We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Gustavo Velasco Jara a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Gustavo, thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I started Gusto Catering because I wanted to share food in a way that goes beyond a single menu or restaurant space, and also because It’s hard for me to work with the ego of the bosses.
As a chef, I’ve worked in several kitchens, but I wanted an opportunity to create something more personal by bringing flavors from different cultures and experiences directly to people in the comfort of their home.
Gusto was born out of my love for food, hosting, hospitality, and connecting with people through memorable meals.

The biggest challenge I faced in those early days was building everything from the ground up. Establishing a client base, managing logistics, and creating a system that allowed me to deliver high-quality, restaurant-level food outside of a restaurant environment. It was about proving myself event after event and showing that Gusto could deliver both consistency and creativity. It was about bringing the flavors to your table.

Gustavo, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Born in Mexico in a small city named Tepic. My fondest memories was my mom, grandma and aunties in the kitchen. You could say perhaps that I got my love for the kitchen at an early age. Around 7 years old to be precise. I would have to cook for myself right after school as my mom arrived late from work. So I learned how to feed myself quesadillas, panini sandwiches and even hot dogs and hamburgers. I loved it!

As I grew older, my mom and I migrated to the U.S. I attended high school from sophomore to Senior year with an above average GPA. Because of that, I was able to attend College at a more affordable price. A lady named Mona Buckart, asked me what I wanted to become and I honestly told her that I wanted to just work and forget about school. Well, she said you won’t become another statistic on my book. She then asked, what do you like to do and as a joke and to get her off my shoulders I said, I love to eat and to eat good food! She replied, that’s perfect! We will sign you up for Culinary Arts at the College where I work, TMCC. And she did. She helped me and to this day I’m beyond thankful for her not letting me off the hook.

I now provide Personal Chef and Catering Services. This allows me to solve a client’s problems which is booking a restaurant on a high season. It solves the issue of drinking and driving for them as they don’t have to drive anywhere else after my cooking as it’s done in the privacy of their home or community. What sets me apart is that I interact with the clients from beginning to end. I’m listening to their requests and feedback. I’m fine tuned to their needs the way other restaurants would not be able to do. I tend to allergie requests and foods of preference.

The most proud moment is that I have been open for almost 10 years, next year. And I plan on cooking for another 10 years after that. I’m also proud of the fact that I was able to build something out of very little resources and I’m very thankful for the people, who are many, that believed in me when even myself didn’t believe in me.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I sacrificed many weekends working at restaurants. I was tired and on the brink of burning out. I was tired of working for someone else. Some one else was using my strength and youth to profit. I needed to do something about it. I told other chefs to open our own thing but they were too afraid as they had families to sustain. That wasn’t me. I quit my job and got together with 2 other chef friends of mine. We elaborated a plan for each of us become personal chefs. We studied the legalities and taxation process to our surprise it wasn’t as difficult as they make it to be for regular restaurants. We wanted to cook ON-site, which meant at the clients house, in private.

So I went to the city and got the required licenses for the different surrounding cities I wanted to open my business in. I also got the help of Sandra Rentas at the SBDC, which helps small businesses take off and she connected me with the State License website where I could start my business in the State of Nevada. It was a lot of pieces of the puzzle but at the end they all came together to open up my business at the pace that I needed it to be.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

The lesson I had to unlearn and then learn againg is how I was going to charge for my services. For my mind to go from an hourly employee to know how much to charge for the job done was a task I set out to learn. I cooked for about 8 different individuals and asked them how much I should charge. They each told me a different price but at the end of the day I had to do my own research and see what the other Caterers and chefs were doing to charge. I learned that keeping your prices similar to competitors helps the market stay on high value. Not only that, it helps me have a feel for what the customer is willing to pay for my services.

This task is one of the hardest as they don’t teach you in school how much to charge. If you charge too much, you won’t get hired and if you charge too little; you are undercutting yourself from making the money you deserve. So I played with it plus I did my research and I finally found my middle ground and the market’s middle ground.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://gustoflavor.com
• Instagram: gustoflavor
• Facebook: Cateringwithgusto
• Yelp: Gusto Personal Chef and Catering

Image Credits

photo credit to landosphotography
IG account @by_landoandando
[email protected]