Meet Mario Franco | Chef Mario Franco

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mario Franco and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mario, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I really wanted a platform where I could showcase my style of food but opening a restaurant wasn’t an option financially. then I decided to advertise my style of cuisine and offered services to come to peoples homes and cook for them there. My services include a free consultation to discuss the type of cuisine and dinner setting the client is looking for, then I create a custom menu based on what we discussed. From there I go grocery shopping and select locally grown organic produce and utilize local meats as well. I then go to the clients home cook the desired meal and clean up leaving the clients kitchen just how I found it!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
My business is called Chef at Your Steps and I service Fort Collins, Co and surrounding areas. What sets me apart from others I believe is my style of cuisine witch is progressive cooking. I feel it adds another element to your dinner experience and more interactive to where the client is welcomed to ask questions about anything and made to feel apart of the meal! Getting to where I am today was a hurdle but I think the biggest thing i had to do is just commit and take a leap of faith and just trust everything will workout in my favor, and for the most part it has. At first it was very difficult to even get anyone to listen but after a few times cooking for clients and posting pictures of the end results people were able to envision what I aim to bring and that is a memorable and delicious meal. lessons I’ve learned along the way are that you cant do it all by yourself, its ok to ask for help and admit you are wrong. What I want other people to know about my brand and story is that you don’t need to go to culinary school or learn from the best chefs in the world to cook delicious high quality food! Its all about the hard work and dedication, staying up late messing up recipes and starting again to get the perfect result!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to give a shout out to Choice City Butcher and Deli in Fort Collins. They gave me so much freedom to create the dishes I love and host multi course dinners to showcase my menus!

Website: chefatyoursteps@gmail.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chef.mario?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088709501522