Today we’d like to introduce you to Ravyn Alexander.
Hi Ravyn, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Well, I have been cooking since I was 12 years old. Honestly, growing up I dreamt of being a food critic, then it all changed to just a chef because I found my passion in food and loving to cook. I used to make simple dishes including tacos, porch chops, potatoes, and mixed vegetables. I kind of feel like I am another version of my grandma after her passing in 2005. When she was alive, I basically spent every day with her and all she did was cook all day. She would cook meals every day like it was Thanksgiving. She would also feed people on the street she lived on. My grandma had a big loving heart. She never let anyone in the kitchen while she was cooking and wouldn’t let anyone see how she cooked any meal. But, when the food was ready and done I would always be the first one dying to eat. My progress over the years is crazy. I went from cooking frozen packaged foods here and there when I was hungry. But as time went on and my passion for cooking expanded I started doing more from scratch (homemade) meals.
As I started getting better with the meals I cooked, it made me want to keep going with the cooking career. I would let friends try my food and get good feedback. My senior picnic in high school (2016) I brought enchiladas that I made to the picnic and everybody attacked me for them and was telling me to bring more the next day. I grew deeper with my passion once my mom gave me the push by putting me in a culinary arts program after graduating high school in 2018, in which I accomplished and graduated. The program was four months and I earned two certifications once I graduated, which included my “serve safe management” and “chef assistant” in 2019. Once I started selling plates, I did a test run to see how it would go and my first pop-up shop I sold around 200+ plates and was very happy and impressed with myself. After that I started my own food business “Cravin’Ravyn” and I kept going with making different things and one day I found my specialty which is Chicken Alfredo Stuffed Shells. A lot of people go crazy over those. I cater parties, gender reveals, private dinners and other special events. Also, I service in meal preps. I just recently did a video collab with L.A.‘s most known Storm Debarge. We did a cooking one-on-one. I had so much fun and I am very blessed to work with popular and creative people in this world.
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?
It has not been a smooth road but it has been a journey that has had a few challenges that I do not regret. Managing a chef life along with personal issues as my health. I am a kidney survivor who has had a lot of emergency visits, in and out of the hospital going days/weeks being as strong as I can be but I love being a resilient person. I like to show people that no matter what’s going on within life, we all can do whatever we set our minds to. Nothing is perfect, we have lessons that we learn from but long as we don’t give up and keep going we can achieve.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Cravin’Ravyn is actually named after myself that my mom came up with. Basically, its meaning behind it is that no matter what I cook, you will always want to come back for more. I try my best to be very versatile and not just give one culture of food. I specialize right now in pasta. I have my own pasta maker to where I actually make pasta in different styles and come up with different flavors. What sets me apart from others is that you can tell I make my food with love and I am very focused when it comes to perfecting my craft. If something is not good to me, I will not sell it, I will make it until it’ is good to me. I tend to know when an important ingredient is missing from a recipe. Right now I am most proud of a very recent event I did on August 27th, 2022. I put together a “cookout” to promote myself with my business more and I had made five different foods and everyone who came wore a shirt with my brand name on it and we all had a good bonding time. I am working towards my own restaurant or food truck one day so I can grow and get more clientele. My business is a very affordable and fast service. I provide meal preps, birthday catering, private dinners and any other special events.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
The way people can work with me is by putting together an event where either they do something in the culinary field as well and we can both get a bigger audience like saying as if someone bakes and I cook or someone else cooks like me then we can do a duo pop up shop. I accept collaborations by simply messaging me on my business page and letting me know their ideas of what they want to put together and I compromise with whoever wants to work with me. People can simply support me by booking me for services or reposting my work or just giving feedback so I can make room for improvement if needed.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Cravinravyn
- Twitter: Cravin_ravyn
- Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCmqHdNqxdUWdwWsgEbeU49g/videos
Image Credits
Instagram: @therdchild for the first 2 pictures
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