Meet Andrea Rifenberick

Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrea Rifenberick.

Hi Andrea, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today. 
All the memories of cooking with my great-grandmother. Food was life growing up in a Sicilian family. Simple ingredients carefully prepped and cooked with care. We would eat together and enjoy our time together, and the aromas that filled my grandmother’s house were some of my best memories. I had many fond memories of our traditional family staple dish; however, Cannoli is what kept me living the most. I couldn’t wait for Christmas so I could enjoy one! In an Italian family it’s tradition to only have them at Christmas. So, when I was thinking of a concept for my food business. I wanted to making something that I was happy eating and wanted to people enjoy it year-round. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Oh goodness NO! 

Being an entrepreneur in business for yourself is as hard as they say it is and more! Where to even start! Every day is a new challenge. You have to be self-directed & motivated 365 of the year! 

It’s important to find that balance between work life and home life, remembering to self-love and take time for yourself. This level of determination is a chore to keep going even if you don’t feel good. 

You need an amazing support system at work and at home. Having a strong team around you that believes in your business and vision is a must!!! This not always easy to find or maintain. 

Always try to learn from mistakes. Focus on today and improve for tomorrow. Being in a Mobil business is physically brutal, emotional & eventful! Every solid plan goes out the window daily, and you have to learn how to adapt quickly! Be a fast learner. 

Having Strong leadership skills is a must! When working with family that you also live with, it’s hard to have separation. Own your craft! You’re the expert. You have to command your role. Guide and teach in a respectful way to preserve family life and still get the job or task at hand done. 

You have to be fluent in all aspects of business. And always be 100% when it’s time to shine. Customers want your product they don’t want your excuses. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
We are Arizona’s first and only Bougie Gourmet Mobil Cannoli & Drink cart. 

We have a tent with a cart, a food trailer, mobilized bar carts, and action stations. Perfect for any size group or function. We can do any size event indoors or outside. 

We offer a rotating menu of 100+ flavors of filling for our Cannoli piped to order for that perfect culinary experience! We will make any request for a flavor. 

Our drinks are customized per guest to order as well; we specialize in a variety of Italian Sodas, Fun Flavored Lemonades, Pickle Punch & mocktails. 

We love being interactive with our guest! I believe that’s what sets us apart from the rest. Our customer service is the most important! We have fun, and laughter is key! 

How do you think about luck?
I don’t really believe people are lucky. I believe it is what we make of it every day to adapt. We have to be creators of own destiny. 

I have spent most of my professional career in a professional kitchen. I’m a Culinary graduate and have been honing my culinary skills for over thirty years in this industry. 

I paid my dues as a female chef I worked up the corporate ladder and became my towns youngest executive chef at 19, A corporate chef by 24 and owning my own private catering company by 25. 

I decided to branch out on a new career role as an executive sales manager in food distribution, selling and consulting to other restaurant entrepreneurs. I really loved helping people. 

I still maintained some of my private chef clientele. I then decided to sell my company and customer base to a fellow caterer. I’ve had the pleasure of cooking for many famous people and have had the time of my life doing it! 

In 2018 I lost my career job of 16 years the dreaded holiday corporate walking papers. I didn’t see it coming; I was blindsided!!! 

Once unemployed, I found myself struggling to make ends meet for me and my three children. For the first time in my life, I was scared! I was defeated. I was broken. I couldn’t find another job that came close to keeping the roof over my head. I wanted to give up!!! I was told by many other professional chefs in the industry that I was no longer a chef, and I would have to start at the bottom. What a low blow! My skills didn’t leave me; my knowledge and expertise was still there! That never left me! I’m still a force to be reckoned with. No one gets to dull my sparkle! It took me two long years to think of my concept. 

I had faith every day that my luck would turn around. It opened up so many more doors for me that I didn’t see when I was in the thick of it. However, I was able to fall back to my culinary roots to provide for myself and my children and show them that hard work and dedication is what makes it! 

I had little savings left and with a Hail Mary idea. I started my own business. Not to toot my own horn, it was hard!!! Lots of lost sleep and emotional eating and crying a lot. 

I stuck with it every day. I even had to close down two years due to the length of the pandemic! 

I had to find a three jobs just to survive again! A cannoli cart wasn’t pandemic-proof! 

So, it’s been a whirlwind of emotions and heartbreaks… At the end of the day, my passion for using my skillset to make people happy makes me happy! That’s why I do it. I wouldn’t change the road or the path I have been on. It’s what paved the way for where I’m at, and where I want to go! A female standing on her own two feet in a world who wants to take her down. My sparkle shines, and my passion can be felt in everything I do! 

Pricing:

• Cannoli Starting at $10
• Specialty Cannoli $12-$15
• Italian Sodas $9-$14 depending on size
• Lemonade $7-$16 Sizes Vary
• Mocktails $10-$14 Price varies

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Mafiakitchen21
• Facebook: Mafifakitchen21