Today we’d like to introduce you to Eric Zamudio
Hi Eric, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I went to culinary school right out of highschool and have been cooking ever since. I have work experience in Florida working for Walt Disney World and also High end restaurants under Marriott & Ritz Carlton. I was lucky enough to travel all over the World developing and working on my food knowledge and skills.
I trained for awhile and saved all my money for many years in Florida. Once I felt confident in my skills and abilities, I then decided to moved back to my home town to open my own business. I bought my Family’s 17 acre estate and started building my first business which was Country Cottage & Gardens. I had to build this business from literally the ground up. I had to self teach myself many skills including running a small business, construction, and the ins and outs of planning weddings. With next to no budget, I personally did most of the construction to create a place where couples can get married and have the full wedding experience. Our services included cottage rentals, wedding ceremonies & receptions, wedding planning, catering etc… We did it all for them.
I have been trying since the beginning to get to a place where I could open my own restaurant. After many years of Country Cottage & Gardens, I finally found the resources to take the next step towards my dream. I noticed an opportunity downtown to be able to build my restaurant. But it wasn’t without turmoil and struggle. I had to once again self teach myself the ins and outs of being able to put together another business but this time it was a large scale project in the heart of downtown. I spent my entire life savings (which wasn’t enough) and all my time, personally building the restaurant. With a low budget, I did all the work that was legal for me to do so and acted as a foreman contracting the rest of what was necessary. After I was exhausted and out of money we finished the restaurant only to find out that our elevator wouldn’t be acceptable. Therefore with no money we had to finance and tear out the existing elevator and find out how to retrofit another new elevator into a historic building.
But throughout it all I persisted through and finally managed to open the restaurant. We started slow and then started gaining momentum. Once we finally got to a place where we were making money, Covid hit. Of course that was a huge blow that sent us back to the beginning. We unfortunately had to shut down and it was a scary time for us. We made the most of it and our community supported so we managed to do ok throughout the closures and limitations and on once again opened.
After Covid, its been smooth sailing and we are becoming more and more busy everyday! I’m thankful to finally be in a position to be able to cook good food and make people happy with 2 growing businesses!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m an entrepreneur, but above all else I’m a chef. I love creating things and making food that will inspire people or make them happy. We have a very busy burger night in which we take something as simple as a burger and elevate it to become a gourmet dining experience. I think what makes me different to a lot of chefs is I think of the customer before myself. Of course I want to cook food that I want to cook, but above all else, I make sure I’m cooking food that people want to eat and crave.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I’m definitely a risk taker. I wouldn’t be anywhere near where I am without having taken the risks that I have. I take small risks all the time but on each important step of my life I’ve risked everything I had to advance myself. I went all in at least 3 times in my life. I was never guaranteed any success with any of the decisions I’ve made throughout my life and multiple times I nearly lost it all. I guess, in my head, the only thing that justified so many huge risks was that I knew I would be betting on myself. I knew that I would never give up until I achieved my goals, no matter how hard it was. That’s what made it all possible, and that’s why it was worth the risk.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.craftbistroandlounge.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/craft_newphiladelphia
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/craftbistroandlounge
