Today we’d like to introduce you to Rocio Vargas.
Rocio, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Although I’ve been helping my mother cook since I was a little girl. I feel like my story begins on July 2012. I had landed my second gig as a line cook for a hotel. I had learned French, Italian, and Mediterranean Cuisine all thanks to some amazing chefs one in particular, named Chris Tong, I was prepared with enough tools to work at this place. (the hotel)
It would be this place that would lead me to becoming the Chef I am today for Canna Chicago. I worked at the hotel for some time where I had the pleasure of cooking for Betty White and for some of Chicago Blackhawks events. I was working long gruesome hours. The perk was working with a great team and having good mentors. I was quickly promoted to the stand alone restaurant as a lead line cook and it was there where ideas of creating dishes formed. I was asked to come up with a daily “Chef’s Special” and my first dish to ever make it on a menu was these goofy little “Italian pinwheels” which sound like what they were.
During that time my family was in the process of losing our family home since being affected by the housing crisis. Forcing the hand to move, and leave everything, we desperately moved into my father’s friend’s house. Just like that our house gone, and initially what was supposed to be “few months until we can get our feet back up” turned into 3.5 almost 4 years. My dad had begun to get sick–unknown to me at the time, it was there where most of my current depression would stem from.
I was consumed with work and taking care of “business” as they say “working hard and playing extra hard.” I was working for a private chef company in addition to the hotel and I was very unhappy with where I was. I was in a turmoil within myself, I was trying to figure out where I wanted to go with this career. In December 2012 I decided to quit my private chef gig and go couch surfing. I was devastated by having to leave our home, and not being in the most ideal living situation along with having my dad sick, I basically rebelled and suppressed my emotions by traveling. First stop New York City. I had the most amazing experience there great food especially Turkish. I traveled to Philly had some of the best Chaat and I still think of that small little cafe that sold it.
I left the hotel in Oct 2013 and decided to become part of an MLM. I was disheartened and unmotivated to continue my path as a chef after being passed up for a promotion to a “friend of the chefs.” I started a podcast on Spreaker (which deleted all the files due to inactivity) and a website called, “Life is Messy” where I would speak about inspirational videos, discussions, and people. I made a few you tube videos telling people how to live their best lives, (when I was living in my car or on a friends’ couch.) I was fortunate enough to go to 12 different states in less than 2 years. I shoved all my emotions aside by eating amazing meals getting to know food and going where the wind would take me. All while promoting this MLM company “living the dream” as they say. I was living off my 401K withdrawals from 2012-2014 I was smarter when I was younger apparently lol the reason I mention this is because I only had the opportunity to travel and go where I pleased was because I had those savings. I was doing the podcast, travelling and eventually the money ran out.
I was forced to move back to my parents’ house (which was my father’s friend’s house) I buckled down and revisited the idea of being a chef again. Ideas never stopped coming, I would still write down recipes or dishes I felt would pair and complement one another. I decided to put myself on the market for a line cook position, however, what ended up happening I started dog walking. I accompanied my friend to her gig one day and her employer was seeking an immediate position and I started walking dogs. In July 2014 I was dog sitting and looking out this window overlooking Michigan Ave. thinking about how I wanted to get back into cooking I decided to put my resume out and within a week I was hired as a banquet chef for Chicago White Sox ballpark. I was in baseball heaven and probably a kitchen nightmare. Having to walk from one kitchen to the next was probably the worst part–let me tell you, a ball park isn’t small and having to deliver food to one side of the field to the other was always fun. I liked meeting some of the players. I was fortunate enough to work for the Diamond Club members, Scouts Lounge, and VIP section. Things where just ok. My dad’s health was not the greatest. He was in and out of hospitals and one appointment after the next. I worked at the ball park for a few months before getting bored of it. I wanted to be more focused on my family but still, I rebelled.
I started working for another well-known place in Chicago as a line cook (Three Aces) I learned how to master, the pizza dough, whole animals’ roasts, and gourmet burgers. I had a lot to learn. I was lucky enough to get a promotion and was transferred over to their sister restaurant Charlatan known to me as the handmade pasta house. I was grinding. Learning new techniques, plating styles and hand rolling pasta. Truly honing in on the farm to table concept and getting the discipline I needed. Again, the hours where just terrible. I pushed on through and within a year I was promoted to Sous Chef. This wouldn’t happen until after my dad’s passing. I was living in Humboldt Park August 2015 and I remember that week, my sister had visited my dad a few days prior and she called me suggesting that I’d visit my father in Mexico. (He was given a week left to live in July of 2015 and he fled to his homeland against doctors’ orders and after setting up the in house hospice care–his health was complete shit) I was skeptical of leaving my newly position and decided to listen to my sister and booked a flight that same day she called me. I was scheduled to leave as an emergency to give him my final goodbye. I never made it. He passed away the same day my flight out to Mexico. My mom says, he passed away peacefully. I arrived to my father’s funeral and I really didn’t know what to think. What was initially a 3 day visit turned into weeks in Mexico. Luckily my job was still waiting for me when I got back. I went to work on creating dishes. My dad passed away on Aug.26, 2015 and it really did change me. It changed the way I perceived my goals and what I wanted out of life. I also became massively depressed and started drinking very bad. I was working at being a Sous Chef but it all came to a halt shortly after March 2017 when we were given the news of the restaurant closing. A weeks noticed to be exact. I was dealt with decision I wasn’t quite ready for. I had a nice position and it was all derailed. I took a short mental break and decided to go to Michigan. I wanted to be alone. After a two month break I landed a line cook position for a Bibb Gourmand restaurant in Chicago. There I learned more fine dining techniques and plating techniques. I had taken two steps back and accepted a line cook position and I was completely miserable. I was unhappy with not being the one creating the dishes. I was unhappy with the late night hours again and low pay. I had good people around me that showed me a lot. It would be there where I would revisit my love for creating dishes. I started to get this idea of working for myself. I wanted to wake up and not have a boss. I wanted to set my own hours and really decide what I cook and how I plate it. I used my time spent there honing in on just that. I started to cook for clients who sought me out based on my Linkedin profile. I told myself, this could work. You could start working for yourself and see where it goes. So on August of 2017 I decided to do a soft launch for the concept known today as CannaChicago dining+pleasure. I was still working at the restaurant but had one foot out the door, the deal breaker was when I realized I was not going to get promoted and partnerships with restaurant owners had dissolved. After working there for a short 9 months I decided to take the leap and go full throttle on my concept. Chef driven fine dining cannabis experiences. I was a huge cannabis smoker throughout my entire career so why not mix my two passions and see what come from it. The soft launch was such a huge success I decided to go public and officially had CannaChicago dining+pleasure’s first dinner experience in February 2018 in loving memory of my dad and sort of like “coming out of the weed closet.” Fast forward to present day August 2018, CannaChicago has had well over 5 events and counting, I’ve been invited to the James Beard Awards to cook for amazing guests, I was a featured Cannabis Chef for an online magazine/blog, I’ve been invited to speak to medical cannabis patients and assist them with their canna-cuisine meals. I’m in the process of taking this concept to other states like Colorado, Florida, Texas and New York and it’s only the beginning. I’m barely getting started and I don’t know where I’m headed from here but it sure is somewhere “high” literally and figuratively.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has not been a smooth road at all. Some of the struggles are working with other people whom have ulterior motives and are trying to screw you over. Finances, people think you have money and try to wine and dine you until they find out you don’t have access to the biggest cannabis cultivation farm or money. Legal issues. Fighting depression most of all. There are days where I really don’t want to get up. I don’t want to do anything. I want to just close my eyes and not bother with waking up. I fight through it all. I show up the next day someway, somehow.
CannaChicago Dining+Pleasure – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
CannaChicago dining+pleasure is a unique chef driven social experience created by Chef Rocio Vargas, “so that it challenges your aesthetics by infusing culinary arts, visual arts and cannabis.” We curate and design custom culinary experiences in order to help destigmatize the average “stoner” and initiate thought provoking conversations around the dinner table. Because the DNA of the magical experiences are unmapped, these events will evolve, month to month, season to season, place to place and plate to plate. Our goal is to create unique chef driven dinners, events, and products to help raise awareness of the medical benefits of cannabis and to help diminish the stigma of your average “stoner”. I am a Chef and I specialize in creating unique meals easily replicated at home. I am proud that as a company we are still growing and evolving. It is a fairly new concept and most people are still skeptical about cannabis. I believe what sets me apart is my unique flavor combinations. I have influences from all my travels and being able to combine spices from Turkey and India or, Italian and Latin. Not to mention I don’t think in Illinois there is another canna-catering and events company. I am a minority woman hoping to set myself apart by continuously having my “high-dining” events.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
You know I always thought success was sitting at the top with all the money and you being able to do anything you want. Now, I would say that success is YOUR main accomplishment or aim or purpose and attaining said goal. To me, success is focused attention and deliberate action. Success is being able to get up from bed after fighting with your brain telling you to not to. Success isn’t about how much money you make, it’s about the difference you make in people’s lives. Success to me is a journey and not a destination, it is impermanent and infinite.
Pricing:
- 6-Course Seated Dinner $110. per person
- Coffee+Cannabis Flight Pairing $50.
- Custom Private Events/Private Chef Services $300 and above
Contact Info:
- Website: https://cannachicago.co
- Email: info@cannachicago.co
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/cannachicago
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/cannachicago
Image Credit:
Alex Villagomez
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