Today we’d like to introduce you to Carlos Otero.
Hi Carlos, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I grew up in Puerto Rico in a small town to the center of the Island called Cidra, where I live pretty much all my life before I move out of the Island to Doha, Qatar at the age of 24 looking for better opportunities to advance in my career as a Chef.
I grew up in a middle-class family my mother was a Pharmaceutical for GlaxoSmithKline and my dad is a retired State Attorney in Puerto Rico and with my older brother which is currently a Major in the Active Army. From young my parents instilled values in us of honesty, respect, integrity, kindness, and to help others with less also, with their example they taught us to study and work hard which to this day are the values that I live day by day.
The passion for the kitchen came from my grandmother from my mom side, she was a very good cook, I still remember her cooking for the all family and all those great Puerto Rican dishes. I was 16 when I decided that a wanted to become a Chef. Went to study Culinary Arts in the Universidad Ana G. Méndez in Carolina Puerto Rico.
In 2008 landed a cook job in in El Convento Hotel in the Old San Juan working with Michael Bartemes which was the Exec. Chef at that time and one of the best Chefs in the Island. I work in the kitchen during the day and study during night. I remember wake up every morning at 4 am and commute 1 hour to work to open the restaurant for breakfast, do the lunch and I stayed to 3-4 pm to help with banquets and after that go to the university to study. Chef Bartemez quickly took me under his wing and thought me a lot about how to run a kitchen a very important lesson I learned from him was the Importance of order and that Communication is Key.
After a couple of years, I earned my degree, and I went with Chef Bartemes to open his restaurant in Condado, PR as he Sous Chef, the truth is that he took the chance on me giving me that position, but I did not disappoint him. This was my second serious job in a kitchen and my first restaurant opening. Where I learned a lot and did a lot of mistakes as well.
After a few years working with Chef Bartemes in 2012, I was offered another job as a cook for what was quickly to become the best restaurant and best hotel in Puerto Rico the St. Regis Bahia Beach in Rio Grande. At that time there was nothing similar in the Island and I knew it was a good opportunity to keep learning but I was hesitant because the pay was less, but I knew that I had to take the job if I wanted to keep growing as a professional so I did it.
The restaurant called Fern was from Jean-Georges Vongerichten a Michelin star Chef from New York. In here I had to re-learn from scratch, this was a big challenge as none of all selected to work at the restaurant had worked at that level before, but I knew and I had it clear what I wanted to become which was to be the best I could possibly be. Here the Chef the Cuisine Maycoll Calderon together with the Chef JG team thought us so many new things even that they were strict and it was a completely new system for me I was very excited and motivated to show up every day and give my 100%.
After a 1 year of working very hard I earned the sous chef position working with Chef Calderon I continued learning every day, he teach me how to let my creativity run, how to respect and use better ingredients, the importance of taking care of my tools how to lead others. Again, I learned a lot and did a lot of mistakes as well but I learned that at the end of the day Excellence is a Habit that we need to practice everyday day with consistency without exception. Also, here I met the love of my life which is me wife to this day, and which I have children’s.
In 2014 the Chef JG team offer me a job as a Chef of Cuisine of Market By Jean Georges one of his restaurants in Doha, Qatar. Again, I was very hesitant and afraid of this opportunity as it was in another part of the world and with a very diferent culture as mine, but at the same time was exciting the idea and I knew that I had to take it so I did it. In February 2014 I move to Qatar leaving all my wife, my kids, and my family behind to embark in this new challenge leading one of the best restaurants in Qatar and to work in the best hotel in Doha.
The truth is that it wasn’t easy at it sound to move there and the first day to arrive after a 28-hour flight I already wanted to go back home in Puerto Rico where it was all my life, but I didn’t give up and worked very, very hard, 6 days a week 16-18 hours every day to take the restaurant to another level. After 6 months of being along my wife and kids joined me to stay for good. It wasn’t easy for them as well, we had everything plan but we had issues with their visas and my wife decided to move back to PR after 6 months that she joined me in Doha.
That 1 year was full of ups and downs for me, but I had a clear goal, and I knew that all the sacrifices I was doing was for the better of family. That year a took the restaurant to number 1 in Qatar, and I earned various awards such as Best Brunch, Best Comtemporany European by Time Out Doha, and Restaurant of the year by BBC Good Food awards in Dubai.
That same year I went help in the opening of another restaurant of JG in Abu Dhabi and in 2015 we won again various awards and then I also got promoted to Executive Sous Chef for the entire W Hotel in Doha, now instead of overseeing one operation of 40 cooks and a 1o million restaurant a year that I had now I was in second in charge for the entire food operation of the hotel that included 6 restaurants, banquet, and catering and we opened and launched a new concept in the Hammad International Airport.
This was another big challenge in my career, and I took it, sometimes a was afraid of fail but I knew that was not an option for me, and put all my efforts and time to be the best.
Living in Qatar was a very challenging yet great opportunity that open my eyes and another world for me; I had the opportunity to met and work with so many people from such different backgrounds in life and from which I learned a lot from very successful business individuals to young cooks that came from nothing and took the risk to put food in the table for their families back in their countries.
I had cooks from India, Nepal, Maldives, Sir Lanka, Indonesia, Philippines, which not only I learned about their culture and work ethic but that I realize how blessed and fortunate we are to be an American. This people not only gain my respect but they became family.
Also, meeting very successful business owners opened my curiosity in what I could achieve if I decided to go that route and one thing that I learned is to ask questions and be curious, so every time I had the chance to seat down with them, I ask them how they got where they were today. Some share with me their experiences and lessons some not. Some saw the potential in me, and they were very happy to teach me what they could. Because my dream was always to have my own restaurant.
While my time in Doha my wife back in Puerto Rico was starting to work on what is our business now; she always had more entrepreneurial mindset than me. She started to work the business online using social media as his main platform.
After 2 1/2 years in Qatar, I move to NYC to open a new hotel alongside Chef Andrew Carmellini in Williamsburg Brooklyn, I was so ready to go back to the states and have my family with me every day again. After one year in NYC, I really wasn’t very happy and working so hard every day in a kitchen like for all those past years my health was not in very good shape, I was overweight, and I just wanted to help my wife more growing the online business that was giving us the extra income to afford to live in the city but I couldn’t do it 100% because we were starting and we had good months as we had bad ones.
So, I decided to take another job, this time as a Corporate Chef for Chef Richard Sandoval, this time was a travelling job. So, the first trip they send me to Miami for 3 months and then 3 months to Philadelphia back-to-back and again left my family back in NYC, after those 6 months my wife and I took the decision to move down to Orlando. I continue traveling around the states every week and going back home on the weekends and then I left again to Costa Rica to open 4 new concepts in the Four Seasons hotel in Peninsula de Papagayo in Guanacaste.
While my wife keep working hard as well on the business and continued to growing it.
It was a great opportunity working with Chef Richard, and I was learning a lot from him as well as he is a very successful restauranteur. But I knew that if a keep traveling that much, I was also walking away every day more from our business and I knew that I had to take sacrifice my secure job or go all in to go and work full time with my wife and take the business to the next level. So, I did that I left my job in good terms, and in 2019 just before the pandemic, I joined my wife all in.
It was not a light decision but we were clear of our goals and where we wanted to go. Fast Forward to 2022 our online business grew exponentially and we took the decision that we wanted to open a healthy cafe to help the community and bring healthy conscious food to Kissimmee.
Our are to expand to others areas in Orlando and give back to the community and help others to entrepreneurship.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Fear of not be successful, being afraid of take risk. Not have a plan.
No have clear goals and not take actions to change your situation.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My wife, Ashley Saavedra, my family, and my parents, Mr. Victor Otero and Mrs. Carmen Gonzalez.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
My Mentors along all these years working in the hospitality industry Chef Michael Bartemes, Chef Mycoll Calderon, Chef Rocio Varela, Chef Mauro Gomez, and Chef Richard Sandoval.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/Carlos_e_otero
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carlos_e_otero/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/proteinfactory.kissimmee
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Chef_CarlosE
