Restaurants & Bars
The Biz Beat: Mama Roc's Rolls Into San Jose With A Taste Of Puerto Rico
"We've had a lot of sleepless nights," she told the crowd. "It's been challenging in every sense of the word," Cartagena-Segura said.
September 26, 2023
Easy to spot in her vibrant red dress, Rochelle Cartagena-Segura was set on hugging every person who showed up to celebrate the Sept. 16 opening of her Mama Roc’s Puerto Rican and Caribbean Cuisine at Evergreen Village Square in San Jose.
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“We’ve had a lot of sleepless nights,” she told the crowd. “It’s been challenging in every sense of the word. But what I love is that all of you believed in me. So we’re gonna cut the ribbon, we’re gonna say a prayer over our food and then we’re gonna eat and salsa dance and hear the congas and its going to get even more exciting.”
If that day’s sales were any sign of the future, Cartagena-Segura’s investment in her little white-paneled food trailer was a smart move: though she had planned to be open for three hours, she completely sold out in half that time.
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“I cooked for 300, literally thinking we’re gonna have like 70 people,” she told San José Spotlight. “But when the word got out, things really blew up out there. I’m thinking that people just want something different, and once you get the taste of Puerto Rican food, you want more.”
Angie Arriaga, Cristina A. Quintero and Laura Adorno helped prepare and serve food at Mama Roc’s grand opening. Photo by Robert Eliason.
Cartagena-Segura spent 32 years as a property manager before deciding in 2016 that she did not want to be part of the corporate world any longer. She pursued her passion for cooking and began catering family events, weddings, corporate barbecues—anything and everything she could get. While she wanted to open a restaurant or a food truck, she could not afford it and settled on her trailer.
Because Cartagena-Segura uses a commercial kitchen to prepare the food and only needs warming trays on-site to keep things at the right temperature, the trailer did not require extensive renovation to get it up and running. There’s room inside for her assistants to work, when on opening day as many as six people prepped food and took orders from a streamlined menu.
Mama Roc’s grand opening sampler. Photo by Robert Eliason.
On the first outing, Mama Roc’s offered only a sampler plate to simplify service. But within that sampler was an entire world of mouthwatering Caribbean cooking.
The signature entree was lechon pernil, tender and firm shredded meat from a marinated and roasted whole pig. Arroz con gandules— rice with pigeon peas—and red savory beans served as the main side dishes. Macaroni salad added a cool note to the plate, garnished with two kinds of plantains: plantains fried until they are soft and caramelized, and tostones that have been flattened and fried until crisp.
A marinated and roasted whole pig was the basis for lichen pernil, tender and firm shredded pork. Photo by Robert Eliason.
Mama Roc’s topped the plate off with a choice of either a ground beef or minced chicken empanada, and a delightfully light coconut flan was available for dessert.
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