Johance is an enterprising, hardworking, relaxed and friendly guy with ideas tied to Venezuelan culture and warmth, a little nostalgia for his land and a crush on Cardiff. How can all this be put on a friendly food option? That’s the art!
“I was born in the central zone of Venezuela, Caracas and I grew up in Puerto La Cruz. I always worked since I was 14”, he said. Selling arepas was Johance very first job. “My grandmother prepared ‘arepa pela’ (a variation of arepas) and I helped her to grind and to distribute them, I used to be paid with an arepa with cheese”, he points out while laughing.
In 2006 Johance landed in Cardiff dreaming about the idea of working on what he liked, cooking! Arepas seemed to combine in a dish the nostalgia of his caribbean heart attached to Venezuela and the permanent astonishment – even after 11 years – that the people, the places and the culture of Wales cause to him every day.
The support and positivism of the family, friends and the people who smile after tasting his gastronomic creations keep him going.
Family secrets
There is a very close relationship between arepa and the family. It’s a dish that gathers affective bonds and identity: Ties between friends who party at night, between children sharing breakfast at a school playground or the bond that keep families together at home’s tables in Venezuela.
In Venezuela, the kitchen is the favourite place for family meetings and friends. A party in Venezuela always ends in that precise place; it’s where the heat of a good conversation and stories take place naturally.
Johance’s mother is the inspiration of many TQP’s tasty options – they are distant childhood memories that become material every day with every menu offer.
TQP is a business family. It’s a project that thrives with Johance’s family support in the tasks and with the spirit they print to each dish.
What is behind an arepa of TQP? The heat of homemade secrets with the versatility of a street food that won’t blow your good intentions off-track, bringing people closer to the flavours of Venezuela. When talking about flavour it’s never too much.
From a Project to the streets of Wales
The conceptual creation of the food truck project was thought to get people closer to the Venezuelan gastronomy. The truck design, the chosen colours, the staging of the menu. All those elements seek to display the variety of Venezuelan cuisine and way of life. Iconic work reflects the arepa culture in any detail.
Bringing a project – an idea – to its material consolidation requires effort and conviction. Not only as an individual undertaking but also as a community and family project that thinks about how to keep people happy in the middle of the burning urges of the city. The concern is creating a community around Venezuela culture and its passionate food.
The road has taken the TQP Yellow Food Truck to unexpected places. From Cardiff street fairs, to the champion league 2017, to parties, to homes, to concerts, all these in the middle of the exciting alternatives Wales offer.
The Food Truck keeps moving! Jumping in is getting involved in a unique, tasty and down-to-earth project.
