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Calvo maxed out her credit cards and took the money from her cookbook sales to open Chef Adrianne’s Vineyard Restaurant and Bar at the age of 22.<\/p>\n
Adrianne Calvo realized early on that cooking could create a space of happiness for others. She comes from a culinary-forward family. Some of her earliest memories include running home from school and wondering, “What is Mom cooking today?”<\/p>\n
The intricacies of the meals her mother was cooking from scratch intrigued her. She’d investigate the various kinds of salsa and the difference between flour and corn tortillas. Looking back, she says she became addicted to the feeling of learning, eating and creating.<\/p>\n
By high school, Calvo was put into a cooking class by mistake. She calls this the “lightning strike” of her career.<\/p>\n
“While I was waiting to get my schedule fixed, Johnson & Wales University came in and did a demo of this beautiful stuffed brioche French toast, and it was like I felt myself being put on the right path,” Calvo says. “I went home that day and told my parents, ‘I’m going to be a chef.'”<\/p>\n
In culinary school, Calvo began entering culinary competitions to help pay off her student debt. She started making a name for herself, and one of the judges encouraged her to compile her recipes into a cookbook. She would go on to become one of the nation’s youngest cookbook authors.<\/p>\n
“The judge told me, ‘You’re winning based on one thing, and that’s flavor. When you put those recipes together, call that cookbook “Maximum Flavor.”‘ That stayed in the back of my mind,” Calvo says. “Before I know it, I’m in New York City with my family on ‘The Montel Williams Show.'”<\/p>\n
Despite her early career success, her personal life was upended. Calvo’s younger sister, Jennifer, passed suddenly from a rare form of cancer. Heartbroken, Calvo stopped cooking. Then she saw an ad for an affordable restaurant space in Miami.<\/p>\n
She felt lightning strike again, like a push from above. She maxed out her credit cards and took the money from her cookbook sales to open Chef Adrianne’s Vineyard Restaurant and Bar at the age of 22.<\/p>\n
“I had no business experience, just a belief in making really great food and loving to serve people the way my mom served us growing up, with genuine hospitality,” Calvo says. “We opened in an unassuming shopping center, and here we are, 20 years later.”<\/p>\n
She has watched Miami’s culinary landscape evolve over the years, from the traditional Cuban bakeries she visited as a teenager to the wider array of Colombian, Venezuelan and Caribbean influences that have emerged alongside the city’s growing Latino communities.<\/p>\n
“The younger generations are culture hungry. They aren’t comfortable with the status quo; they would rather go to smaller restaurants that have a story,” Calvo says. “As storytelling comes forward, we’re going to see more restaurant owners who are open to telling us more about where they came from.”<\/p>\n
This is seen on Calvo’s own menu. Her lamb chops, for example, are an award-winning recipe dating back to her school days. She says recipes often just pour out of her, and they end up in her cookbooks and on her menu.<\/p>\n
“If you are real, people want to be a part of what you’re doing,” Calvo says. “Take the audience on a journey, from inception to execution \u2026 like, this is a family recipe I am serving to you at my restaurant, or my grandmother taught me this technique, but now I’m incorporating it into this dish to make your experience even more special of an experience.”<\/p>\n
Giving back for Calvo is not a burden; it’s a responsibility. Inspired by her sister, Calvo is the founder of the Make It Count Foundation, a nonprofit that supports cancer patients and their families. Every year, Calvo works with the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, creating a holiday feast for them.<\/p>\n
“[Make It Count] was Jennifer’s mission, but I have made it my own,” Calvo adds. “It is a blessing to be able to give back and support these families.”<\/p>\n
As Calvo reflects on her journey, her advice for women on the culinary track is simple: don’t compete, create.<\/p>\n
“No one is ever going to create something in your voice, in your style, the way that you make it, the way you serve it. So really hone in on who you are and be confident,” Calvo says. “Put that out into the world. It needs you.”<\/p>\n
Calvo’s seventh cookbook comes out on November 3, and it feels like a full-circle moment for her as she creates something centered on cooking at home, just like her mother did, five nights a week, from scratch.<\/p>\n
“Nearly two decades [and seven books] is a huge milestone. I’m an independent restaurant, there’s no hedge fund, there’s no investors or partners,” Calvo says. “To have stayed in business for this long, with our customers following me on this journey and allowing me to serve them, is a great privilege.”<\/p>\n
The post How Chef Adrianne Calvo Turned Family, Flavor, and Loss Into a Miami Restaurant Legacy appeared first on FSR magazine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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