Today we’d like to introduce you to Luis Coronel.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started by 2013 when used to be a college student at Lindenwood University in St Charles City, MO… I’m coming from a little town called David, in the middle of Central and South America, born and rise in Panama, beautiful country, rich in culinary culture, specially from the Afro Caribbean roots. With a big background of a lot great cokers in my family it was easy keep doing what we love to do in the kitchen. It was a really hard time for the international students back in the days, because they really missing the homemade food, and that’s why me and my good friend Eduardo, decided to start making real homemade food over the weekend for the students, and actually, we didn’t know that was the beginning of our career in the food business.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Definitely it’s being a hard road for in a market dominated for another kind of food, but once the people taste for very first time, they get hooked with the flavors…Caribbean food is 50% rice, salads, beef, chicken, vegetable plates and the other 50% is seafood, it’s kinda hard to find a fresh seafood, for the fact we don’t have the sea closing to Missouri, but we try our best to maintain the top flavor of the dishes… believe me, will be totally different flavor if the seafood is freshly caught.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m running a catering business, my specialist is the Caribbean Food. People know about me because I like make plates with a lot dedication and creative ideas. I’m very proud of all I’ve been learned all this years, doing collaborations with may well-known Chefs in this city, always learning all new technics and combinations. I consider myself a little different from the normal proposals that are on the market because I like to fuse flavors from the different Caribbean countries that exist, from salty to sweet, from sour to spicy, I try to create a balance in dishes characteristic of most Caribbean regions. I am very competitive, but not with others, but with myself, I always like to improve in everything I do.
What’s next?
My dream goal is always open my own restaurant, a one totally different concept of gourmet/casual place, make a unique place for the people who wants a different restaurant experience.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kandelas_food/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KandelasCaribbeanFood
