Meet Rayme Rossello of Comida in The Stanley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rayme Rossello.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Rayme. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started waiting tables at 16 in my home town of NYC. It was a fast and dirty way to get to know an industry I would end up spending the rest of my life working in. At 25 I had a meal at Gramercy Tavern on a visit home and it changed my life. Or… it cemented my desire to continue on in restaurants and hospitality. At 28 my business partner and I opened four Napolitana-style pizzerias along the Front Range of Colorado and then one in Boise Idaho. After selling my half in 2007, I took some time and went to Pastry school, thinking I might like to be a part of the business in a different way. After making more pât à choux than you can shake a stick at, I realized I had no interest in making pastries, so I did the next logical thing a person would do: I opened a food truck, in a town where food trucks were not legal. Needless to say, I learned a lot and in between driving and crying, I got an offer to turn my food truck into a brick and mortar, and I jumped on it. From there I opened two more locations and began settling into what life is like owning a food truck and three restaurants.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
No, it has not. I am a firm believer in walking through the open doors, and so I have, but realizing when a door has started to close is a little harder. I closed my first location a year and a half ago. It felt like putting my favorite dog down or breaking up with my best friend. I hated it. But my lease was up and sales were down. And my attention was firmly focused on my other two locations, one of which was beginning to feel the effects of a massive construction project next door to it and on the major blvd. on which we reside. So no, not smooth. Not easy. But well worth doing, I still say.

Please tell us about Comida.
My business is based out of a desire to make things that people crave enough to come back for. We serve very non-traditional Mexican food that has roots in the American South. We call it Mexican Soul Food – think shrimp and grits meets a taco, or sweet potato mash with slow-cooked top sirloin – on a taco. You’ll also find Tender Belly Bacon and jalapeños, griddled to perfection and served hot with salsa verde. We spend money on and take our time with our ingredients, and all of it is made by people who (on most days) really like working with each other and doing what we do.

How do you, personally, define success? What’s your criteria, the markers you’re looking out for, etc?
Success to me is waking up every day and being excited to show up to work, even when it’s hard, even when it means knowing when to say when. Success is also making money, paying the bills, paying my staff and paying myself. Success is playing well with the rest of the kids in the sandbox (metaphorical for working well and doing good business with the other merchants in the marketplace), and above all else success is telling the truth and showing up and loving what I do.

Contact Info:

• Address: 2501 Dallas Street, Suite 140
  Aurora, Colorado 80010
• Phone: 303-484-1632

Image Credit:
Comida

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