From Food Cart to Restaurant: Chef Fredo's Culinary Journey in Rochester
Chef Fredo, co-owner of Palermo's Market and Me Gusta Caribbean Cuisine, shares his journey from humble beginnings in Rochester to successfully launching multiple restaurants in the heart of downtown. The conversation delves into the challenges and triumphs of running a food business, especially during the tumultuous times of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fredo discusses the importance of community engagement and the role of local events, like the Jazz Festival, in revitalizing downtown Rochester. He emphasizes the significance of embracing cultural diversity in cuisine, blending Puerto Rican and Jamaican influences to create unique dishes that reflect his heritage. The episode is a celebration of resilience, culinary passion, and a hopeful outlook for the future of Rochester's food scene.
Mentions in this episode:
- Palermo's Market (@palermosmarket)
- Me Gusta Caribbean Cuisine (@megustarochester)
- Cameron Outreach (@cameroncm48)
- NextCorps (@nextcorps)
- Rochester Royals (@sacramentokings)
- McDonald's (@mcdonalds)
Mentioned in this episode:
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Transcript
I'm Chris Lindstrom and this is the Food About Town podcast.
Chef Fredo:Rochester.
Chef Fredo:Well, why Rochester?
Chris Lindstrom:Chris Lindstrom was a hoot.
Chef Fredo:He was just so much fun.
Chef Fredo:He never stopped talking.
Chef Fredo:I mean, it was great.
Chris Lindstrom:Here's a good idea.
Chef Fredo:Have a point.
Chef Fredo:It makes it so much more interesting for the listener.
Chef Fredo:Then we don't need any characters around to give the joint atmosphere.
Chef Fredo:Is that clear?
Chris Lindstrom:Because I'm a pro.
Chris Lindstrom:That's what pros do.
Chef Fredo:I'm a professional.
Chef Fredo:Look it up in the book.
Chris Lindstrom:But now, yeah, I'm thinking I'm back.
Chris Lindstrom:And we are back with another episode of the Food About Town podcast.
Chris Lindstrom:And I'm very excited about today's guest.
Chris Lindstrom:I've done a lot of episodes of the podcast.
Chris Lindstrom:I've done a lot of writing about.
Chris Lindstrom:Writing about Puerto Rican food, about Jamaican food.
Chris Lindstrom:I've done a lot of work with those kind of restaurants, but I haven't had a lot of people over to talk about that.
Chris Lindstrom:And I'm working on changing that, starting with today's guest.
Chris Lindstrom:Guest, introduce yourself, please.
Chef Fredo:Hello, everyone.
Chef Fredo:My name is Wilfredo Argonzoni, AKA Chef Fredo.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah, yeah.
Chris Lindstrom:I'm working on my new soundboard sounds.
Chris Lindstrom:I'm having a good time.
Chris Lindstrom:So, um, first off, let's throw out the plugs for all of the things you're involved with.
Chris Lindstrom:So why don't you get some plugs out for the restaurants and how people can reach out to you.
Chef Fredo:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:So I'm co owner of two restaurants, Palermo's Market.
Chef Fredo:You can find us on Instagram, Facebook, Google, all under Palermo's Market.
Chef Fredo:Also corner of Magusta Caribbean Cuisine.
Chef Fredo:You can be found on Instagram, Facebook, Google.
Chef Fredo:Me Gusta Caribbean Cuisine.
Chef Fredo:We also have Magusta Food Truck, which is in Florida, located right now in Plant City, South Tampa area.
Chef Fredo:My brother and his wife, Ramon and Eric Argonzoni are running that down there.
Chef Fredo:You can find that Magusta food truck at Instagram and Facebook and Google.
Chris Lindstrom:Did they move down there permanently or they moved down for the winter?
Chef Fredo:Well, they've been down there almost two years now.
Chris Lindstrom:Oh, they really?
Chris Lindstrom:See, I.
Chris Lindstrom:I was wondering.
Chris Lindstrom:I hadn't seen them in a hot minute.
Chef Fredo:They're actually in a school.
Chris Lindstrom:Okay.
Chef Fredo:It's called the River.
Chef Fredo:So it's a Christian college aimed at enhancing people's faith and their alleys of expertise.
Chef Fredo:So we obviously run restaurants and we deal with a lot of business things.
Chef Fredo:So right now they're doing faith based activities.
Chef Fredo:Like currently.
Chef Fredo:Right now they're on hurricane support.
Chef Fredo:So they're getting a Lot of donations sent to the college and they're taking that like semi trucks full of toys, foods and goods up and down coast of Florida, providing that to families and needs and things like that.
Chef Fredo:But on a regular basis, they're just working on faith based activities and then polishing skills, business skills, personal skills, life skills, meeting and working with other organizations that are able to put together large events and host activities, outreaches, things of that nature and trying to bring some of those skills and assets back here eventually.
Chef Fredo:Okay, so the move is permanent.
Chef Fredo:Yes and no.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chris Lindstrom:No.
Chris Lindstrom:That's interesting.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah, because that's, you know, it's something that, you know, a lot of people aren't super comfortable talking about sometimes is unless you're super active as a religious person.
Chris Lindstrom:People don't talk about it a lot because I'm, I'm 100% not.
Chris Lindstrom:But when I hear that people are doing the good works while they're down there, those are the, those are the organizations and groups.
Chris Lindstrom:I tend to, you know, say positive things about when the organizations are doing the work of, you know, feeding the hungry and clothing the unclothed.
Chris Lindstrom:Those are, those are the things that I can support and those are the things that I'm.
Chris Lindstrom:When I hear people doing that stuff, that's, those are the words that are, that are written that matter to people, that make a difference.
Chris Lindstrom:When you're out, hey, you're helping people recover from a hurricane by giving them the food they need and helping them get the supplies they need.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah, that's worthwhile.
Chris Lindstrom:That's, that's the stuff that matters to me is I don't care about the religion.
Chris Lindstrom:If you're a good person and we can still have a great conversation, that's what matters to me.
Chris Lindstrom:Like that you're not hurting others, that you're, you know, embracing the diversity of our, you know, of our culture here in Rochester and beyond.
Chris Lindstrom:That's the stuff that matters.
Chef Fredo:Agree.
Chris Lindstrom:I just, I love the, this side of the conversation, so I don't shy away from it.
Chef Fredo:Oh yeah, well, there's a lot of stuff we do behind the scenes, like we don't really gloat about, but we do like to be active in what we preach.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:As in we don't just sit around and wait for stuff to happen.
Chef Fredo:You know, God's been great to us and he calls us to be active in our communities, to share the love that he's given to us and the assets that he's provided us with.
Chef Fredo:We're able to do those, use those things and make Positive impacts in the community.
Chef Fredo:There's some local churches and ministries, you know, Camry Outreach, Rescue Revive Ministry, Father's House, Salvation army, the Lamp Community Church.
Chef Fredo:Gotta be ministries.
Chef Fredo:I mean, these are just a few.
Chris Lindstrom:Cameron's one that I.
Chris Lindstrom:That I tend to reference as well, because I've been there.
Chris Lindstrom:And the mission of the place is to, you know, help.
Chris Lindstrom:Help teenagers and kids have a place to be that's safe and positive.
Chris Lindstrom:You know, feeding the people that need to be fed, giving them clothes.
Chris Lindstrom:Like, yeah, that's.
Chris Lindstrom:That's something I can stand behind.
Chris Lindstrom:You know, I.
Chris Lindstrom:I don't necessarily.
Chris Lindstrom:I don't believe in those things, but I believe in that work that works.
Chris Lindstrom:The important part, because that's building community, that's engaging with the people that need it and.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah, I'm really glad to hear that, man.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah, that's awesome.
Chris Lindstrom:So, yeah, let's dive into.
Chris Lindstrom:Let's dive into, you know, your background before we go back into the restaurants that they are now.
Chris Lindstrom:So when did you.
Chris Lindstrom:Were you somebody that grew up in Rochester or did you move here?
Chef Fredo:So we're born and raised Rochester.
Chef Fredo:I was born on Potomac street, which is the west side of Rochester.
Chef Fredo:Then we moved to the east side of Rochester, Hooker street, and then moved over to Peck street area right behind the public market.
Chris Lindstrom:Okay.
Chef Fredo:So, you know, we've been all over Rochester, but our family's here.
Chef Fredo:We're basically like first gener.
Chef Fredo:First generation, I guess, city people.
Chef Fredo:Yeah, up until now, my father's side of the family, you know, from Puerto Rico.
Chef Fredo:They owned a lot of land out there.
Chef Fredo:They were farmers, butchers, a lot of trade, workers, things like that.
Chef Fredo:My mom's family was originally from Florida.
Chef Fredo:They had time in Georgia as well before they moved up to Batavia and Leroy area and lived in the country.
Chef Fredo:And then my mom was one of the few that decided to move to the city and see where it went from there.
Chris Lindstrom:Oh, it's interesting because I.
Chris Lindstrom:I've actually been talking a lot about Batavia recently because the.
Chris Lindstrom:The Mexican population.
Chris Lindstrom:Batavia has like, completely exploded in the last, you know, certain amount of years.
Chris Lindstrom:And there's like an infrastructure between Batavia, Medina and Albion.
Chris Lindstrom:Just a big infrastructure of Mexican grocery stores and restaurants for Mexicans that have popped up in the last, you know, 10 years.
Chris Lindstrom:And it's so great to go out and get, like, truly awesome food made for Mexicans that is really delightful and it's so interesting.
Chris Lindstrom:I didn't know there was it.
Chris Lindstrom:Was there a community of Puerto Rican in Batavia or is it just isolated that you guys were There.
Chef Fredo:My mom's side of the family is Italian, you know, American.
Chris Lindstrom:Okay.
Chef Fredo:English dominant.
Chef Fredo:My father, you know, they originally came from Calle, Puerto Rico and Ponce.
Chef Fredo:That was like where a lot of our family was.
Chef Fredo:They originally came, well, dirt, long story.
Chef Fredo:During the Great Depression, my grandfather sell off parts of the land and he wanted to send the children to the, to the States to give them a better life.
Chef Fredo:So he sent some to Florida, some New Jersey, New York City, Brooklyn.
Chef Fredo:My dad went to Brooklyn and stayed there for some time before he ended up coming to Rochester.
Chef Fredo:And that's how my mom and him met.
Chef Fredo:And okay, actually met at Teen Challenge on Alexander and South Avenue, right by all the old John's Tex Mex.
Chris Lindstrom:So what, what, what, what is that place?
Chris Lindstrom:I don't know much about it.
Chef Fredo:Teen Challenge.
Chef Fredo:So Teen Challenge is a place where people who have addictions or drinking problems or any type of form, things like that, would go for support.
Chef Fredo:And that's how my mom and dad met.
Chef Fredo:They met there together.
Chef Fredo:My mom used to have a drinking issue.
Chef Fredo:She quit years and years ago, changed her life, gave her life to God.
Chef Fredo:And you know, my dad had issues with drinking as well.
Chef Fredo:But that's how they originally met.
Chef Fredo:And from there, you know, we were born family.
Chef Fredo:Nine in total, seven kids.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah, that's.
Chris Lindstrom:That's a lot to have that many siblings, isn't it?
Chef Fredo:It is.
Chef Fredo:That kind of goes back to the old school farm mentality.
Chef Fredo:You know, big families, it was just normal for them.
Chef Fredo:Nowadays with the economy ways, people are a little more conscious of how many children they have just because the finances required to have like, sustain that is a lot different now than it used to be.
Chris Lindstrom:Oh, for sure.
Chris Lindstrom:And like, you know, when I was a kid, like I grew up in a small family business, so I, I worked since before I was 10, you know, working.
Chris Lindstrom:We had a sports card shop, greenhouse, Christmas tree business that I think we had all three of them maybe by the time I was 10.
Chef Fredo:Oh, nice.
Chris Lindstrom:So I remember going to the farm auction in the summer to buy our first stuff and selling when I was 10 years old or before out there doing that stuff.
Chris Lindstrom:And there's something about that attitude, you know, where, hey, kids are working.
Chris Lindstrom:Because that's the thing, you know, on farms, kids are working.
Chris Lindstrom:You're not.
Chris Lindstrom:Oh, you can't not.
Chris Lindstrom:You have to.
Chris Lindstrom:And there's something special about that.
Chris Lindstrom:It changes you in lots of ways.
Chef Fredo:Yeah, we were active young.
Chef Fredo:Well, I noticed Chris had a picture on the wall of the public market and that's.
Chef Fredo:Yeah, one of the One of the first small business experiences we had was my mom and dad started a stand at the public market called Jessica Tropicals, or also was under the name Linda Tropicals.
Chris Lindstrom:Okay.
Chef Fredo:And what we majored in was all Caribbean goods and items.
Chef Fredo:Homemade desserts like flan, boudin, acapulias, pasteles, Things of that nature we would carry, like Caribbean roots like batata, yucca or cassava root is.
Chef Fredo:More people know it as mangoes, coconuts, even.
Chef Fredo:At some point we had birds like parrots and parakeets and things like that.
Chef Fredo:The rules at the market.
Chris Lindstrom:You have them at the house too?
Chef Fredo:We did have them at the house.
Chris Lindstrom:How.
Chris Lindstrom:How was that?
Chris Lindstrom:Like, I see the videos of people with birds in the house.
Chris Lindstrom:It seems like just a wild experience.
Chef Fredo:It was.
Chef Fredo:It wasn't bad because I was young when we started doing that.
Chef Fredo:Maybe five to five to 10, 11, I think we had it.
Chef Fredo:So sometimes we have lizards there and things like that.
Chef Fredo:It was interesting.
Chef Fredo:We had ducks.
Chef Fredo:I mean, yeah, we.
Chef Fredo:We're in the middle of the, you know, the neighborhood, and we got ducks and stuff outside in our yard.
Chef Fredo:And people.
Chef Fredo:Now I look back at people, I think those are those crazy people over there.
Chef Fredo:They got ducks and all types of who nut knows what over there.
Chris Lindstrom:But it was great.
Chef Fredo:It was fun.
Chef Fredo:We got to experience a lot of things.
Chef Fredo:I mean, we're at the market when you were still able to buy freshly slaughtered animal there.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Chris Lindstrom:No, because that.
Chris Lindstrom:I mean, this has been a market for a very long time, and it has changed a lot.
Chef Fredo:I mean, that was early 90s.
Chef Fredo:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:I was born in 91, but, you know, this is around 94.
Chef Fredo:95.
Chef Fredo: ill a thing up until close to: Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chris Lindstrom: ing, which was probably about: Chris Lindstrom:Right after I graduated college, I think I started going.
Chris Lindstrom:And I do remember when they were still selling, like chickens in cages and stuff.
Chef Fredo:Oh, yeah.
Chris Lindstrom: Like up until maybe: Chris Lindstrom:And then it basically completely went away.
Chef Fredo:There used to be a farmer named Joe there.
Chris Lindstrom:Okay.
Chef Fredo:Some of the slightly older generation who maybe have been there a long time will remember him.
Chef Fredo:I used to call him a banana guy because you would hear him say, Banana, banana, banana.
Chef Fredo:It starts the day.
Chef Fredo:It would start the day.
Chef Fredo:Banana, banana, banana.
Chef Fredo:Three for a dollar.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:As the day goes on.
Chef Fredo:Banana, banana, banana.
Chef Fredo:Six for a dollar.
Chef Fredo:At the end of the day.
Chef Fredo:Banana, banana, banana.
Chef Fredo:20 for a dollar.
Chris Lindstrom:Oh, my God.
Chef Fredo:Or something.
Chef Fredo:Because the farmers that brought the stuff there, they have to get rid of it.
Chef Fredo:Because they.
Chef Fredo:They're not trying to ship that back to where they're coming from.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:So they try to sell off what they can, or if it's like a banana or something, turning, they'll give them a deal.
Chef Fredo:But I always remember that because at the end of the day, if we had a few extra dollars, my dad are like, here, go find something.
Chef Fredo:And I'll go around and I'll find someone selling something for like dirt cheap.
Chef Fredo:Because it was the last of it.
Chef Fredo:Oh, I got a whole case of strawberries for 10 bucks, you know, which is unheard of nowadays.
Chris Lindstrom:I actually did that recently.
Chris Lindstrom:I was walking around and somebody is like, hey, blueberries, whole case.
Chris Lindstrom:I'm like, how much?
Chris Lindstrom:It was like, you know, 20 of the, you know, the clamshells that are like this big.
Chris Lindstrom:They're not the huge ones, but it was like a whole case, you know, this big.
Chris Lindstrom:5 bucks.
Chef Fredo:Oh, it's like $100 at Walmart.
Chef Fredo:Yeah.
Chris Lindstrom:And I was like, there was half a waste, like, stuff I need to clean up.
Chris Lindstrom:I just made a whole bunch of syrup out of it.
Chef Fredo:Oh, yeah.
Chris Lindstrom:I cooked them down, made some syrup, added some hibiscus, you know, built out like a real robust, like blueberry and like floral syrup.
Chef Fredo:Yeah.
Chris Lindstrom:It turned out great.
Chris Lindstrom:It was.
Chris Lindstrom:It's a lot of fun.
Chris Lindstrom:But that is one of those great things about the public market, though, is it really is for everybody.
Chef Fredo:Oh, yeah.
Chris Lindstrom:Even now, it's still for everybody.
Chris Lindstrom:If you need to go and save money, you can go to the public market and get food to feed your family really affordably.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chris Lindstrom:You have to time it right.
Chris Lindstrom:Yes.
Chris Lindstrom:You might have to do a little bit more work, but if you need to save the money, that's where you go if you really need to get cheap food.
Chris Lindstrom:And then you can get high end, you know, high end farmed food as well, and high end restaurant food and then, you know, affordable food at the same place all in one location.
Chris Lindstrom:And then.
Chris Lindstrom:Which I'm kind of interested in hearing your thoughts on one street away, you're in an area that has so much going on.
Chris Lindstrom:Like one street north, you're in the neighborhood you grew up in.
Chef Fredo:Oh, yeah.
Chef Fredo:Well, I mean, I literally grew up.
Chef Fredo:So if.
Chef Fredo:If you're familiar with the market, the parking area that's located near the Pennsylvania street exit.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:The farthest part of the fence is Peck street behind it, small walkway.
Chef Fredo:I don't know if the guy's still there, but there used to be this guy.
Chef Fredo:We just called him like the arts arts nuts guy.
Chef Fredo:But he had a house on the corner of where?
Chef Fredo:Garson.
Chef Fredo:Nowhere.
Chef Fredo:Hayward.
Chef Fredo:Is it Hayward or Garson and Peck Street.
Chef Fredo:Like make a roundabout.
Chris Lindstrom:Okay.
Chef Fredo:And he was right on the end.
Chef Fredo:And he had built like this bowling ball mechanism that if he dropped a bowling ball in it from like his roof, it would go all through the entire property, hit different things.
Chef Fredo:It always reminded me those I Spy books.
Chris Lindstrom:Oh, yeah, yeah.
Chef Fredo:And that's all he would do.
Chef Fredo:Like, he was just one of those unique guys who had like, artistic views.
Chef Fredo:Now I look older and I think about how impressive that really was.
Chef Fredo:But he had all types of little mechanisms through his yards.
Chef Fredo:Like when you see those Lego videos or the domino videos.
Chef Fredo:That's what his house was essentially like.
Chef Fredo:Yeah, with bowling balls.
Chef Fredo:He was like famous for it.
Chris Lindstrom:I love stuff like that because like those, those kind of people, they're.
Chris Lindstrom:That defines like to me, that like eccentric character.
Chris Lindstrom:Like, you're just a character.
Chris Lindstrom:Like, I love people like that.
Chris Lindstrom:Like, why not do weird stuff?
Chris Lindstrom:Like try something interesting, have a good time.
Chris Lindstrom:You know, people remember that stuff.
Chris Lindstrom:If you're just generic all the time.
Chris Lindstrom:People don't remember you.
Chris Lindstrom:They don't remember all the little things you did.
Chris Lindstrom:They remember that weird shit.
Chef Fredo:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:I mean, as a kid, it was just fascinating.
Chef Fredo:I mean, he had these big iron fence fences with like concrete between them.
Chef Fredo:It just reminded me of like something from Matilda.
Chef Fredo:Like when she.
Chef Fredo:Like how the fence was in the Trench Bulls house.
Chef Fredo:I don't know.
Chef Fredo:That's what it get.
Chef Fredo:This was always reminding me of.
Chef Fredo:But it was cool because he just had that stuff.
Chef Fredo:So I would see that as I walked to the market, my mom would make sandwiches in the morning.
Chef Fredo:Like, here, take a stack of breakfast sandwiches up to your dad or your brother.
Chef Fredo:My brother would help them too.
Chef Fredo:And they just go get some eggs and go get some bread from the Monk's bread guy.
Chef Fredo:Yeah, it used to be like five lows for a dollar.
Chris Lindstrom:Oh God.
Chris Lindstrom:That.
Chris Lindstrom:That just brought back such a specific mem.
Chris Lindstrom:Me.
Chris Lindstrom:So I grew up in the Buffalo area and we'd go to the Walden Flea Market.
Chris Lindstrom:Like, not every week, but we'd go, you know, a couple times a month.
Chris Lindstrom:And we bought the discount bread from the, from the bread vendors there.
Chris Lindstrom:And we'd go walk around and find stuff we could buy and either resell or do other stuff like that.
Chris Lindstrom:And we always would get that, you know, discount bread from the, from the guy that's got all those loaves and little plastic racks, you know, Man.
Chef Fredo:I.
Chris Lindstrom:Don'T Miss that stuff.
Chris Lindstrom:But at the same time, it was such a specific time to be, you know, in an entrepreneurial family when, yeah, we.
Chris Lindstrom:We were poor, but we did what we could do and we made the best of it.
Chef Fredo:Oh, yeah.
Chef Fredo:It was very interesting, I would say, just like the market is very nostalgic for me just for that reason.
Chef Fredo:I mean, I was there before they built the whole new era where all the restaurants are.
Chris Lindstrom:Oh, it's crazy.
Chef Fredo:None of that existed.
Chef Fredo:The office was like a tiny red box.
Chef Fredo:It's not even like now it's like a whole brick building.
Chef Fredo:Yeah, I remember the food where.
Chef Fredo:I remember the original fish market was like, on the left side.
Chef Fredo:Used to stink so bad.
Chef Fredo:And then they had, like, these little huts.
Chef Fredo:And the huts were breakfast sandwich spots.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah, yeah.
Chef Fredo:Three or four of them.
Chef Fredo:I remember even back then, they were like three, four bucks.
Chef Fredo:But they were like.
Chef Fredo:I just remember as a kid, it was fantastic when we could have them.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:But it was just.
Chef Fredo:It's just a memory because I just always remember smelling the sandwiches and then smelling fish right after it.
Chris Lindstrom:Remember that?
Chris Lindstrom:Like the old Scots with the red.
Chris Lindstrom:The redwood.
Chef Fredo:Yes.
Chris Lindstrom:Building.
Chef Fredo:Yes.
Chris Lindstrom:Like that.
Chris Lindstrom:That thing was.
Chris Lindstrom:That thing was rickety by the end.
Chef Fredo:Scott's, too.
Chris Lindstrom:It was Scott's.
Chef Fredo:Scott's too.
Chef Fredo:I remember that.
Chris Lindstrom:It was really rickety by the end.
Chris Lindstrom:But, man, you walk in there, that.
Chris Lindstrom:That griddle, I mean, that griddle has seen some stuff.
Chef Fredo:I can only imagine how much sales they did off that little, little thing.
Chef Fredo:Man.
Chris Lindstrom:Man, the amount.
Chris Lindstrom:The amount of bacon grease and butter on that.
Chris Lindstrom:On that.
Chris Lindstrom:On that griddle, that whole time on that flattop had to just be astonishing.
Chef Fredo:Well seasoned.
Chris Lindstrom:So now that.
Chris Lindstrom:So that's awesome.
Chris Lindstrom:So, you know, you're around.
Chris Lindstrom:You're around kind of this kind of, you know, the food thing.
Chris Lindstrom:Since you were a kid, when did you make the call to actually stay in that?
Chef Fredo:So.
Chef Fredo:So this kind of goes back to the market.
Chef Fredo:So we used to make a lot of the products we sold.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:So, I mean, as early as five years old, I remember starting to cook and simple things like, we would just help my mom grind because now there's all these fancy food processors and grinder stuff.
Chef Fredo:But for those unfamiliar with the pastele, it's a very intensive, laborious item to make.
Chef Fredo:It is made from yucca or green bananas, and you have to mash them into, like, a paste.
Chef Fredo:I remember hand grating them.
Chef Fredo:I remember taking the garlic and soaking them in water and then hand popping them, chopping the onions, you know, chopping everything.
Chef Fredo:Getting the banana leaves, making the trolley from the seeds, it takes.
Chris Lindstrom:You're actually.
Chris Lindstrom:You're actually grinding achiote seeds.
Chef Fredo:You were grinding at the seeds.
Chris Lindstrom:Oh, my God, that's so much work.
Chef Fredo:I mean, those things are like little rocks.
Chef Fredo:They are, they are.
Chef Fredo:But for.
Chris Lindstrom:For those who don't know, like, when you see.
Chris Lindstrom:I'll use an example that people probably know al pastor, you know, the Mexican.
Chris Lindstrom:Mexican taco meat or otherwise.
Chris Lindstrom:That big red color is coming from these achiote seeds, but they're small.
Chris Lindstrom:They're like kind of like the size of a peppercorn almost.
Chris Lindstrom:They're shaped a little bit differently.
Chris Lindstrom:They're almost like not pyramid shape.
Chris Lindstrom:They have little angles to them, kind of like ner.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah, that's exactly right.
Chris Lindstrom:That's a.
Chris Lindstrom:That's a great thing.
Chris Lindstrom:And it's got this beautiful, earthy text, earthy flavor.
Chris Lindstrom:But they are hard, these little seeds, and you grind them like in a.
Chris Lindstrom:In a mortar and pestle or below.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah, exactly.
Chris Lindstrom:So you're Puerto Rican or in Mexican.
Chris Lindstrom:That would be.
Chris Lindstrom:Oh, why am I freaking the name of those things?
Chris Lindstrom:Oh, I feel terrible.
Chris Lindstrom:Why am I forgetting the name of the.
Chris Lindstrom:The Mexican term for the mortar and pestle?
Chris Lindstrom:That's going to drive me crazy.
Chris Lindstrom:But anyways, so that's.
Chris Lindstrom:That's a ton of work, by the way, to do for what is essentially a street food snack.
Chef Fredo:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:I mean, we'd make this by, like, those giant blue igloo coolers.
Chris Lindstrom:Yep.
Chef Fredo:Maybe three or four of those every week.
Chef Fredo:Potentially making a junta, which is two pasteles wrapped up together.
Chef Fredo:And you would sell them.
Chef Fredo:I mean, we might make a few hundred of those weekly.
Chef Fredo:A few hundred acapulas, things like that.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:So I just kind of fell in love with cooking and just being in the kitchen with my mom and my dad and then my grandma.
Chef Fredo:On my mom's side, my grandpa were hunters, so they would hunt deer and bring them to the house.
Chef Fredo:My dad being born and raised in Puerto Rico, slaughtering animals would, you know, chop it up.
Chef Fredo:I just remember walking downstairs, I was like, six or seven.
Chef Fredo:There's a deer on the ground in the kitchen, and they're, like, cutting it up.
Chef Fredo:And I'm like, are we gonna eat that?
Chef Fredo:And I'm like.
Chef Fredo:And he's like, yeah.
Chef Fredo:And I'm like, okay.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:It never bothered me.
Chef Fredo:That stuff never bothered me.
Chef Fredo:My sisters, on the other hand, they were like, you killed, baby.
Chef Fredo:You're an animal.
Chef Fredo:Yeah.
Chris Lindstrom:I mean, like, I choose to eat vegan now, but I grew up.
Chris Lindstrom:I grew up going out with my dad and tracking deer, and we processed our own stuff.
Chris Lindstrom:We grounded in the house.
Chris Lindstrom:We did all that work.
Chef Fredo:Yeah.
Chris Lindstrom:It's.
Chris Lindstrom:It's so funny how similar, like, our.
Chris Lindstrom:Our background is.
Chris Lindstrom:And starting that early, by the way, finally, mokohete.
Chef Fredo:Okay.
Chris Lindstrom:You know, the.
Chris Lindstrom:It's more like lava stone.
Chris Lindstrom:It's a little coarser, and you can really get in there and grind stuff that needs to be ground.
Chef Fredo:Yeah.
Chris Lindstrom:Because, like, I've got the, you know, like the.
Chris Lindstrom:The granite version from, like, Asia food market.
Chris Lindstrom:You know, it's that kind which got good grinding, but local hete.
Chris Lindstrom:So, like, you can really grind stuff.
Chef Fredo:Coarse bottom.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chris Lindstrom:And the pestle's a little.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah, that's a.
Chris Lindstrom:They're both a little bit coarse.
Chris Lindstrom:You could really get in there and get stuff done.
Chris Lindstrom:So.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah, you.
Chris Lindstrom:So you started in at that point.
Chef Fredo:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:So that just made me fall in love with it, you know, as I got a little older, closer to, like, you know, early preteen, I think, like, oh, you know, I just think, like, oh, it'd be cool to own a restaurant one day.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:And then, you know, I tell everyone, like, we all start kids with dreams.
Chef Fredo:You know, everyone wants to be, oh, I want to be a firefighter.
Chef Fredo:I want to be a lawyer.
Chef Fredo:I want to be a doctor, whatever.
Chef Fredo:And then you start getting a little older and you forget.
Chef Fredo:You start forgetting your dream.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:But I always had a passion for cooking.
Chef Fredo:Even when, like, our friends would get together and we'll have, like, hangouts, I would cook or initiate maybe what we should cook, things like that, just because it was fun, you know?
Chef Fredo:And I always worked in the food industry for the most part.
Chef Fredo:I mean, granted, most of it was McDonald's, but I spent maybe almost 15 years in total with them.
Chris Lindstrom:There's something to be learned from that, though.
Chris Lindstrom:Like, the efficiency, the consistency, all that stuff.
Chris Lindstrom:Systems.
Chris Lindstrom:Like, there's so much to learn from that side of things.
Chris Lindstrom:You know, it can be very repetitive.
Chris Lindstrom:But the.
Chris Lindstrom:The rest of it is so important if you're going to start a business that's going to do volume.
Chef Fredo:Very, very much so.
Chef Fredo:I mean, I wouldn't be able to do the things I do today without the knowledge I gained through those experiences.
Chef Fredo:I mean, Grant, I worked with some other stuff, like Kohl's and like that, but mainly.
Chef Fredo:Mainly the restaurant stuff.
Chef Fredo:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:And also, it's just the old school approach to stuff.
Chef Fredo:My mom and dad always taught you work hard no matter what you.
Chef Fredo:You work hard even when people aren't watching you and.
Chef Fredo:And learn from what you're doing, everything has value.
Chef Fredo:You're not doing nothing for no reason.
Chef Fredo:The systems McDonald's have are phenomenal.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:Do everyone that works there implement them on a day to day basis?
Chef Fredo:Probably not.
Chef Fredo:But from a business standpoint, just being able to learn what I did, like how to do inventory, how to, how to figure out what item costs you, how do you figure out what item wasted cost you, how do you figure out what to order, when to order, where to order from, you know, things like that.
Chef Fredo:What is food safety, how do you implement it, how do you keep track of it?
Chef Fredo:All those things add up.
Chef Fredo:Forecasting, scheduling.
Chef Fredo:You know, I granted I don't use a ton of scheduling because we have a small crew, but just having those experiences are irreplaceable.
Chef Fredo:I mean I was able to take those skills and immediately implement them.
Chef Fredo:Yeah, and that's another part of like having a team is really important because not only was I really good in the back end of a restaurant, I also had a lot of front end experience, a lot of behind the scenes experience.
Chef Fredo:My brother's wife, she's more tech savvy and artistic than us.
Chef Fredo:So she was good at designing things and putting little forms together for stuff like that.
Chef Fredo:My brothers, the old school salesman, marketer, personable, you know, let's talk to people, old school hand approach.
Chef Fredo:So we mesh really well with the ideas we had that helped us really kind of propel us to have some of the success we're seeing now, which you know, we continue to refine and the goal is to just keep improving on what we're doing now and then get further along.
Chef Fredo:But, but yeah, back to the, to McDonald's.
Chef Fredo:I mean like I said, without that I wouldn't be able to do half the things we do now.
Chef Fredo:I mean it sucked at the time, some of those times of course not that it was all bad.
Chef Fredo:Great people I met, you know, good experiences.
Chef Fredo:Also really tough times.
Chef Fredo:Just like any job, but it could be very taxing.
Chef Fredo:But like I said, without that wouldn't be able to do this.
Chef Fredo:And then I worked at like Salvators, which that gave me a different perspective on the food industry.
Chef Fredo:You know, local small chain that was able to develop and have success now throughout parts of rest of the country.
Chef Fredo:I think Florida just got their first Salvators, North Carolina, a couple other places there were that from scratch.
Chef Fredo:Original style restaurant.
Chef Fredo:As you grow, obviously you have to trim food.
Chef Fredo:Cost has changed, wages have changed.
Chef Fredo:But just being there, learning from some of the guys, I mean I worked at the Original one, East Maine.
Chef Fredo:I mean, Sim, the manager there, he's been there since he was like 16 years old.
Chef Fredo:I mean, this guy knows everything there is to know about it.
Chef Fredo:It was just good learning with them experiencing that style, which is more similar to what Palermo's is now, I guess you would say, like just the logistics in the systems and the formations of how you're like going to go about your order per order every day.
Chef Fredo:So that was a really good experience for me as well.
Chef Fredo:Again, I took a lot of those skills I learned there paired with what I learned from McDonald's and just life skills in general and really kind of apply them to the restaurants.
Chef Fredo:Because before we even got to Palermo's Amigusta, we started a food cart called Palermo's Foods, which was.
Chef Fredo:Okay, a hot dog cart which we sold homemade sausage, hand ground burgers, Sicilian sausage, really, things like that, on the corner of Goodman and Gray Street.
Chris Lindstrom:Oh, okay.
Chef Fredo:So we did that during COVID Yeah, so we actually started.
Chef Fredo:The first day we sold product was the first and last health permit granted that at the beginning of COVID No way.
Chef Fredo:Really, if you remember.
Chris Lindstrom:So it's like right in like mid March.
Chef Fredo:Oh, it was snow on the ground.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah, that.
Chris Lindstrom:Oh, wow, that's wild.
Chef Fredo:There was snow on the ground.
Chef Fredo:It was though.
Chef Fredo:I don't know if you guys remember, you know, it's a few years ago now.
Chef Fredo:Oh, it's only going to be a week, huh?
Chris Lindstrom:Very well.
Chris Lindstrom:I was in, I was in Milwaukee working on installing a machine for my, for my day job.
Chris Lindstrom:And I flew back on March 19th.
Chris Lindstrom:It's like the 18th or the 19th.
Chris Lindstrom:So I flew back right then and when I got back, the whole plant closed.
Chris Lindstrom:Whole plant closed for a certain amount.
Chef Fredo:Of time until it was nuts.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah, it was, it was wild how things changed really quickly.
Chris Lindstrom:But one of the great things is like you were still outside.
Chris Lindstrom:You're still outside and you're still doing some of that.
Chef Fredo:That actually breathed considerable life into us.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:So, you know, we're taking a huge risk.
Chef Fredo:You know, I was at McDonald's making a decent wage.
Chef Fredo:I had a 401k, I had health plan, all that.
Chef Fredo:You know, McDonald's came a long way.
Chef Fredo:You even get free college tuition now.
Chef Fredo:If you're there for over a certain amount of time, like a year, you can go to college for free.
Chef Fredo:So, you know, I left all that.
Chef Fredo:My security blanket, as I would say, which I would say to anyone that ever has a dreamer wants to be someone who creates their own, their own future.
Chef Fredo:You have to Take a risk.
Chef Fredo:So was I necessarily happy there?
Chef Fredo:Maybe not.
Chef Fredo:Was it secure?
Chef Fredo:Did it pay my bills?
Chef Fredo:Did it feed my daughter and clothe us?
Chef Fredo:Yes.
Chris Lindstrom:Can we talk about that for a second?
Chris Lindstrom:I want to talk about that.
Chris Lindstrom:And then I want to go to break and we'll dive right into, you know, the launching of the, you know, the brick and mortar places in the mercantile on Main in the Sibley building.
Chris Lindstrom:I've been thinking about it a lot recently, about failure, about.
Chris Lindstrom:And really failure has been the topic in my head, but it's been around the risk taking because I'm really not.
Chris Lindstrom:I'm not great at it.
Chris Lindstrom:And I'm.
Chris Lindstrom:I struggle a lot with.
Chris Lindstrom:I struggle a lot with the interim failures because I know where I want to be and struggle with not going as fast as I want and feeling all the time like I'm not doing enough, like I can't do enough.
Chef Fredo:That's a.
Chef Fredo:A very common perception of oneself, I would say.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:And first I would say, what do you feel failure is?
Chef Fredo:Because that's different for everyone.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah, I.
Chris Lindstrom:I think personally, and it's.
Chris Lindstrom:I.
Chris Lindstrom:I feel that when you have lots of capability that I could do that I could do more.
Chris Lindstrom:I could.
Chris Lindstrom:Oh, man, I crashed that day.
Chris Lindstrom:What if.
Chris Lindstrom:What if I didn't.
Chris Lindstrom:I could have gotten more done.
Chris Lindstrom:What if I, you know, didn't waste that time?
Chris Lindstrom:I could have gotten so much more done.
Chris Lindstrom:And obviously it's unfair to yourself as a person to feel that way because you need time to recover.
Chris Lindstrom:I'm working a full time plus day job, and then I'm doing all this stuff on the side, but I never feel like I can do enough.
Chris Lindstrom:And it's.
Chris Lindstrom:I know for all the people that I talk to, we care hard.
Chris Lindstrom:Right.
Chris Lindstrom:We care hard about the stuff we do.
Chef Fredo:Oh, yeah.
Chris Lindstrom:Which means that we want to do better all the time.
Chris Lindstrom:We want to make things better.
Chris Lindstrom:We want to get the business to the next level so we can do that next thing, so we can achieve the goals that are in our head.
Chris Lindstrom:And I'm trying to be a little more transparent about that stuff and talk to people about it, because I think we all go through versions of that.
Chef Fredo:Yeah.
Chris Lindstrom:As people who are trying to create something.
Chef Fredo:So, like your version of failure, to me, how I view it, this is how I had changed my lens.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:Those are educational moments for you.
Chef Fredo:That is.
Chef Fredo:That's actually growth, not failure to me now, if you feel otherwise, that's fine.
Chef Fredo:You know, by now, looking back, oh, I could have improved in this area.
Chef Fredo:That's a Learning experience.
Chef Fredo:Failure for me is letting someone down.
Chef Fredo:I care about knowing I could do that task.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:Not getting up and going to work, not taking care of my family, not taking care of my daughter.
Chef Fredo:Those are failure moments to me, because I know better.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:Failure, as in, I've been through an action, now I can look back at it.
Chef Fredo:Yes, that might have been a terrible mistake, but if I don't learn from that now, that's true failure.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chris Lindstrom:No, it's.
Chris Lindstrom:I appreciate that, man.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah, it's.
Chris Lindstrom:I don't know, just trying to have these conversations with people because I think it's something that's not.
Chris Lindstrom:We're not talking about it enough.
Chris Lindstrom:We're not talking about the struggles of doing these kind of things and, you know, living and breathing these.
Chris Lindstrom:These businesses and projects that we have in front of us, you know, takes a lot out of you as a.
Chris Lindstrom:As a person.
Chef Fredo:Sometimes it does.
Chef Fredo:And I.
Chef Fredo:It is important to talk about them.
Chef Fredo:This is what I tell people who come to me for advice.
Chef Fredo:They see me down there, for example, in the commissaries there, and there's a lot of new members.
Chef Fredo:This might be their first rodeo.
Chef Fredo:And they see us and they're like, oh, well, how did you get here?
Chef Fredo:You know, what do you do?
Chef Fredo:How do you do this?
Chef Fredo:And I always tell them, well, first and foremost, do you love what you do?
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:If you don't, don't bother, because it's not tv.
Chef Fredo:I've watched other businesses in there, in Rochester open and fail because the reality of what they were doing is not what was in their head.
Chef Fredo:Yeah, they watch too much Hell's Kitchen and too much stuff like that.
Chef Fredo:This isn't tv.
Chef Fredo:You gotta work hard there.
Chef Fredo:There's no way around it.
Chef Fredo:There's no way to pay someone unless.
Chef Fredo:And if you have that much money to pay someone, what's the point opening the business in the first place?
Chef Fredo:Unless it's something you really enjoy doing.
Chef Fredo:But, I mean, the ultimate goal is to obviously make a living wage.
Chef Fredo:Right.
Chef Fredo:And doing what you love is a freedom.
Chef Fredo:You know, there's.
Chef Fredo:There's a.
Chef Fredo:There's a.
Chef Fredo:There's a sense of freedom you can't put a number on.
Chef Fredo:You know, I could theoretically right now go probably back to McDonald's and make more money than I make personally.
Chef Fredo:But I wouldn't be happy.
Chef Fredo:I wouldn't be able to bless the community or things like that.
Chef Fredo:So those are things that come with it.
Chef Fredo:And I tell people, like, you really have to know where your heart and mind is when you want to do these things, if it's a restaurant, if it's being a photographer or podcaster, if this is what you love to do, then the money isn't a thing.
Chef Fredo:You know, obviously you gotta make something off it.
Chef Fredo:Or if this is what you're planning on doing to make a living wage, then, yeah, you have to obviously figure out a way to generate some positive income.
Chef Fredo:But the mindset behind it is you have to love what you do, man.
Chef Fredo:You gotta love what you do.
Chef Fredo:You got to be willing to take risks.
Chef Fredo:You can't be afraid to, you know, anti, quote, fail or not succeed the way you want to.
Chef Fredo:You, you gotta try because people like going back to McDonald's.
Chef Fredo:I was just talking to my customers.
Chef Fredo:Who would have thought, 50, 60 years ago, some guy named Ray Kroc opens a spot and boom, you're going to be the second, first, second biggest chain in the entire world.
Chef Fredo:Yeah, who would have thought?
Chef Fredo:Google, Amazon, you know, just to name a few.
Chef Fredo:Bitcoin, right.
Chef Fredo:You know, I was, I was actually most people who laughed at bitcoin.
Chris Lindstrom:Oh, absolutely.
Chef Fredo:I found out about that when I was 14 years old.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chris Lindstrom:I remember very well when I was in college when the first stories of that were coming out, when people like, oh, God, this guy wasted all these, you know, spend all this money to buy a pizza.
Chris Lindstrom:And then you look now it's like, yeah, that's like $5 million of that stuff or $10 million of that stuff to buy one pizza.
Chef Fredo:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:Those are just good examples for people like, who are like visual learners.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:No one can tell you where you're gonna be.
Chef Fredo:No one can tell you.
Chef Fredo:I don't care if there's 5, 000 people that sell cheeseburgers.
Chef Fredo:Guess what?
Chef Fredo:There's a demand for it.
Chef Fredo:Be creative, be the next burger astronaut, I don't know, whatever.
Chef Fredo:But there's, there's an avenue for you.
Chef Fredo:You have to carve it out.
Chef Fredo:If there's no demand for it, make one.
Chef Fredo:Yeah, that's, that's, that's really what it comes down to.
Chef Fredo:Was there a demand for, you know, Google?
Chef Fredo:When it came out, they had asked Jeeves and stuff.
Chef Fredo:Yahoo.
Chef Fredo:Oh, not necessarily.
Chef Fredo:Now you can't did anything without Google.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah, no doubt.
Chris Lindstrom:Well, thank you for humoring me.
Chris Lindstrom:So we're going to take some special sauce and work sauce and we're going to blast off into space and we'll be right back.
Chris Lindstrom:And we're back with the second half of our conversation with chef Fredo of Palermo's and me gusta restaurant.
Chris Lindstrom:So yeah, we were talking during the break about a whole bunch of different stuff.
Chris Lindstrom:And I'm really excited to dive into, you know, the actual opening of the restaurants which are both inside the mercantile on Maine in the historic Sibley building right in the heart of downtown Rochester.
Chris Lindstrom:So I think Palermos came first.
Chris Lindstrom:Right?
Chef Fredo:Palermos did come first coming from the.
Chris Lindstrom:Coming from the.
Chef Fredo:Coming from the food cart.
Chef Fredo:So the food carts a keeper pivotal moment in here.
Chef Fredo:So as I was saying in the first half, we started during COVID and that allowed us to gain traction.
Chef Fredo:People like the fact we're outside.
Chef Fredo:So we're like, well, how can we grow this more?
Chef Fredo:And we're like, well, we heard about the commissary getting built before the commissary.
Chef Fredo:It's very limited spaces.
Chef Fredo:And Rogers, you had to actually use for a commissary.
Chef Fredo:Weren't very many zone for it or approved by the health department.
Chris Lindstrom:No.
Chris Lindstrom:And they were all, they were all like either private owned.
Chris Lindstrom:There wasn't like space that you could really get into.
Chris Lindstrom:You could if you knew the right person, but they were few and far between.
Chris Lindstrom:Like I remember going to Marty's commissary.
Chef Fredo:Yeah.
Chris Lindstrom:When he was running the truck out in like East Rochester or wherever the hell that was.
Chris Lindstrom:I think it was East Rochester.
Chris Lindstrom:I remember going out there once.
Chris Lindstrom:I'm like, wait, this is out here.
Chris Lindstrom:This is where all this is happening.
Chris Lindstrom:Like all of there were like all just wherever the heck there was tiny.
Chef Fredo:Limited equipment, you know, very limited space, things like that.
Chef Fredo:So we heard about the comments.
Chef Fredo:You're like, oh, this would be a great opportunity for us to go down here and have more workspace and a better since brand new.
Chef Fredo:You know, we heard all these things.
Chef Fredo:So I had to work.
Chef Fredo:I was still working McDonald's, Salvators and doing.
Chef Fredo:Helping my brothers between on the cart.
Chef Fredo:So I was wearing like three jobs essentially.
Chef Fredo:So I'm at work.
Chef Fredo:And they went down to the city building.
Chef Fredo:This is before the Merc tiles open.
Chef Fredo:This is before 50 of the businesses are in there that are in there now.
Chef Fredo:It was almost exclusively apartments in a few small businesses in Next Corp.
Chef Fredo:It's probably about it.
Chef Fredo:That was in there at the time.
Chris Lindstrom:I remember going through that building a lot.
Chris Lindstrom:Our.
Chris Lindstrom:The you know, little startup we were trying to do.
Chris Lindstrom:We were in Next core.
Chris Lindstrom:And I remember walking through that area and how desolate it was.
Chris Lindstrom:Oh, and going up those, going up some of those.
Chris Lindstrom:That elevator at the back, man, the noises that thing would make were just wild.
Chef Fredo:They still have it.
Chef Fredo:Well, it's Historical.
Chef Fredo:So they won't get rid of it.
Chef Fredo:Which is so cool, though, because that myself, the civilian, obviously, is.
Chef Fredo:Most kids that group watch have some memories of it.
Chef Fredo:Maybe more midtown than others.
Chris Lindstrom:Sure.
Chef Fredo:The siblings.
Chef Fredo:I just.
Chef Fredo:My doctor's office was there and stuff, so I just remember the elevators and all that.
Chef Fredo:But, yeah, so we went for the commissary.
Chef Fredo:There was a security guard named Mr.
Chef Fredo:G that worked there.
Chef Fredo:Our brothers and their loss.
Chef Fredo:You know, they haven't been in that building probably 20 years, so they're like, oh, we're looking for this place.
Chef Fredo:And then they just kind of told them what we do, and, you know, God, just put them in the right spot.
Chef Fredo:Right time.
Chef Fredo:Because Mr.
Chef Fredo:G is like, well, you know what?
Chef Fredo:I got a better idea for you.
Chef Fredo:How about not go to the commissary and I'm going to introduce you to someone else.
Chef Fredo:Ken Green.
Chef Fredo:So Ken Greens from Wind Companies, which owns the building.
Chef Fredo:He's the building project manager.
Chef Fredo:And many other things for when they're.
Chef Fredo:And he's literally coming off the elevator.
Chef Fredo:It was like, just the moment in time, we're supposed to be there.
Chef Fredo:He comes off the elevator.
Chef Fredo:Mr.
Chef Fredo:G's like, hey, these guys are interested in, you know, the food industry.
Chef Fredo:And then he was like, you got 30 seconds.
Chef Fredo:And they just run them down.
Chef Fredo:30 seconds.
Chef Fredo:What we do really quick.
Chef Fredo:And he was like, you know what?
Chef Fredo:I like the energy you guys have.
Chef Fredo:Next week, 4pm Wednesday, be back here in the office.
Chef Fredo:We'll have the whole team here bring us food.
Chef Fredo:And just like that, we had a shot.
Chris Lindstrom:I love that.
Chef Fredo:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:I mean, literally, just.
Chef Fredo:You can't make it up.
Chef Fredo:You can't make it up.
Chris Lindstrom:And then I think that's also like, all the other work, right?
Chris Lindstrom:It's all the other work that comes up to that because you're.
Chris Lindstrom:You're not.
Chris Lindstrom:You have to be ready for the opportunity.
Chris Lindstrom:If that would have happened before you had started the cart, you might have been able to do something, but you wouldn't have been ready.
Chef Fredo:Agree.
Chris Lindstrom:But having done the rest of the work, having done the prep, you know, having lived it for all that time, when the opportunity was ready, you were ready to meet it at the same time.
Chef Fredo:Agree.
Chef Fredo:So a little bit of our past I left out is not only was my dad a butcher, he helped, like, start Skips.
Chef Fredo:Like, he was like the original butcher there.
Chris Lindstrom:No way.
Chef Fredo:The original butcher for the original Skips.
Chef Fredo:He knew the owner.
Chef Fredo:He worked in.
Chef Fredo:My grandpa worked there.
Chef Fredo:He also worked at Burbinos and then the original Palermo's food And meat market on Norton Culver.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:Is where we take a lot of our inspiration from.
Chef Fredo:He was a head butcher there for a long time.
Chef Fredo:Our brother was other half brother Mike was there for years.
Chef Fredo:The original owner, Norman.
Chef Fredo:Awesome.
Chef Fredo:Family, like old school.
Chef Fredo:Everything from scratch.
Chef Fredo:Customer service, backbreaking, hard work, like just anything you could possibly want in like a.
Chef Fredo:A person for.
Chef Fredo:As an example for you to run a business was Norman and his wife.
Chef Fredo:Awesome.
Chef Fredo:I just remember being young, going in there, just amazing place.
Chef Fredo:Homemade sausage, you name it.
Chef Fredo:So we took a lot of inspiration from that.
Chef Fredo:So I still remember the menu we sent Ken.
Chef Fredo:We made a homemade roast beef top round with the garlic in it, salt, pepper, crust, thin sliced on the slicer.
Chef Fredo:AJU Then we did.
Chef Fredo:We made some chicken sausages, which we don't make anymore because it got a really pricey wine, cheese and parsley.
Chef Fredo:We made the broccoli rappy, kalamata olive, sun dried tomato and basil.
Chef Fredo:We're making the Sicilian rope sausage.
Chef Fredo:We're making the Italian sweet sausage.
Chef Fredo:I mean, these.
Chef Fredo:This is what we sent them.
Chris Lindstrom:You're going for it.
Chef Fredo:Fresh kaiser rolls, provolone, lettuce, tomato, onion.
Chef Fredo:If anyone had the privilege of like going to Palermos the first year or open, I mean, we were.
Chef Fredo:It was nothing we weren't making from scrat scratch.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:Unfortunately, Covid and food prices changed a lot of that.
Chef Fredo:We had to scale certain items, but are still our core menu items.
Chef Fredo:We keep homemade, and I think that's really what sets us apart to this day.
Chef Fredo:And that's just back to the.
Chef Fredo:The Palermo's like, you gotta.
Chef Fredo:You gotta give them that fresh taste.
Chef Fredo:We gotta give them that what it feels like to eat at our family's table.
Chef Fredo:Yeah.
Chris Lindstrom:Because Palermo's is, you know, for all intents and purposes, both a combo, you know, almost like some of that corner store menu, some of that.
Chris Lindstrom:You know, you get your breakfast sandwiches, you get your.
Chris Lindstrom:You get your, you know, deli sandwiches at lunch, and then you can get some of these, you know, specials and some hot stuff along with that.
Chris Lindstrom:But it's not a.
Chris Lindstrom:It's not one thing.
Chris Lindstrom:It's lots of things at once.
Chef Fredo:I.
Chef Fredo:I kind of describe it as currently New York City bodega meets Italian butchery.
Chef Fredo:Yeah, that's kind of where we're at.
Chef Fredo:But yeah, so that's how plan was got in there.
Chef Fredo:We went back to the meeting.
Chef Fredo:Ken Green, I remember Chris, he's the head accountant.
Chef Fredo:Frank, he's one of the other head project managers, a couple other guys there.
Chef Fredo:I mean, these are big Time Win C.
Chef Fredo:Not CEO, but like top level guys for New York.
Chef Fredo:I mean, we're guys off the street.
Chef Fredo:We don't even belong at the same table with these people, you know, but.
Chris Lindstrom:These are guys making decisions for, you know, one of the more most historic buildings in the city.
Chef Fredo:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:So, you know, they taste our food and they're just blown away way by.
Chef Fredo:They're like, you're selling this on the street corner.
Chef Fredo:Oh, I forgot the burger.
Chef Fredo:We're making the burger out of ribeye and strip at the time, but they were eating.
Chef Fredo:They're like, you guys are making this on a street corner.
Chef Fredo:I'm like, yeah, we're selling this on a street corner.
Chef Fredo:Yeah, there's like no way.
Chef Fredo:And they were just blown away by it.
Chef Fredo:You know, like I said, thank God we're in the right spot.
Chef Fredo:Right time.
Chef Fredo:They're like, well, we got some concepts.
Chef Fredo:We got this project going on.
Chef Fredo:You guys want in.
Chef Fredo:And we're like, oh, we talk about like, yeah, we want in.
Chef Fredo:And you know, we're talking some other business.
Chef Fredo:Like, you guys are nuts.
Chef Fredo:You're gonna commit suicide going down there.
Chef Fredo:Suicide.
Chef Fredo:Going downtown Rochester.
Chef Fredo:I mean, in the natural they were right, you know, five years ago, downtown.
Chef Fredo:I mean, forget about it.
Chef Fredo:Ten years ago, downtown.
Chef Fredo:You're talking Detroit level desolation.
Chris Lindstrom:Well, and there wasn't, there wasn't the, the base of things.
Chris Lindstrom:There wasn't the growth that we're seeing now.
Chris Lindstrom:And there's ups and downs to all of it.
Chris Lindstrom:And it's slow, but things are, things are changing.
Chef Fredo:Oh yeah.
Chef Fredo:So if anyone, like I said real Rochesterians know, you know, as Midtown went down, it was like a blow for the city.
Chef Fredo:We're a very unique city for those who've never traveled.
Chef Fredo:You're not going to find another city like us.
Chef Fredo:And the reason that is we're one of the few medium to large cities in the country.
Chef Fredo:If there is any other like us, that where the downtown is not where the majority of your shopping is.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:That is like unheard of.
Chef Fredo:I mean, go to Buffalo district downtown, bar district, fun district, shopping district.
Chef Fredo:We don't have that.
Chef Fredo:We had two top Fortune 500 companies unfortunately pretty much collapse at the same time.
Chef Fredo:I mean that's like essentially like pulling your bones out of your body.
Chef Fredo:That's pretty much what happened to Rochester.
Chris Lindstrom:And it was, and it was later.
Chris Lindstrom:So I've been thinking about this a lot.
Chris Lindstrom:It's because it was later than Buffalo and a lot of them were white collar jobs and really high end blue collar jobs.
Chris Lindstrom:And it Was.
Chris Lindstrom:It was a different blow to the city than Buffalo and the steel.
Chris Lindstrom:You know, Bethlehem going out and Trico and all those companies going down.
Chris Lindstrom:It's a different hit.
Chris Lindstrom:And Buffalo's was earlier by like 15 years.
Chef Fredo:Yeah.
Chris Lindstrom:And you can see the positivity going on in Buffalo now and the attitude has changed.
Chris Lindstrom:And I think we're finally starting to see some more positivity.
Chef Fredo:I would definitely say that.
Chef Fredo:I would say one of the biggest key factors.
Chef Fredo:I know a lot of people disagree with it at first.
Chef Fredo:Parcel five.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:It might seem like just a patch of grass to a lot of you guys if you've never been downtown.
Chef Fredo:It's more than that.
Chef Fredo:It's actually.
Chef Fredo:I would say it's going to be potentially a make or break thing for the city.
Chef Fredo:And right now it's making it.
Chef Fredo:Not only does it bring events downtown, it's bringing national money to the city.
Chef Fredo:I mean, we had.
Chef Fredo:A few years ago, we had a national bike race here.
Chef Fredo:I remember they shut like half a downtown.
Chef Fredo:I mean, these are national things.
Chef Fredo:If people don't know Rochester had a NBA team.
Chris Lindstrom:I'm gonna.
Chris Lindstrom:I'm gonna pull out my satin jacket that I got and I'm going to show it to you.
Chris Lindstrom:So I.
Chris Lindstrom:I grew up in Buffalo and live in Rochester.
Chris Lindstrom:I love NBA basketball.
Chris Lindstrom:So my teams are the Buffalo Braves and the Rochester Royals.
Chris Lindstrom: NBL Champion: Chef Fredo:Oh, yeah.
Chef Fredo:Also known as the Sacramento Kings.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chris Lindstrom:Light the beam.
Chef Fredo:But I mean, to think about that now.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:Is like, wow.
Chris Lindstrom:Do you know where they played?
Chef Fredo:No, I didn't.
Chris Lindstrom:So I think I forget the exact name of the stadium, but I think it's on the same side as like the Edgerton Community Center.
Chef Fredo:Okay.
Chris Lindstrom:So I think that's.
Chris Lindstrom:I forget what the stadium they played in was called, but I believe I'm looking it up.
Chris Lindstrom:But yeah.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chris Lindstrom:Edgerton Park Arena.
Chris Lindstrom:So it was.
Chris Lindstrom:And I think right now it's.
Chris Lindstrom:It's like a community center.
Chris Lindstrom:So that's where it was.
Chris Lindstrom:It was in Edgerton Park.
Chris Lindstrom:It's like a 4,000-seat spot.
Chris Lindstrom:And that's where.
Chris Lindstrom:That's where it was at the time.
Chef Fredo:I mean, it was big money.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:Money involved that the old timers always tell you.
Chef Fredo:Because I don't know if anyone remembers, downtown used to have pavers.
Chef Fredo:Those pavers were gold.
Chris Lindstrom:Wow.
Chef Fredo:Our city was paved in gold.
Chef Fredo:That's the old expression.
Chef Fredo:I mean, I know most people my age, I'm only 33, probably won't understand that too much.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:But I remember a little bit when I Was really young.
Chef Fredo:It was.
Chef Fredo:There was stuff downtown and then just got pulled out.
Chef Fredo:Parcel 5 has kind of brought that back.
Chris Lindstrom:I mean, agreed.
Chef Fredo:Without parcel five, the mercantile won't be here.
Chef Fredo:I would just say that it, it's.
Chef Fredo:That gave us a catalyst to really propel some of the business there to have some success.
Chris Lindstrom:Because it has been.
Chris Lindstrom:And I think, you know, I want to dive into it a little bit.
Chris Lindstrom:But it's.
Chris Lindstrom:It has been a struggle too because, you know, not as many people came back to downtown to work post pandemic.
Chris Lindstrom:And it doesn't.
Chris Lindstrom:It's not easy building that without all of the people who used to work in downtown Rochester being there as much.
Chef Fredo:Agree.
Chef Fredo:So when we first started the mercantile.
Chef Fredo:Yeah, Parcel five was just a desolate plot of gravel and dirt and trash.
Chris Lindstrom:It's pretty miserable.
Chef Fredo:It was.
Chef Fredo:It was bad.
Chef Fredo:There's actually, if you look up Buckingham properties, they have a before and after.
Chef Fredo:It literally looked like a bomb went off and then now it's just like green and vibrant.
Chef Fredo:But so we first opened.
Chef Fredo: rd,: Chef Fredo:We did free food for like a day.
Chef Fredo:I remember like a media circus.
Chef Fredo:It was insane.
Chef Fredo:I mean we're doing tons and tons of sales.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:The first year, you know, the year.
Chef Fredo:The first year is up, up, up, up.
Chef Fredo:Covet actually researched and helped us.
Chef Fredo:And I know that sounds crazy to a lot of people.
Chef Fredo:Well, that just destroyed me.
Chef Fredo:Well, we had an advantage over everyone else.
Chef Fredo:Space.
Chef Fredo:Covert regulations were based off space.
Chef Fredo:Seating, proximity to a bathroom, proximity to exit.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:Which for some people, you know, they might understand.
Chef Fredo:We have our bathrooms far away.
Chef Fredo:So they count the space from where the bathroom is to the exit as your square footage of allowed areas like a football field.
Chris Lindstrom:It's in that space.
Chef Fredo:It's huge in there.
Chef Fredo:We got tons of space.
Chef Fredo:So we were still able to legally have almost up to 300 people there at any given time because of the space.
Chef Fredo:Whereas unfortunately, like say like Park Ave.
Chef Fredo:East Ave.
Chef Fredo:Merchants, they're small venues.
Chef Fredo:They were just.
Chef Fredo:I just can only imagine what they went through.
Chef Fredo:You're allowed to have one or two people in there.
Chef Fredo:They were.
Chef Fredo:I remember they're taping cubicles off of plastic and things like that.
Chef Fredo:That is what I think drove people to the mercantile.
Chef Fredo:It was new, but there was space.
Chef Fredo:You felt safe.
Chef Fredo:You know, we had things in place to make sure stuff was getting sanitized and.
Chef Fredo:And stuff like that.
Chef Fredo:People felt comfortable there.
Chef Fredo:There wasn't.
Chef Fredo:Market wasn't really open.
Chef Fredo:The lucky flea didn't exist yet, things like that.
Chef Fredo:So Saturday at the Mercantile and Sunday, for the few that experienced it, I would say it's a.
Chef Fredo:It was a very special time.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah, I remember, you know, the first.
Chris Lindstrom:You know, when Rocco opened where.
Chris Lindstrom:Where Lola is now.
Chris Lindstrom:You know, I was.
Chris Lindstrom:I was going in there a lot of.
Chris Lindstrom:A lot of Saturdays going in and hanging out and grabbing food, bringing home for the wife and stuff.
Chef Fredo:It was the ultimate Rochester mixer.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:Inner city, outer city, suburban, which I had people coming from Hilton, you name it.
Chef Fredo:To come to the Mercantile, just to eat a sandwich and just drink coffee and have fun and meet people, and it was great.
Chef Fredo:As things opened back up, we started taking a little dive, which is to be expected.
Chef Fredo:Your favorite places back open?
Chef Fredo:Oh, you know, this place is open.
Chef Fredo:I want to go hang out.
Chef Fredo:My friends who haven't been there in two years, you know, okay, fine, I get it.
Chef Fredo:Then it kind of going down a little more, like, oh, you know, as new business owners, we get a little nervous.
Chef Fredo:We're like, you know what?
Chef Fredo:We got to push through.
Chef Fredo:We'll be fine.
Chef Fredo:Some people started coming back to the office, but, I mean, we lost, like, big customers, like CGI.
Chef Fredo:I mean, they're housing 10 of what they used to.
Chef Fredo:Just, for example.
Chef Fredo:They were our close neighbors.
Chef Fredo:I mean, that was a huge, huge part of our lunch crowd.
Chris Lindstrom:A DNC across the streets.
Chef Fredo:I mean, there's.
Chef Fredo:So there's five of them.
Chris Lindstrom:Fewer people.
Chef Fredo:Five work there now, right?
Chef Fredo:Six, but.
Chef Fredo:And almost all of them come, which is great, and I'm thankful for.
Chef Fredo:But a lot of offices went two days in, three days out.
Chef Fredo:And because the reason for that was they couldn't compete.
Chef Fredo:Other people are like, well, why would I stay with you when I could make, oh, a thousand dollars less a year and go work for your competitor?
Chef Fredo:And he lets me stay at home.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:And, you know, could I.
Chef Fredo:If I could do this at home, would I?
Chef Fredo:Probably, I'm not gonna lie.
Chef Fredo:If I could be like, Bob's Burgers, yeah, I wouldn't be too bad.
Chef Fredo:But, you know, that's the reality.
Chef Fredo:What it was downtown for a while.
Chef Fredo:We just didn't have the people there.
Chef Fredo:And in order for any city or business or anything with anything to thrive, you have to have people, places and things.
Chef Fredo:We had a place with no people and no things.
Chef Fredo:Parcel 5 has given us things.
Chef Fredo:More and more offices are coming to downtown.
Chef Fredo:National companies are moving downtown.
Chef Fredo:Billionaire companies are moving downtown.
Chef Fredo:The people are coming back.
Chef Fredo:The colleges have dorms downtown.
Chef Fredo:There's new businesses, new bars, new restaurants.
Chef Fredo:New art places.
Chef Fredo:The things are there, the people are there.
Chef Fredo:And that's really helping us develop.
Chef Fredo:I mean, I remember the first Jazz Fest back.
Chef Fredo:It was, it was free.
Chef Fredo:Everything we had Covid money allocated to the state.
Chef Fredo:I know people probably like, why were they wasted on that?
Chef Fredo:It gave so many Rochesterians an amazing experience at the Jazz Fest.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:Me as one of them.
Chef Fredo:Up until I experienced it, I always thought the Jazz fest was like middle age white collar boringness.
Chef Fredo:Like, you know, I just didn't know what.
Chef Fredo:Jazz wasn't my thing.
Chef Fredo:I used to play the trumpet, but like jazz was, wasn't my thing.
Chef Fredo:I'm just thinking this is all one type of music.
Chef Fredo:I learned that it's very multicultural.
Chef Fredo:There's tons of amazing people that run it, operate it, which have also been amazing to us.
Chef Fredo:I mean, we've done tons of catering for the Jazz Fest.
Chef Fredo:We're.
Chef Fredo:I mean, we're a hub for it now.
Chef Fredo:It's.
Chef Fredo:It's awesome.
Chef Fredo:Like we've been able to grow with it.
Chef Fredo:More inner city people, I think, came to the Jazz Fest than ever before.
Chris Lindstrom:Oh, wow.
Chef Fredo:And I think the same kind of thing happened to them.
Chef Fredo:Their eyes got opened to what the Jazz Fest is.
Chef Fredo:And I noticed since then the jazz festival has grown.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah, that's for sure.
Chef Fredo:I mean, it's already a giant, giant festival.
Chef Fredo:One of the top ones in the world.
Chef Fredo:And just having that there and you know.
Chef Fredo:Yeah, it's only 10 days, but in those 10 days, I mean, you're bringing a hundred thousand people downtown.
Chef Fredo:Maybe more than that.
Chef Fredo:That.
Chef Fredo:Never been downtown.
Chef Fredo:Never seen our restaurant, never seen the civil's building, Never seen props five.
Chef Fredo:And now like, oh, there's stuff here.
Chef Fredo:I didn't know this stuff was here.
Chef Fredo:Let's go back.
Chef Fredo:Even some people like, oh, I was here six months ago.
Chef Fredo:Hey, you came back.
Chef Fredo:I'm happy.
Chef Fredo:Yeah, that's been like a real important part of it.
Chef Fredo:I mean, there's new housing complex going up down there right behind the Sibley building.
Chef Fredo:I mean there's.
Chef Fredo:They're renovating one east as venerating.
Chris Lindstrom:That's so exciting, by the way, to see that.
Chris Lindstrom:I mean, to see more.
Chris Lindstrom:To see more going on down there.
Chris Lindstrom:And I know there's.
Chris Lindstrom:There's still a lot of work to be done to make sure everything's inclusive and equitable to the community that lives in that area as well.
Chris Lindstrom:But at the same time, it is nice to see some of those buildings that haven't had things in it for a long time start to have things that people Want to go to?
Chef Fredo:Yeah, I think, I think our city leadership had to start looking at other cities and saying, hey, like Detroit for example.
Chef Fredo:Detroit took up, I mean you think it was bad here?
Chef Fredo:They took a whole nother level of blow.
Chris Lindstrom:Right.
Chef Fredo:And they've been rebounding and they're looking at them, they're looking at Chicago, they're looking at other places.
Chef Fredo:Like who was desolated by things, how can, how do they recover from it?
Chef Fredo:And people places, Things is like the model for it right now.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:A lot of these buildings are actually installing like a fair amount of low income housing, fixed income, which is good because it's bringing that multicultural asset back downtown.
Chef Fredo:And, and I think that's like a key factor too.
Chef Fredo:There has to be things like that.
Chef Fredo:Oh, there's a Spanish restaurant, this is Jamaican restaurant.
Chef Fredo:There's this, I mean East Maine and Style has had Caribbean restaurants for like ever there.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:You know, for sure.
Chef Fredo:Peach Blossom, their Mexican owned restaurant opened up by the old State street in Maine.
Chef Fredo:Authentic real deal stuff down there.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chris Lindstrom:Squatchos right next to him too.
Chris Lindstrom:Killing it.
Chef Fredo:A vegan spot.
Chef Fredo:I mean then you got, of course you got Pizza stop on State Street.
Chef Fredo:I mean these are people that have been there and now you're adding other stuff to that now.
Chef Fredo:People like, okay, I'm not just going downtown for pizza stop.
Chef Fredo:I'm not just going downtown for native.
Chef Fredo:I'm not just going downtown now.
Chef Fredo:I'm going downtown because Monday I'm gonna go to the Mercantile, I'm gonna eat at Playrmos, then Tuesday I might eat at Lobola, and then Thursday I'm gonna go to Barbantum and you know, and stuff like that.
Chef Fredo:That's just, it's exciting for us as business owners to see the potential.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:And I'm witnessing it day by day.
Chef Fredo:So the people that don't see it, they just, oh, I don't see it.
Chef Fredo:And then you don't come downtown for six months.
Chef Fredo:Come downtown, I beg you guys, just come downtown and just see what we're offering.
Chef Fredo:Don't even have to buy nothing, just see it.
Chef Fredo:And, and if you were Rochesterian through and through, you're gonna appreciate where it's heading.
Chef Fredo:I mean there's just, it's, I can't even fathom like five years ago that I'll be looking downtown the way it is now.
Chef Fredo:I want to see what it's going to do in five more years.
Chris Lindstrom:That's awesome, man.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm really glad you said that because I think it's important to, you know, to go and support places in person.
Chris Lindstrom:Don't just order online.
Chris Lindstrom:Go in and support them in person.
Chris Lindstrom:Support them the best way they can be supported.
Chris Lindstrom:Matters a lot.
Chris Lindstrom:Let's just.
Chris Lindstrom:Let's go through real quick Magusta.
Chris Lindstrom:We're.
Chris Lindstrom:We're at our time, but I want to at least get a little information out about Magusta, because, like, you guys are really bringing the Puerto Rican and Jamaican and the heritage into the food.
Chris Lindstrom:And I gotta say, it's also really good.
Chef Fredo:Thank you.
Chef Fredo:Thank you.
Chef Fredo:Yeah, we got stuck on Palermo a little bit, but Palermo was the key pivot.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:So some may know there were original vendors in the mercantile.
Chef Fredo:Unfortunately, some did not make it.
Chris Lindstrom:Yep.
Chef Fredo:We were able to capitalize on.
Chef Fredo:On someone else's unfortunate situation.
Chef Fredo:Not in a bad way.
Chef Fredo:Whereas there's empty spot in there, in the.
Chef Fredo:In the building approach.
Chef Fredo:It's like, hey, you know, you guys have been successful at this one concept.
Chef Fredo:Would you consider a second one?
Chef Fredo:You know, we thought about it, talked, and we're like, you know what?
Chef Fredo:Let's.
Chef Fredo:Let's kind of divide what we're doing.
Chef Fredo:We try to jam everything into polynomials.
Chef Fredo:Like, our Spanish side, too.
Chef Fredo:It was just too much going on.
Chef Fredo:We're like, okay, let's separate it.
Chef Fredo:Let's put our Italian American one side.
Chef Fredo:Let's put our Caribbean side on the other.
Chef Fredo:I mean, we're Puerto Rican by race, but I grew up around neighbors that were Jamaican.
Chef Fredo:My fiance's Haitian.
Chef Fredo:A lot of Caribbean.
Chris Lindstrom:Shout out to peak leaves.
Chris Lindstrom:One of the best things I've ever eaten was peak leaves.
Chris Lindstrom:And the.
Chris Lindstrom:The.
Chris Lindstrom:The.
Chris Lindstrom:The mushroom rice and the legume.
Chris Lindstrom:Oh, man, that's good stuff, man.
Chris Lindstrom:I love that.
Chef Fredo:There's a lot of, like, awesome stuff.
Chef Fredo:So we're like, hey, we don't want to be like every other Puerto Rican restaurant.
Chef Fredo:Not.
Chef Fredo:There's nothing wrong with anyone doing what they're doing was like, we want to be different.
Chef Fredo:We want to do like, a little fusion.
Chef Fredo:So I wouldn't label us necessarily, like a hundred percent authentic.
Chef Fredo:Like, yes, we make authentic items.
Chef Fredo:My concept was like, I don't want to be like everyone else.
Chef Fredo:Let's be who we are.
Chris Lindstrom:What's authentic to your experience is what it is.
Chef Fredo:Yes.
Chef Fredo:So it's our variation of what authenticity is.
Chef Fredo:So we do authentic items for each place.
Chef Fredo:So like, maybe a traditional Hispanic person coming out, oh, this isn't Spanish, you know, and that's fine.
Chef Fredo:But I wanted to appeal to everyone, like, hey, I love jerk chicken.
Chef Fredo:It's like, my favorite Caribbean dish out of every island.
Chef Fredo:I mean, I make it.
Chef Fredo:I was making it on everything.
Chef Fredo:So 1.
Chris Lindstrom:It's so good.
Chris Lindstrom:And I gotta say, also, 1, thank you for working with us with.
Chris Lindstrom:With Nominate.
Chris Lindstrom:When we were running that.
Chris Lindstrom:Loved working with you guys.
Chris Lindstrom:It's always great to work with professionals where you don't have to worry about them.
Chris Lindstrom:And I was so glad to, you know, get you guys some orders through there.
Chris Lindstrom:And it was great to get to know you a little better during that.
Chris Lindstrom:And I remember that jerk chicken, man, that people loved that when we had events with that.
Chris Lindstrom:They really adored that.
Chef Fredo:I mean, that's still, to this day our number one item.
Chef Fredo:We do, like, some Spanish meatballs, which is.
Chef Fredo:I let my chef.
Chef Fredo:That's her baby.
Chef Fredo:She's.
Chef Fredo:That's her family recipe.
Chef Fredo:So that's like generational stuff right there.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:That jerk chicken is like my cultivation of all the experiences that I had with Caribbean people and making it my own.
Chef Fredo:The rice, the beans.
Chef Fredo:It's just kind of a cultivation of all our experiences.
Chef Fredo:We kind of like, feed off each other, like, hey, you know, maybe a little less this, maybe a little more that.
Chef Fredo:Oh, my family does this.
Chef Fredo:Oh, that's a good idea.
Chef Fredo:Let's try it.
Chef Fredo:Even like our grilled chicken, like, we do it more traditional seasoned baked chicken, where you would get it most Spanish restaurants, but we grill it on a flame grill.
Chef Fredo:So gives a little different flavor concept.
Chef Fredo:We also make all our own spice blends in house.
Chef Fredo:We have our own spice recipes and things like that.
Chef Fredo:That's helped us.
Chef Fredo:We make, like, grilled pork chops, which I would say is more Italian influence than a lot of our other items.
Chef Fredo:Whereas traditionally more Hispanic style restaurants fry pork chops or they bake them and they're thinner.
Chef Fredo:Cut or bone on.
Chef Fredo:We're doing boneless fresh pork loin, which is more Italian style.
Chris Lindstrom:Okay.
Chef Fredo:Like, inch thick.
Chris Lindstrom:Oh, yeah.
Chef Fredo:Juicy pork chop.
Chef Fredo:So some people come like pork chop, and they're like, a little turned off by.
Chef Fredo:And then they try it and they're like, oh, this is really good.
Chef Fredo:I was like, we just try to do spins on things like that and make it our own with our butchery experience.
Chef Fredo:So I can butcher stuff that maybe puts me at advantage compared to someone who doesn't know how to use the knife very well.
Chef Fredo:And by no means am I an expert, but I know enough how to debone things, take cartilage out, how to trim things like that, you know, like, shout out to the great McCanns.
Chris Lindstrom:Oh, man.
Chef Fredo:Kevin.
Chef Fredo:Awesome.
Chef Fredo:You know, I Watched his business for a while, you know, got a lot of inspiration for him and things like that.
Chef Fredo:Probably one of the last few dying breeds of old school butchers there are around.
Chef Fredo:But, you know, he was awesome to us too.
Chef Fredo:We were getting like, pork belly and stuff from him.
Chef Fredo:Great guy, you know, wish him the best, but, you know, things like that.
Chef Fredo:We're able to take experience of the people we met and just kind of use this, what they did.
Chef Fredo:Well, okay, how do we apply that for us?
Chef Fredo:How do we apply it to our recipes?
Chef Fredo:How do we use that same similar mindset to create menu items?
Chef Fredo:So we kind of keep it simple and do a core of four things, and we do different variations of specials.
Chef Fredo:Sometimes I'll do like, Mac and cheese, or we'll do salmon or bacalao or.
Chef Fredo:Or things like that.
Chef Fredo:So we'll.
Chef Fredo:We'll mix it up.
Chef Fredo:We were just discussing.
Chef Fredo:They like, oh, we should try this Cuban item my friend, my chef makes.
Chef Fredo:She's like, oh, I want to make this.
Chef Fredo:I need to get some.
Chef Fredo:Some chuck roast.
Chef Fredo:So we could do this.
Chef Fredo:Okay, cool.
Chef Fredo:Let's try that out.
Chris Lindstrom:You do a ropa vieja, a little.
Chef Fredo:Something like that, a little bit without.
Chris Lindstrom:Without the flank steak.
Chris Lindstrom:But it works.
Chris Lindstrom:You know, that's the thing is you don't have to do everything exact to honor the tradition of the flavors.
Chris Lindstrom:You know, we don't have to go to every specific thing for it to be respectful.
Chris Lindstrom:And that's what I love when I've had the food is it's respectful of tradition.
Chris Lindstrom:But you're still having.
Chris Lindstrom:You're having a good time trying out different things.
Chef Fredo:Oh, yeah.
Chef Fredo:I mean, probably what huge differences.
Chef Fredo:We use boneless chicken, which is like unheard of in the Caribbean.
Chef Fredo:Everything's boning now.
Chef Fredo:I mean, we also have to cater to the demographic that's coming.
Chef Fredo:And we still do Predominantly lunch crowd.
Chef Fredo:A lot of people are working.
Chef Fredo:They don't want to get their hands dirty.
Chef Fredo:So we, like, do ribs sometimes, but I'll try to gear it towards dinner, things like that.
Chef Fredo:We get creative, but it allows our food to have a different flavor concept and maybe some of the other spots and that people who don't know about meat.
Chef Fredo:That makes a big difference if the bone in or bone out, how the flavor goes or how you have to cook it.
Chef Fredo:So that's been a.
Chef Fredo:Interesting for us.
Chef Fredo:So we started with some bone in stuff and switched it, and then it's worked for us, you know, so until the customer says otherwise, I mean, we're just kind of.
Chef Fredo:Kind of Stick with it.
Chef Fredo:But you know, and then we also try to refine ourselves.
Chef Fredo:I mean, we're in the refining stage of our business.
Chef Fredo:Five years realistically, you know, was in your first five years.
Chef Fredo:Well, one, you got to get past the first year.
Chef Fredo:Yeah, of course, 70% of restaurants close first year.
Chef Fredo:I think it's even higher in this first six months.
Chef Fredo:Then your second year is, okay, we made it through the first.
Chef Fredo:Now let's figure out how to generate some.
Chef Fredo:Some profit.
Chef Fredo:You know, threes, like how do we expand on it?
Chef Fredo:Four, which we're in now.
Chef Fredo:Four to five is refine, refine, refine.
Chef Fredo:You know, I small edits to the menu.
Chef Fredo:What price do I have to lower?
Chef Fredo:What price do I have to raise?
Chef Fredo:What item should I take off?
Chef Fredo:You know, we've done this for a while now.
Chef Fredo:What's working, what's not, you know, how can I improve on this?
Chef Fredo:And that's kind of where I'm at right now.
Chef Fredo:So I don't have any too many major practices going on because right now we're just.
Chef Fredo:I need to hammer down how can I get this box cheaper, how can I get this paper cheaper, how can I get this easier, how can I get it all on one order?
Chef Fredo:Things like that.
Chef Fredo:And I think that's really going to benefit us, you know, God will.
Chef Fredo:If we're here five years from now, that's gonna have our systems even more refined and then maybe to a point where I could hire a manager or something like that.
Chef Fredo:Right now I'm pretty much managing it and running it almost exclusively alone.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chef Fredo:Besides the back end, help my brother and his wife for helping with me remotely while they're not running our food truck down there.
Chris Lindstrom:That's awesome, man.
Chris Lindstrom:Hey, I'm.
Chris Lindstrom:I'm so glad we got a chance to talk today.
Chris Lindstrom:Fredo.
Chris Lindstrom:This is what a delight.
Chris Lindstrom:And throughout the plugs again, where people can find you and where you're located.
Chef Fredo:So we're located downtown.
Chef Fredo:240 East Maine.
Chef Fredo:The mercantile on Maine.
Chef Fredo:You could find the Merc on main online.
Chef Fredo:Instagram, Facebook, Google.
Chef Fredo:Then Palermo's market.
Chef Fredo:Instagram, Facebook, Google.
Chef Fredo:Me gusta Caribbean cuisine.
Chef Fredo:Instagram, Facebook, Google Chef Fredo Five85 on Instagram, Wilfredo Arkansas.
Chef Fredo:Facebook.
Chef Fredo:You can follow me, my personal or the business pages, either or.
Chef Fredo:Oh, should have links to both on there or just come see me in person.
Chef Fredo:It's probably the best way to.
Chef Fredo:Best way to come see what we're about.
Chris Lindstrom:Yeah.
Chris Lindstrom:Go experience the food and like you mentioned, go visit downtown.
Chris Lindstrom:Go visit Rochester and embrace Rochester for what it is and hopefully have some positivity with where we're all heading.
Chris Lindstrom:Man, thank you so much for coming over.
Chris Lindstrom:And if you're interested in learning more about the other shows on the Lunchadore Podcast network, go to lunchadore.org we're going to be up to 13 shows by the end of the year.
Chris Lindstrom:It's really exciting to see where we're going and I hope you tune into one you haven't listened before, so I'm going to mention one at the end of every show going forward.
Chris Lindstrom:So hopefully you can check out behind the Studio Door starring Molly Darling and Christian.
Chris Lindstrom:They are talking to artists of all different kinds about their process in Rochester, and I gotta say, in their first season of episodes, there's some real, real tremendous interviews in there.
Chris Lindstrom:And if you haven't listened yet, you are missing out.
Chris Lindstrom:So subscribe to behind the Studio Door and let them know how you're enjoying the show.
Chris Lindstrom:We'll be back next time with more from the Food About Town podcast.
Chris Lindstrom:This has been a presentation of the.
Chef Fredo:Lunch Door Podcast Network.
Chris Lindstrom:The Palermo Special of the Day the Chef Fredo Burger Burger with Alfredo Sassaioli White American cheese crispy fried fettuccine noodles, thin strips of grilled garlic chicken thighs topped with Parmesan Gremolata.