The Flavor Merchants 

Love the Kitchen Heat

Chefs Mercedes Oliveras and Victor Merced
get ready to serve their pièce de résistance: Paella.
 Courtesy of The Flavor Merchants

IN good times and bad times, celebration is a part of life. And what kind of celebration would it be without food! But being able to entertain and also feed a crowd can sometimes drive a host or hostess to distraction, which is why catering is such a popular service.
YOU don't have to travel far to find a caterer in Puerto Rico where most restaurants are only too glad to provide the service. Another option is hiring an individual caterer and to find one your best bet is to ask around; sooner or later someone will lead you in the right direction. Food preparation is an art form and not without its dangers, what with foodborne illnesses so prevalent nowadays, so make sure the caterer you select has the proper licenses and food safety training.
AND then there is The Flavor Merchants, three partners with plenty of experience in the food industry (a combined 60-years worth), enthusiasm and passion for food: Corinne Font, Victor Merced, and Mercedes Oliveras. The team handles corporate and private events: galas, social gatherings, cocktail parties, you name it. It even offers seminars and workshops on everything food and beverage related.
"WE really thrive when people are happy" said Oliveras, a CIA graduate (not that CIA, but the Culinary Institute of America based in New York City) whose career credits include working as executive chef at the San Juan Grand Hotel and Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Her last job was overseeing the operations of Ponte Fresco, a popular restaurant operator with seven eateries in the San Juan metropolitan area. She is also a certified Kosher chef and has an amazing knack for remembering past menus which, she says, is easy "if the menu means a lot to you."
ONE of The Flavor Merchants' specialties is paella, that spectacular one-dish sensation from Valencia, Spain, in which rice boogies with seafood or meats. The team cooks it right in your own home and serves it in the traditional "paellera," a stainless steel, porcelain enameled flat pan manufactured in Spain. Or you might opt for a parillada (grilled meats) or a buffet menu. There are plenty of menu options for clients who also benefit from the team's advice regarding what is best to serve at a particular event. 
NO catering is too small, or too big, for the Flavor Merchants who have no trouble whipping a dinner for a group of 10 or 20 people, a breakfast for 300, or feeding a few thousand people at a product sampling. "We work with all budgets," said Merced, a graduate of the Puerto Rico Hotel School who went on to work in hotels and, in the 1990s, sharpened his business skills by running a business called The Spice of Life. Catering prices range from "$12 per person up to $500 per person, it all depends on what the client chooses," he added.
SINCE prepping for an affair can take up to a week, all three partners make sure to divide chores and get additional staff to help out (When not pitching in with the cooking, Font's main task is handling customer service. Her career credits include working for the exclusive Sheraton Bal Harbour Beach Resort in Miami). Large catered meals are cooked at the company's own kitchen in Caimito which is equipped with an oversize, stainless steel Vulcan stove (two ovens and 12 burners!), and then ferried over to the party. "I like to work against the clock," said Merced, a man who smiles easily and projects an easy-going manner. Is he that cool in the kitchen? Seems so. " "There is always stress in the kitchen but you have to be objective in how you deal with it. In reality, " he said, " we take turns between the three of us in handling stress ."
DESPITE the slow economy, Merced is pleased at the way word-of-mouth publicity is helping to attract new clients, even from beyond Puerto Rico. Like the statesider who recently hired the company to cater a wedding that will take place on the island in the fall. And though only a year and a half has gone by since The Flavor Merchants got off the ground, the trio is already working on its most ambitious endeavor up to date: launching a line of sauces, food seasonings, and dressings featuring Puerto Rican ingredients and bearing the company name. For these three amigos, the kitchen is definitely not too hot!


The Flavor Merchants 787.791.6904 www.flavormerchantspr.webs.com

At the Tate Museum in London
Photograph by Jack Bierschenk

Can life still have meaning despite insignificance? Does personal meaning have more power than cosmic insignificance? Is that really what it's about, the triumph of personal meaning over cosmic insignificance, for one brief heartbeat?  -- Comedian Bill Santiago  

                                                                                                                                    

PIOMU: THE ECO FRIENDLY KID STORE

In the cloth versus disposable diaper debate, the jury is still out. In the meantime, those who opt for going green have a resource in PIOMU, a store in Garden Hills Plaza that retails the gdiapers brand which combines a washable outer pant in a gamut of colors ($17.99) and two types of inserts: 100% biodegradable, or washable. While somewhat costlier than regular diapers, washable inserts --available in different sizes at a cost of $30 for a 6-pack -- can be used again and again which means you save money, according to Glorimar Ripoll, who started PIOMU as a web store in 2009 and inaugurated the physical location in April this year. Gdiapers are free of plastic, chlorine, latex, or perfume. The biodegradable refills (also available in different sizes and packs) are flushable and cost $15.
The store also sells clothing, bedding, food and toys, primarily aimed at babies and toddlers. Products are mostly made out of organic products or recycled materials. " I was inspired by a genuine desire to provide safe and healthy alternatives for children," says Ripoll in a statement found on her company website. An information technology professional, she founded the company with her husband Luis Benitez, an electrical engineering grad from MIT who works as a consultant and social software "evangelist." "Most people are not aware of the presence of toxic chemicals (in children's products) and the dangers they pose to the health of children."
PIOMU (Spanish for the sounds made respectively 
by a chick and a cow) donates 1% of its sales to environmental
organizations. "Our vision is to provide children with
optimal development

This cute pig is made of
organic maple wood.
PIOMU, $6.99
 

opportunities that minimize our impact on the planet's resources and the incidence of childhood
disorders caused by exposure to toxics found in some common children products. And of course, we want them to have fun!"


PIOMU 1365 Luis Vigoreaux Ave. Garden Hills Plaza 787.273.1337 www.piomu.com

Photograph by Denise Blasor
Cooking is like love. It should be
entered into with abandon or
not at all. 
Harriet Van Horne

Copyright 2011 © Lorraine Blasor All Rights Reserved