Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexander Gonzalez and Reinaldo Morgan. They and their team shared their story with us below:
Alex Gonzalez and Reinaldo Morgan are former Orlando area high school classmates who reconnected in 2020 after Reinaldo moved back from South Florida. Even after more than 15 years, the two friends didn’t skip a beat due to their common love of music, food, and art. During the Covid19 lockdown, Alex decided to make Reinaldo and his family a few meals flexing his culinary skills and passion for cooking. This act of giving and the talent displayed in Alex’s cooking prompted Reinaldo to approach him with the idea of starting up a ghost kitchen, a concept that was taking off due to the pandemic.
The idea was to focus on Caribbean dishes, hip-hop, and art showing how these aspects of our culture help bring people of all backgrounds together instead of focusing on what divides us. Reinaldo, being of both Dominican and Jamaican descent spent every summer as a child with his Jamaican immigrant grandparents and saw firsthand how people of different races resided on that tiny island and were able to thrive together. Alex, who is the son of Uruguayan immigrants, witnessed as well what it takes to succeed in this country.
The saying Out of Many, One People is what the pair decided to embody when creating their business. Fast forward a year later and the two have found themselves in a brick-and-mortar space serving the downtown and Parramore area of Orlando. One of the core values of Out of Many is to always give back to the community and show that we all deserve to have quality, scratch-made food available to us no matter our economic background.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The struggles we have experienced are the same for most startup businesses, especially restaurants. Obtaining the financial backing to succeed while expanding our customer base.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Out of Many Street & Sol Kitchen?
We are a scratch kitchen specializing in Caribbean-style dishes. We are an active part of the community by providing our kitchen space for a non-profit named Peoples Free Kitchen which provides meals and donated items to the unhoused in the area. We also partner with a group iHopementoring whose goal is to provide an outlet for the youth in underserved areas of Orlando to learn and grow outside of school.
In addition, we have provided space for multiple local artists to display their art in our dining room and promote some of the many talented artists, Orlando has to offer. Our core value can be summarized in one sentence and our main saying, “Spread Love, It’s the Human Way”
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Reinaldo – Video games, technology, sports, somewhat introverted, music Alex – Extrovert, video games, cooking, music, art, break dancing.
Both founders, being 80’s babies, and transplants from New York and New Jersey have a profound love for hip-hop, especially the golden age of hip-hop during the ’90s and 2000s. This helped to form a core part of who they are as individuals.
Pricing:
- $5 express lunchbox for pickup.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.outofmanykitchens.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/outofmanykitchens/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/outofmanykitchens
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/out-of-many-street-sol-kitchen-orlando
Image Credits
WP Visuals, Socalrooted
