Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Heberto & Rona Segura. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Heberto & Rona thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?
Heberto – The short and obvious answer would be hard work, but there are also so many other details that are easily overlooked. You need to be true to what you want to do, lay out a plan and follow it; you need to be studious on your field, learning must be a constant pryority, be ready to take calculated chances, make changes as needed. you also need to be transparent, with your guest/ clients as well as with your team. you need to know and be willing to treat everyone with respect especially those who work with you to help you make your business successful.
Rona- Discipline is a very important trait, the path to success is treacherous, lots of ups and downs. Balance is often overlooked as well, you need to maintain a work – life balance that will allow you enjoy the fruits of your labor, otherwise the work becomes unbearable and unenjoyable, if you don’t enjoy what you do it will be hard to be successful.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Rona – a little bit about us; My Husband Heberto & I, own Duck & Drake Hospitality which currently operates Duck & Drake Kitchen https://www.duckanddrakekitchen.com/ which is a food truck currently in residence at Digress Wine in College Park, where we offer a unique brand of food truck experience as we team up with some of Central Florida’s finest farmers, growers and small batch producers to provide our guest with a very distinctive and unpretentious yet high level of dining paired with Digress selection of boutique wines and in a very relaxed environment.
Our cuisine is humble, innovative and personal, we like to keep traditions close to heart, but not be bound by them, so we keep things loose, inventive yet comfortable. Duck & Drake Kitchen features internationally inspired dishes highlighting the freshest seasonal ingredients and yes, local, whenever possible.
We also offer special ticketed events as in Cellar Dinners and Supper Club Events & private catering events.
We are in the process of building our brick and mortar restaurant The Drake at The Radius building in DTO where the vision starts at the heart of the house with a team committed to the passion and grace of hospitality. The room, sophisticated and comfortable offers a modern and urban cool environment with Zen like flow in the heart of the city. At the core, the menu is a labor of love; offerings will rotate according to the seasons and availability of product. We will continue our commitment to the pursuit of the freshest ingredients which will constantly inspire and define our work. Through our journey and experiences we have curated a family of purveyors, local and regional and paying respect to their efforts and traditions is essential to our mission
Heberto- as far as our background, we share a passion for food and hospitality and have worked in some of the finest kitchens in Miami, Las Vegas (where we met) Europe and the Caribbean. I (Heberto) while attending the Florida Culinary Institute / Lincoln College in West Palm Beach, worked through the ranks in the kitchens of the Boca Raton Resort & Club and The Mandarin Oriental, before pursuing opportunities in Las Vegas, St. Marteen & Anguilla with positions ranging from Chef and Culinary consultant to Restaurant development for The Harwell Group to Executive Chef of New York New York Hotel and Casino. He was most recently Executive Chef at Raglan Road Irish Pub the Gastro Pub in Disney Springs.
My wife Rona, is a consummate self-taught professional and culinarian with a passion for baking and pastry, she rose through the ranks in the renown kitchens of the Venetian Hotel, The Palms Casino Resort before Joining Caesars Palace where she held positions at much heralded Rao’s Italian and Payard Patisserie & Bistro.
Any advice for managing a team?
Heberto- in our line of work, we know and understand that without our team’s understanding and commitment to our hospitality ethos it would be very difficult to manage our business and growth. Setting goals and expectations for each role within your team is paramount, you must also know that without proper training and communication, there can not be accountability.
Rona- We believe our team is our biggest asset and we manage from that standpoint. We challenge them and at the same time we trust and empower them to do the job we know they can do. We work with them to help them achieve their goals, weather they are looking for a career in hospitality or any other field. but over all we like to make sure they are happy working with us, if your team is happy you will very likely have less staff issues which is one of the biggest issues right now.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
Heberto- nowadays there are tons of ways to learn how to be a great manager and get the best out of your team, For the most part we lean on our own experiences. You take the good out every place you work at, what makes that management team successful?? how was I and my peers treated?? and you implement that.
Rona – We have been able to work with some great people through our years in the business and we try to emulate those. anything negative or anything we have seen that has a negative effect on the team we make sure to avoid. it has worked for us very well.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.duckanddrakekitchen.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/duckanddrake.kitchen/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/duckanddrakekitchen/?ref=page_internal
Image Credits
pictures 3, 4 and 6 Katherine Photography