Today we’d like to introduce you to Horacio Toco Coutinho.
Horacio, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’ve always loved being close to the kitchen. I started approaching through my grandmothers who were immigrants from Europe and carried with them traditions and teachings about the art of cooking. In this way, my childhood was close to wood ovens, helping them to prepare bread, cakes, bagels, in addition to countless preparations with beef, pork, and other meats.
I continued from childhood to youth, still connecting with the production of fine sweets, through my mother who was Chef Pâtissier. With her, I refined my technique in more modern preparations that brought me closer to contemporary cuisine.
My professional experience began in 2008 when I opened my first restaurant in the city of Curitiba, Brazil. The restaurant was specialized in the roots of Brazilian cuisine, bringing a reinterpretation of dishes that touched the affective memory of customers. Thus, in less than a year we were named among the 3 best Brazilian cuisine restaurants, by the main specialized magazine in the country.
Years later, I sold the restaurant to a large chain and became the Executive Chef of that group, with more than 28 restaurants in its chain. Among the restaurants, I was Chef at Durski, one of the main European restaurants in Brazil, having won several stars in Guia 4 Rodas (a publication similar to the Michelin Guide in Brazil.)
During this period, I resumed my contact with European cuisine, as the restaurant specialized in Eastern European cuisine, in particular Poland and Ukraine. However, unlike the influence, I had from my grandmothers, with more familiar and simple presentations, at Durski we worked with haute cuisine.
Then I set up a network of restaurants specializing in artisanal sausages, reaching 30 operations spread throughout Brazil.
In 2018 I sold the company and moved to San Diego to take a 6-month sabbatical. I fell in love with the city and started structuring a new project that consisted of being the best Private Chef gastronomic experience that presented flavors that activated affective memories, also called Comfort Food.
Since then, I have held more than 500 events as a Private Chef, catering to the most diverse types of audience, recovering production processes that I learned throughout my journey, always valuing the quality of ingredients and extracting the best flavor that each food can offer, in addition to a variety of dishes that can trigger the affective memory of those who live or visit San Diego.
Alright, 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?
Since I got in San Diego, my life has been dedicated to the kitchen, and much of that dedication has put my love for my craft to the test. First of all, I needed to improve my language, because, for a gastronomic experience like this to happen, I needed to be able to connect with each of the customers.
Also, as is natural for an immigrant, I had to learn a lot about American culture. About your habits, your taste and the customs that surround each of the meals around here. And that’s not something you learn overnight. It took a lot of patience and determination.
And finally, moving to another country, in many ways my successful history in Brazil didn’t matter and it became necessary to start my career from scratch. One of these aspects is the Network.
To put my project into practice, more than just learning about the region, I needed to connect with people. That way, within the San Diego Craft Collective (a non-profit located inside Liberty Station) I started to conduct gastronomy courses.
In the courses, which had classes for both children and adults, I tried to connect everyone with the essence of cooking and with the importance of valuing each customer.
That way I started to have contact with more people and also cook for them.
After a while, I became a little more recognized and was invited to participate in a project on the Take a Chef website and also in an Airbnb pilot project, which opened several doors for me.
Those were the initial difficulties, but the difficulties never end, they just evolve along with us and constantly put my love of cooking to the test. And I always decide to move on.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a Private Chef, specializing in Comfort Food. I am recognized for working with products and recipes of extreme quality, which, through their flavor, send customers back to affective and deep memories.
I am very proud to be able today to translate all the gastronomy teachings I had since my childhood with my grandmothers, passing through my mother, the gastronomy school, and the various professional experiences I had, into outstanding flavors prepared with great attention, quality, and mostly affection.
The ability I have to connect customers with memories through flavors is not something easy to achieve. Mainly because customers are different every day and each one brings their own taste patterns, which are connected through diversified recipes. Achieving this is only possible with a lot of study on gastronomy and on the culture itself.
What are your plans for the future?
My plans for the future follow the path I’ve been treading. I intend to increasingly expand the diversity of options on my menus so that I can connect more and more the chemistry of cooking with the affective memory of customers.
In addition, I intend to follow the expansion of the business to North County and can take even further the plan to be the best private chef experience in the entire San Diego area.
Pricing:
- Average Price per person (10 people event) with appetizers, first course, main course, and dessert – U$ 140
Contact Info:
- Website: https://agonglobal.com/cheftocoexperience
- Instagram: @cheftoco
Image Credits
@camilabadarophoto
@ioprojectmedia
