any recipe for senorita was pretty easy. It was just more so about replacing the texture or the, you know, the, the protein. Is this jackfruit? That's not jackfruit. No, that is, um, there are It's just organic, uh, soy, so it's just dehydrated soy.
Is it TVP? It's TVP. Yeah. It's TVP. I didn't know if you'd know TVP. Just because you don't, you don't need to use it. But autonomous sensory meridian response sensation. That's what ASMR is. We've just gotten a note. Um, love that. And you, that did have a lot of flaky crunch.[00:13:00]
There it is again. I really do like, I do enjoy that.
This is fantastic. When you said, when I said, don't give me three, I won't eat them. And you said, yes, you will. You knew me better than I knew me right then. Oh yeah. I mean, these We have people coming and buying like six, ten, they just buy a bunch of these because you can't find them plant based in LA. I mean in the entire country when we first started in 2017 we were the second plant based Cuban restaurant to even exist.
Like it's not really a, You know, you'll find a lot of plant based Mexican food here, but Cubans, you know, you won't, you won't find our cuisine a lot here anyway, but definitely not plant based. There are more now, but, um, this was the one thing. These are potato balls that are guava cheese pastries were like, that's what I grew up eating and I had to veganize that.
Okay. I have before me some cards[00:14:00]
and I'm going to ask you to choose a card. Okay. You're just going to pull it out of the stack, and I'm going to read it, and you're going to answer the question. Okay. Ah! That was fun. Something about my culture I wish people understood. Oh, okay. Relating to the subject. I think Cuban culture, you know, it It's a communist island now that is, a lot of people still don't know too much about it.
When you think about Cuba, you think what you've seen online, which are classic cars, salsa music. That's just what, cigars, that's what comes to your mind. And I think, you know, visiting Cuba now, almost three times the past five years or so, is that the people there are still so vibrant and so alive with so little like so [00:15:00] very little.
I mean, you're waiting in line an hour to maybe get some eggs or if you can even get them by the time that hour is up and you and people haven't gotten them before you. I think it's that every time I come home from Cuba, I look at all the things and the stuff that I have around me, or I look at prices for things, and I'm just like, Wow, the Cuban people are so resourceful, and they're so happy being resourceful because that's all they have access to, and it's just the reminder that visiting Cuba, first off, that you can visit Cuba.
I think a lot of people don't realize they can visit Cuba. They think it's very difficult. It's actually not. You just need to get a visa and there's plenty of agencies that do so. Um, is that you can just be happy with so little and it's such a nice reminder for everybody. You know, you don't need all this stuff.
You don't need all the things. They're a bonus if anything. Um, and I think the Cuban people seeing their faces and seeing their happiness and laughter and how much culture there is, there [00:16:00] is just knowing that they have all that with having close to nothing. I don't have the words to thank you enough.
I'm feeling very emotional right now. I don't have the words. This has been. This has been an hour or an hour and a few minutes that could not have been planned or re and it's something that I will never be able to replicate. Thank you for who you are, for the energy that you bring, and the acceptance that you bring, not only to this kitchen but to me.
Okay, you guys, rainy day vibes here. I'm getting emotional too. This has been, no, this has been, when you asked me to do this, I was just so happy. You know, even when you asked me to do something with the website, I was like, yes, Cindy, like, of course. And I'm just, I'm so glad. And I hope this brought, um, any sort of insight to anyone that was watching or help you felt like, feel [00:17:00] seen or that you could relate to something.
And, um, It is my pleasure. Hug time! Hug! I'm still in my raincoat.
