Meet Jake Alcoseba

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jake Alcoseba a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jake, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

I feel like although I’ve made strides to overcome, there is always a remnance of it. What helps me to reaffirm myself and my skills are my customers. Seeing my customers enjoying their dishes, their positive feedback, and the customers who return, that really pushes me forward in my business.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I own and operate the only Filipino food truck in Fresno, California. What I find the most exciting is the opportunity to share my culture through my food. I like to extend the hospitality and love of my Filipino people whenever I can while I am working at different locations, from big city events down to my favorite local pub. I keep my menu on a rotation in a way that I can continue to introduce a variety of dishes to my customers, some of whom have never even had FIlipino cuisine before visiting us.
What I would like people to know about my culinary background is that it was important to me to have work and traveled in countries that had an influence on Filipino food. I began my training in Spain, from there I worked in Taiwan, and finally back to the homeland of the Philippines. While in the Philippines I ran a French Bistro, Cafe Curieux, worked in one of Manila’s most elite restaurants, Vask, and finally helped open a restaurant in El Nido, Local Provisions. After coming back home to the US, I took the leap to open my food truck business.
I love to keep things fresh, so we strive to have at least 3-4 events per month in addition to our regular spots. I also am working on an updated menu for my permanent items and catering for this holiday season. We are experiencing a very hot summer, which is pushing us to launch a new online ordering service, that may be in place before publishment!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

My first would be interpersonal skills, because being able to clearly and positively communicate with the back of the house (chefs, cooks, etc) to the front of the house (hosts, waiters, etc) and of course to the customers is a crucial skill to learn and maintain to successfully and smoothly run a business.
My second would be an attitude of willingness and eagerness to take on old and new tasks. Being able to overcome repetitiveness or fear of different duties/tasks comes down to an attitude of being comfortable while uncomfortable.
My third would be to be observant. When I began I had no formal training nor attended a culinary school. I went into the kitchen hungry, no pun intended. I was constantly watching and listening to those around me while I was in the kitchen. If my trainer wasn’t showing me how to do something, I made sure to follow the guy who was performing skills I wanted to learn.
On advice, first things first, make sure you like to work at a restaurant. You have to be okay with long hours on your feet, the heat of the kitchen, and maybe getting reprimanded at times. It’s a tough industry, but at the end of the day you have to remind yourself you’re feeding people because you want to.

Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?

There is a book titled The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating by Fergus Henderson that helped in my development by showcasing the versatility of an animals anatomy, for example the off-cuts of the meat and how they are used. It gave me a better in-depth look of cooking beyond the pork chop.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://eljabalito.godaddysites.com/
• Instagram: el.jabalito
• Facebook: El Jabalito Food Truck
• Other: Linktree; https://linktr.ee/el.jabalito?utm_source=linktree_profile_share&ltsid=0ac52369-abe0-454f-9f8c-13e2db8169ab