Gustavo Gutierrez

GUSTAVO GUTIERREZ
Owner and Chef at Cubita Cafe
Associate in Applied Science, Culinary Arts, 2011

As a kid growing up in Hudson County, the “street life” was always attractive to me. “Everyone wanted to be a gangster.” I discovered the culinary program at Hudson County Community College in Jersey City. It was close to my home and had many accolades ranking it as one of the top culinary schools in the country. I signed up and while taking classes, started working at a restaurant called La Isla in Hoboken. After La Isla, I assisted in opening Son Cubano in West New York, followed by Le Cirque Manhattan, and eventually worked under the super-talented John Karangis for Danny Meyer. I then had the honor to work with Hell’s Kitchen winner Ariel Fox, opening and assisting her in over 15 restaurants across United Airlines Terminal C at EWR. After that, I went on to head to one of the most successful Kosher restaurants in the tri-state area, called The Ridge.

"Hudson was the base for everything I am today—it was the first step that made it all possible."

There, I established and operated the longest dry age program of any Kosher restaurant in the country and really broke some boundaries of what is considered kosher cuisine. In 2020, when the pandemic hit and I was quarantined at home and explored my creativity by thinking about my first memories of food: holidays in my family’s house, with everyone crowded around a counter, crimping empanadas with a fork. I thought to myself, how can I elevate this? I have never seen anyone make the empanada dough from scratch, and everyone closes them the same. So, I thought, “Great I’m going to make the dough and close it completely different.” I made 13 empanadas in the first round. I posted a picture of one on my Instagram, and my wife and I proceeded to split that empanada. As we were eating, the DMs started to come in. “Hey, can I buy some?” I sold the other 12 and set up shop. Suddenly, I was now slinging empanadas out of a two-car garage all through the pandemic. The buzz was so great. After our healthy baby was born, the pandemic died down a bit, I decided that maybe it was time to go back to my Cuban roots after all. We opened a storefront in Nutley, NJ in January 2021 and I found one of my greatest blessings in rediscovering myself in my Cuban culture.

How did your time at HCCC prepare for your career/life now?

HCCC didn’t just teach me how to cook, they taught me how to look at any food business as a whole, from costing and statistical guidelines in Dr. Karakashian’s (Dr. K) class to managing front of house in Mr. Moruzzi’s class, the program really gave me an understanding for the importance of the flow of the entire restaurant not just the quality and production of the food.

What factors led you to decide to attend Hudson Community College?

I really wanted to attend The Culinary Institute of America (CIA); however, the tuition was astronomical. When I did research, I learned that most of the professors from HCCC were all graduates from either CIA or Johnson and Wales. I knew I could get the same education for a fraction of the cost.

What advice would you give to recent HCCC graduates?

Find your passion; don’t let anyone tell you that if you don’t work fine dining that you aren’t a real chef. There are different niches in this field. Find your niche and make it all your own.