Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicu Dalman.
Hi Nicu, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Salvaje started as a means to survive during the shutdown caused by the pandemic and along the way, it became a vessel to showcase Filipino culture through food. I started out doing door to door deliveries and moved to pop-ups collaborating with talented chefs in the city.
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?
It has been an interesting journey, a lot of lessons (both good and bad) learned along the way from navigating the food scene in Houston to winning over clienteles or figuring out what works and what doesn’t.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Salvaje means “wild” in my language. I felt the name resonated for me since I do a lot of sourdough or wild yeast with my products and I was also called “salvajeng bata” growing up, which means wild child, so it felt like a perfect fit. It has always been a personal mission of mine to showcase Filipino food as much as possible, focusing on history, techniques and highlighting the connections between our culture to the rest of the world. The belief has always been simple, Filipino food, if done right, can go toe to toe with any cuisine this world has to offer.
What does success mean to you?
Living a fulfilling life.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: salvaje_htx
Image Credits
Gary Griffin
