Feeding the community
Ambrocio Gonzalez
Age: 38
Title: Founder
Organization: La Catedral Café in Little Village
Originally from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, Ambrocio Gonzalez started in the kitchen out of the need to cook for himself because his single mother worked during the day.
At the age of 12 he started his first business together with his grandmother and his mother. Before he was 16 years old he moved to Chicago, where he graduated from Oakton College.
At 23, with the help of his family and his partner Alfredo Flores, he opened Tepache Restaurant in La Villita in 2010. With no experience and insufficient capital, they were forced to close the business. With more experience and preparation, chef Ambrocio and his partner opened La Catedral Café in Little Village in 2011, and it became a success.
Other restaurants followed: Las Quecas Little Village Restaurant in 2013, with other locations opening in 2014 in Melrose Park and Carpentersville and in 2015 in Berwyn. In 2015 he opened a second La Catedral Café location in North Chicago, and that same year was hired to be the representative of the cheese brand Nuestro Queso, making commercials and special appearances at events as well as on a cooking show on MundoFox.
In 2016 he graduated from the prestigious French culinary school Le Cordon Bleu, and he has shared his recipes in Latino magazines in Chicago.
In 2017 he presented his book “Con Sabor a Guadalajara,“ and he was invited to give a lecture on Mexican food abroad at the World Gastronomy Forum. He will open a new restaurant in Little Village in the summer of 2023 named La casa de Las Flores.
Words of Wisdom: I learned to focus on where I want to go and what I want to achieve, and not on what other people are doing. That takes up a lot of time and distracts you.
