Today we’d like to introduce you to Federico Vizcarra.
Federico, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Started when I was 16 years old working for the Hilton Hotels, peeling potatoes and onions. I spent 15 years working for the chain and rose thru the kitchen ranks becoming Executive Chef and then Director of Food and Beverage. I spent 35 years in Executive Hotel Management in Food and Beverage and I spent time in Northern California working in San Francisco and Southern California, Pierpont Inn in Ventura. My experience took me to be good at turning around properties in distress. In March 1995, I was hired by Jeremiah Towers-The Father of California Cuisine to take over his Napa Valley restaurant. In June 1994, I was featured in the June Issue of The Wine Spectator. I transplanted to Dallas 20 years ago working for Interstate Hotels and Resorts managing 3 multiple properties. In 2003, I formed my Full-Service Catering Company. We started out in Frisco with Pizza Hut Center, at that time not even the City Hall was built or what is Frisco now. Working at Pizza Hut, we were the only Mexican outlet for major events. We had the opportunity to participate in the George Strait concert, Rascal Flats, Jimmy Buffet, Rebelde and Edgefest High volume performances. For the last few years we have been at Dallas Market Hall feeding approximately 300,000 guests doing 60 shows a year. We built our kitchen in Denton 3 years ago and we work with 10 major event centers in the Denton, Aubrey. McKinney, Anna, and Van Alstein area.
We cater to concerts to the City of Lewisville and are preferred caterers for MCL Grand Theater in Lewisville.
We travel and we have won 3 major awards for Disaster Catering Relief for the City of West Palm Beach, Florida, City of Nassau Bay and Department of Human and Health Services. It has not been easy and we set ourselves apart from other caterers. As Full Service, we are one stop shopping center for all our clients, were we provide to all our clients china glassware, silverware, linens, staffing liquor service, wedding cakes. It sets us apart.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been challenging. We started off by doing our first catering for Trammel Crow in Frisco when they were building the City Hall. We had to feed 300 in an upstairs 3rd floor building while it was still in construction.
We had very little equipment but working in Dallas we had assistance from my previous banquet managers as well as staffing. We did Fajitas…hence that day we were introduced by phone to Sammy Hagar-The Red Rocker, we had used his Tequila Cabo Wabo to marinate the fajitas, his representative was so pleased with the meal he put a call to him, a month later we met Sammy Hagar who was performing at the Smirnoff Center and fed his entourage and we got a licensing permit from his company to use Cabo Wabo in our wording. We were the first company he ever has given permission. Little by Little our equipment and staff and contracts started to take shape. We have faith in the lord, when he closes one door he opens more.
In Denton we have hired homeless persons living at the Salvation Army to work for us, giving them hope and self-esteem back, we have had a few that do not work out but we have a few that are still with us after one year and have gotten their lives back, I was given an opportunity when I was a kid, we pay it forward, it always work out.
Our business is based on word of mouth, our web page gets high marks but we excel in service and quality, both food and presentation. We only get one shot in a wedding. We are the only Full Service Catering company the City of Denton has.
Please tell us about Vizcarra Hospitality.
We are proud to be Full Service Catering. What sets us apart are the following things. When we do tasting for weddings I go to the clients home and become their personal chef for 5 hours, bring them all equipment, linens to choose from. We offer at No Charge-FREE all china-glassware, silverware, linens. We own all our equipment. When the mothers of the brides hear this, they are stressed relieved because they do not want to deal with 5 more vendors. We offer bar packages with Free glassware and ice. Another big factor why they choose us and lastly, we make wedding cakes with attractive packages that include, china cake plates, silverware, cake stand for FREE.
Because we are Full Service, our kitchen chefs are graduates from the Culinary school making it easier for us to produce any cuisine, there are some exceptions. But what helps us the most is consistency in the product.
What I am most proud of the company is where we stand today, it has been a long road, I still have the wire chafer stands we did for our first contract for Trammel Crow. It reminds me all the time what we have accomplished. We have no managers on board, my chefs direct the events.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I remember my mother making dinners for the family on Sundays. The traditional sit down dinners, television sets were still black and white, I remember when we got the color one, we went nuts, we had no cell phones, no laptops, just family dinners. Our world has changed to a fast-paced commodity where my nieces do not know what a good home cooked meal is, all they know is Chick Fillet. I make it a point since they were all kids to cook for every birthday, my wife bakes their cake and now that they have kids on their own we do the same for their kids. I give back to our community, I am a strong believer that we will be judged in what we do on earth to help mankind. Our company motto is “We are honored to have served you.”
Contact Info:
- Address: 114 W. Congress Street
- Website: www.vizcarrahospitality.com
- Phone: 972-896-3036
- Email: chefvman@vizcarrahospitality.com
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