Meet Ulisses Souza | Chef/Restauranteur

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

Hi Ulisses, we’d love to start by asking you about lessons learned. Is there a lesson you can share with us?
I think the most important lesson on any business is never stop learning and studying new ways to work it out. We just came out of a pandemic and we learned a lot during those days. We had to look for different ways to reach new customers and better ways for us to serve our clientele during those times. If you don’t learn to reinvent yourself and adapt, you’re not going to be successful in the long term. Especially during difficult times, innovation becomes very important. I remember during the pandemic we had a database of customers, and we had an employee texting those customers to notify them that we were open and that we could deliver the food so they knew that we were there for them. We learned new lessons, adopted our menu, pricing and safety rules.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I immigrated to the United States when I was 15, and I have been in the restaurant business since that time. I originally worked in a Latin restaurant, which is where my passion began. I started working as a dishwasher. By the time I was 17, I knew how to do pretty much anything you can imagine in this business, from serving tables to evaluating food costs for plates.
I often work as a personal chef for Brazilian celebrities. I really enjoy exploring the fusion of creating something that feels like home while being taken to another level. This is something I want everyone to experience.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
lL Paesano

This place is a little Italian market/restaurant, It’s one of those places that feels more like eating at a friend’s house than a restaurant. It’s definitely a place I would take a friend and recommend to anyone.
The owners and staff are always friendly and knowledgeable.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My shoutout goes to everyone in my life that has helped me grow and encouraged me all these years. I definitely want to give a shoutout to my family for always being very supportive. Also, I would like to give a shout out to my first boss in the restaurant business, Nora Carmona, who saw something in me since the beginning, something that at that time I didn’t see in myself. She always told me to never settle and never stop learning and growing. She gave me more and more responsibility as time went on and taught me many things that have helped me get to where I am today.

Website: https://www.ulissessouza.com

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