Daily Inspiration: Meet Jonathan Gonzalez

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonathan Gonzalez.

Hi Jonathan, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
“Started from the bottom now I’m here”, Literally. At seventeen, a friend set me up with a dishwashing job at our local family restaurant, Mr. Willy’s located in Monticello NY, to help keep me out of trouble. (Forever grateful Dom) Working my way to being a line cook, the chaos drew me farther and deeper into the life of the industry… No matter how injured I got or how busy it was, I always came back for more. I was addicted to the fast pace, foul language, HOT temperatures of the environment.

Eventually, after some college courses for accounting while still working in the industry in one position or another, I realized my true passion was in the culinary hospitality field. So, off to culinary school, I went to learn and hone my skills at the Art Institute of NYC, where I learned basic culinary techniques and hospitality management. I’ve learned from great chef instructors all teaching me what would eventually become very particular qualities such as cleanliness, hygiene and most importantly, “Mise en place”. Having everything in its place has become the most crucial lesson I’ve learned, carried about from kitchen to kitchen. Without it, the weeds would be thick and heavy, making it extremely hard to climb out of.

The best experience came hands-on when I started working in kitchens around the city. Putting the basics from culinary school to the test! From picking up my speed at the pizza station to organizing my tasks working garde manager. Tightening my skills and patience as a baker and learning the fragile techniques of meat fabrication and breaking down whole carcass, one whole lamb at a time. I worked every station imaginable to learn as much as I possibly could.

Between restaurants and schooling, I worked part-time as a catering apprentice, where I learned even more from a handful of other amazing chefs. The tenuous passion of quantity food making. Working large events with guests of a few hundred to the thousands at universities across the city and tossing omelettes for thousand of people at a PGA tournament. I’ve learned the art of consistency and fine attention to detail.

During this time is when I met my wife, Nicole. Starting as friends. She introduced me to more ethnic foods than I was accustomed to and opened my palette to a new world of flavors. We shared our dreams and stories and eventually leading into a deeper, more passionate relationship. Her creativity for food far outshined my own at the time, as I was always a more technical person in the kitchen. We developed an everlasting bond over food and hospitality.

About three years later, we moved here to California, where we turned our dream and passion into reality. Starting a family of our own, our children, Chloe Madison and Niko James had become our motivation. Nicole, switching over to registered nursing and now nurse practitioner and myself working in a catering kitchen in Temecula for some years before deciding it was finally time to start our own thing, James Madison Catering was born. Officially starting in 2013 and as most small businesses, it didn’t last and unfortunately failed in 2015. But we never gave up our dream, and eventually relicensed and rebranded ourselves as James Madison L.L.C, in 2020 a catering company based in Riverside California. With the help of many, we have grown faster than imagined and now in full gear and fully dedicated into making this last for years to come, a legacy to leave behind for our kids.

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?
Like any small business, we have had many obstacles. At the very start, in 2013, we were trying to build the company while still working full-time. So scheduling events and being able to fully dedicate our time was the hardest. Especially being in another kitchen, you’re expected to sacrifice your time. Time for yourself and family, holidays, and weekends are lost. We lost a lot of potential clients. Not being able to dedicate that time for our business was hard and made us feel like we weren’t ready. Doing it ourselves was Hard! Thinking we can do it ourselves was another hard lesson learned. Coming from New York with the blood sweat and tears it cost me personally, gave me an ego, thinking I didn’t need anyone to help me with what I thought I knew. Now we have a wonderful network of like-minded entrepreneurs and industry people who share our passion of the industry. This time around, we are ALL IN!

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Our career paths have brought us here to California with one simple goal: Curate an elevated personalized dining experience for our guests with hospitable service and seasonal menus with global flavors.

Most of my culinary background has been in Mediterranean/ middle eastern cuisines. Nicole, in French and Asian cuisines. From fine dining restaurants and catering in New York City to the hills of Temecula Ca. We have learned a great deal of flavors, styles of cooking and hospitality toward our guests to create our personalized chef experience. Between that and our passion of going out to experience a variety of dining experiences ourselves, learning from others has helped us curate these experiences we offer our own guests.

Personally, I love creating a personable relationship with our clients, being friends for the time we have their company, some longer than others. We want them to feel confident and comfort with knowing their event is in the right hands.

What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
As much as I’m still learning along the way, I always hold the fact that You can’t build a business by yourself. You need like-minded people you can trust and who share the same values, principles, and qualities of work. Ones who can help build your dream and see your vision. Communication for this is key.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jamesmadisoncatering.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesmadisoncatering/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JamesMadisonCatering/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/james-madison-catering-riverside?uid=bnFczp9WWf207DY3Tv_LjA&utm_source=ishare