Today we’d like to introduce you to Johana Gomez
Hi Johana, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I am business manager from Colombia who has worked the entire professional life for the aviation industry. I have had the opportunity to work with important companies and get a wide variety of experience. Throughout my career I have traveled many countries and learned about different cultures and cuisines, and I am also very passionate for cooking and sharing about techniques and recipes.
As immigrant I have faced multiples challenges, it was the reason why I decided to be more focused on having my own business than working for someone else. It is where the idea of opening a food truck came from, I was looking for something that I love to do and did not require an expensive investment. I wanted to show people a little of my culture and my food, so I decided to open Casita Colombian Food. I started collecting all information that I need for starting a business in USA, all the permits, all the operational needs and finally we got the Casita #1 working on January 11 2024. I truly enjoy doing this and all what it involves, that is why I decide to open 2 more but one of them is Italian Style. Italian cuisine is one of my favorite ones, I have been very interested in learning a lot about this food during my trips what made very easy to create a menu for Mia Villetta Italian Style.
This is also a family business, my daughter, my fiancé and I have been working hard every day since we opened to make this business successful. They have been my support to become a dream true, working together to build our own business is a very enriching experience for all of us, it is a journey, as fun as challenging,
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has not been smooth at all, even if I have experience with food because I worked for catering companies which serve to airlines and know about the processes, and as Manager I have the skills to plan, coordinate and execute ideas, running your own business requires a lot. Working with food is very demanding. The logistic is very complex, you need to find good vendors and providers for having cost efficiency, the standard recipes, the human resources to help you out with the operation, dealing with the weather conditions and unexpected circumstances or situations, more and more. You really must love to do it, otherwise it could become extremely overwhelming. I think my passion for showing everybody about my country and my food makes me be strong and encouraged. It is also our only income source, so we have to make it work.
I am a very positive and perseverant, I believe that if you can dream it, it can come true. we only need to be humble to learn and keep going, working hard and focused on goals.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Casita Colombian Food?
Colombians are very proud of our heritage, our food is an explosion of flavors, it is an interesting mix of Natives Indigenous, Africans and Europeans. It is as extensive as the country; we have several dishes from our different regions but unfortunately is not enough known to be appreciated. That is one of our goals in Casita, to bring people part of all those amazing and delicious flavors, it is also fresh and healthy food what is important for all of us nowadays. Life is so busy and most of us do not have time for taking care of our health that is why we bring healthy options in combinations with excellent taste.
In Casita we cook like at home, that is why the name Little House, it is the cute way to name your home in Spanish.
We serve the most traditional dish, Bandeja Paisa what is originally from Medellin City, also the empanadas, arepas. patacones o tostones, smoothies with tropical fruits like passion fruit, pineapple, mango, soursop, wild blackberry and lulo or naranjilla. Other of our dishes what really surprise our customers are the Colombian style Hamburgers and Hot dogs with the pineapple sauce and potato chips crumbs what gives the signature to the flavor with that mix of the sweet and salty.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
What people love of coming to our truck, it is of course the freshness of the food, you can notice that most of our ingredients are homemade and cooked at the moment. We also are very focused on the customer service, the warm of our greeting and the interaction with people while we explain our dishes and share a bit of our culture when they are curious about. You will definitely learn something new every time that you come to Casita and eat our food. I could say that coming to our food truck is an amazing experience with a combination of delicious and healthy food with a pampering service, and a culture learning touch.
Pricing:
- Appetizers $ 6-12
- Entrees $ 15-22
- Beverages $ 2-5
Contact Info:
- Instagram: casita_colombianfood
- Facebook: casita colombianfood
Image Credits
By MChevez
