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Meet Ivan Jacobo of Hidden Kitchen

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Ivan Jacobo.

Ivan, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started cooking in 2009 when I started culinary school at Estrella Mountain Community College. I ended up dropping out of school but was lucky enough to have such amazing mentors around me. One of the instructors at the community college got me a job in San Francisco working for one of the most exclusive clubs in California.

After a year, I moved back to Arizona and started working for Chef Steven Maynard chef-owner of one of the top restaurants in the west valley, Tempo Urban Bistro. I decided to open a food truck after that but unfortunately, it was lost after it was involved in a car accident where we got rear-ended in the I-17 on our way to a catering.

I am now currently the chef-owner of Hidden Kitchen a full-service catering company, where we focus not only on great for but an amazing experience bringing people together around food. One of the unique things we offer is something called supper clubs. Where we invite a table of 20 to dine with complete strangers at a community table, where they enjoy a 5-6 course tasting menu in a different location around the valley.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Nowhere near a smooth ride, opening a business (food truck) at 20 was extremely difficult. With no financial backing besides the salary, I saved from working at Tempo Urban Bistro, was a huge challenge. The first day we broke $1000 dollars in sales was the same day the food truck got a flat tire, window was broken and the generator was stolen.

When we started doing the supper clubs are email list was stolen by another company doing something similar, which led to us losing over 10% of our guest list, by the upset customer from having their emails taken. And those are just two occasions of a rough road there’s still plenty of stories to be told.

Hidden Kitchen – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Hidden Kitchen was founded over a charity event I was invited to do. One of my friends was hosting an event to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. She was looking for a chef to cook for a group of guests who purchased their tickets at auction. I fell in love with the idea of having complete strangers dine with each other bringing them together for a great cause over food.

I pride my company in not only bringing amazing food but bringing the guest together over a one of kind dining experience you can’t find anywhere else in Arizona. We do everything from intimate dinners of two to parties of 200. No event is too small or too big, we approach any size party with the same excitement and ambition to deliver the best dining experience from the food to atmosphere.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Everyone has their own interpretations of success whether its receiving awards, making a ton of money and so on. My definition of success is more of the state of happiness, I don’t really care too much for money as money comes and goes. Don’t get me wrong everyone’s life will get better with some money, but money can’t buy you everything.

I will consider myself successful when I can grow my company to a state where all my key players are doing what they love and getting paid for. I want to make Hidden Kitchen the company everyone wants to work for not only because of the amazing things we’re doing as a team but because everyone working at Hidden Kitchen is truly happy working with us.

I eventually would love to partner with a charity event so the I can constantly help raise money for them, not just only at events that I do with them. Because you and I are the ones that are lucky doing what we love to do, but there are other people out there that need help and if we can do something to help them out. Why wouldn’t we?

Pricing:

  • Supper Club Event pricing starts at $55 dollars a person.
  • Private catering starts at $65 dollars a person, with a custom menu created specifically for your party.

Contact Info:

Getting in touch: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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