Cooking and food were always big in Rosa Vicioso Gonzalez’s life, but the desire to become a chef hit her by surprise.
An even bigger surprise was getting a financial boost from one of the world’s most famous chefs who lives right here in Connecticut.
“I’ve always had food in my life and being able to feed people has always been a big thing in my life,” she said. “I think food brings people comfort.”
Gonzalez’s mom, who is from the Dominican Republic, always had a five-course meal cooked for Rosa and her two brothers and their friends when they arrived home from school in Hartford, Gonzalez said.
“People knew to come to my house,” for a meal, Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez, 32, who moved here with her family when she was 10 years old, spent summers helping her chef mom in the restaurant where she worked for years.
Gonzalez said she also grew up in a church where they regularly cooked and distributed meals in the community.
But it wouldn’t be until many work years in another field that Gonzalez realized cooking was her “passion.”
She was working at a care taking facility for the challenged and her job “evolved” into cooking, she said.
“That inspired me,” she said.
She realized cooking was her calling, but culinary school wasn’t an option because of the cost.
So a determined Gonzalez decided to piece together her own set of credentials in a way less costly than culinary school.
Described as having “grit”, she joined the Forge City Works workforce development program for people in Hartford who have barriers to employment.
Then, in the midst of that program, Gonzalez landed a coveted spot in the Disney College program for culinary.
But how would she pay for the move to Florida?
Then came just the surprise financial boost she needed to pursue the dream.
She received a $5,000 Gloria Pepin Memorial Grant from the The Jacques Pépin Foundation. The late Gloria Pepin was the wife of legendary chef Jacques Pepin.
Jacques Pépin stands in the walkway to the kitchen that he built behind his Madison home for filming purposes. (Shahrzad Rasekh/CT Mirror)
Foundation Executive Director Rollie Wesen, who is married to the Pepins’ daughter, said Gloria was of Puerto Rican and Cuban descent and overcame many challenges. The award goes to to someone who reminds them of Gloria, Wesen said.
“Rosa Vicioso Gonzalez is a shining example of the determination, creativity, and generosity that the Jacques Pépin Gloria Pépin Memorial Grant seeks to honor,” he said. “Rosa’s commitment to honing her craft while giving back to others reflects the heart of our mission: using culinary education as a catalyst for personal growth and community impact.”
Wesen added that Gloria wasn’t a chef, but was an excellent cook.
Pepin, who would go on to write many books on cooking and become a celebrity in America didn’t have an easy time of it himself in the beginning, but would go on to cook for three French presidents and become a celebrity chef in America.
According to Courant archives, he grew up in war-torn France, at a time when his mother, also a professional cook, concocted desserts with crushed eggshells. Pépin left school and home at age 13 to become an apprentice in a kitchen that followed the strict brigade system created by Auguste Escoffier.
Pépin worked his way from station to station, mastering everything from butchery to sauces. For many years he was unable to afford to eat in the restaurants where he labored.
Becky McGuigan, associate director of Forge City Works, said Gonzalez has “a lot of passion, determination, grit,” and deserves the honor.
“She is determined to succeed and overcome challenges by pushing through,” McGuigan said.
Gonzalez moved to Florida in August to pursue building her resume at Disney.
“The grant money really comes at a perfect time,” Gonzalez said. “I was really surprised when I got the award.”
Her resume-building four-month training program at Disney has begun in Epcot.
At Epcot she’s experiencing cuisine from all over world, both serving it as part of a food and wine festival and working in kitchen.
“It’s an on-the-job thing,” she said. “I’m working at Disney to improve my skills.”
Gonzalez isn’t sure if she wants to stay in Florida once the program ends.
“My goal is I would like to own my own establishment,” she said.”Right now I’m looking to get as much knowledge as I can from every restaurant. I want to explore and learn.”
