Today we’d like to introduce you to Rogerio Martins.
Hi Rogerio, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My story began in 2001 after I had graduated from college in Brazil. At that point, I had decided to come to the US to practice English and take a hotel management class. I was supposed to stay here for 6 months and then go back to Brazil. Despite graduating with a degree in Tourism, I have always had a passion for cooking. During my time in the US, I ended up getting a job at a small restaurant in Duluth. I really enjoyed being in the kitchen and started moving from one restaurant to another to continue learning more and more. The hotel management class was put on hold while I was saving money for it, but deep inside I knew that my passion was in the kitchen. After working for a few restaurants, I decided to look for a culinary arts school, but I couldn’t afford the extremely high price for a 2-year course. I met this beautiful woman who later became my wife. She had encouraged me to apply for a job at a high-end restaurant and work my way up to be a chef, and I did just that. I learned that if I wanted to be a chef, I had to learn the skills by myself. I was working hard and quickly got promoted to sous chef. Within a few more months I was then promoted to Executive Chef. By that time, I was doing events with the 50 best chefs of Atlanta, I had magazines publishing my recipes and I was even invited to be on the Food Network show “CHOPPED”. Around 2008 when the US faced an economic recession, the restaurant I was working at had to be closed. I remember at that time, I was constantly having recurring dreams about me saving a child from different situations, which ultimately called me to work with children. I had the feeling that I wanted to do something different as a chef, something meaningful. That’s when a friend, who is also a chef, mentioned a job at a school. At first, I thought that working for a school would be a naïve step down on my career.
However, I thought it would be a great opportunity to get a job that wouldn’t demand so much from me and I could have time to focus on something I really wanted to do. I take a lot of pride in what I do, I ended up changing the school’s menu to a superior level. We started cooking from scratch and we were using only healthy ingredients such as organic, grass-fed, and no artificial ingredients, etc. Kids were being exposed to top-quality food, which made the parents more than happy. After beginning at the school, my recurring dreams stopped, and I felt like I was doing what I was meant to do. One day, one of the parents was telling me how much she appreciated the quality food I was serving to the kids and mentioned that she wished she could “have a healthy meal for dinner too”. That’s when I came up with the idea to cook afternoon meals to the entire family. I started posting on our Facebook page with a new dinner menu every week. Parents would place an order in advance, and I would cook healthy fresh meals on a daily basis. When the parents came to school to pick up their child, they had a hot and ready dinner to take home as well. This was wildly popular, and parents loved being able to save time cooking, cleaning and shopping. The entire family had access to a healthy meal with more free time to spend together. This is how Chef Roger’s Kitchen was created and is now working to serve take home meals to several schools in the greater Atlanta area. We also cater for all kinds of events.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
The road was not always smooth and sometimes, wasn’t easy at all. First, my English was bad, and I had a lot to learn. I am proud to say I am pretty proficient now, being all self-taught. That problem itself held me back on the learning process a bit because at that time there wasn’t TikTok, Instagram, Facebook or many food videos available online. Not even a smartphone was available for quick access to information such as recipes or cooking methods. My next challenge was that in Brazil we use the metric system for measurements, so I had to adjust to imperial measurements here in the US. I remember working all day at the restaurant and studying late at night to learn cooking techniques, plating techniques, recipe ideas, food cost and everything else about kitchen management. I also worked for a restaurant where we had 9 guys in the kitchen that only spoke Spanish, which is when I also had to learn that language as well. Despite the road not always being smooth, I am proud of what I have overcome to get where I am today.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Chef Roger’s Kitchen?
I’ve been working with kids for a long time, and I love to get involved. I greatly enjoy cooking, but I also love the educational part of eating healthy. I believe that the kids need to have fun with the food and environment where they eat, so I make being “entertaining” in the kitchen a priority. I juggle, do magic tricks, impressions, and make all sorts of silly faces! The kids absolutely love it. Due to the healthy relationship, I am helping them build with food, they are willing to try any of the nutritional foods that I cook. They eat well and proudly tell me how much they enjoyed the food. All the children and parents know me by name as I proudly wear the title “Chef Roger” at school. When we were working on the name for the company, a branding professional suggested the name Chef Roger’s Kitchen, because of how easily recognizable it would be to everyone.
The afternoon meals we create are about serving healthy, fresh food, while also providing significant convenience. I love to be able to give the parents the opportunity to spend extra quality time with their kids. Our weekly rotating menu ensures that families will never eat the same meals back to back. Parents can easily go to our website, pick their favorite dinner, pre-order it, and then pick up the meal simultaneously with their child at school. The food is cooked fresh on a daily basis, just a couple of hours before their pickup time. This allows them to get home, sit down to eat and spend some quality time together. This is a free service to the school, pick up will be located under the “Chef Roger” tent in the school’s parking lot. Yes, it’s THAT convenient. We also offer catering, cocktail parties, buffet for bigger crowds, and for a more intimate gathering, a 4-course dinner. We personalize the menu according to our customer’s needs and value fresh, nutritious ingredients, to provide great quality service.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
My favorite childhood memory was watching how much my father always loved to cook. In Brazil, we have several street farmer’s markets that my father used to go and shop for fresh ingredients such as vegetables, fruits and meats. I really enjoyed that whole fuss of vendors offering their products. A festival of colors, flavors and shapes. So many fresh ingredients, you could easily fill up your wagon without spending too much. Afterward, my parents and siblings started cooking to then eat lunch together, especially on Sundays. I try to follow the same tradition for my family here in the US. I do believe that was one of the main reasons why I love cooking so much. My son loves to cook, and he says he wants to be a chef one day. I’ll be happy enough if he keeps the tradition of cooking for his family when time comes.
Contact Info:
- Website: chefrogerskitchen.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088208036843
