EP# 207: Serving Up Second Chances: Antonio Riviere's Culinary Comeback and the Soulful Food Truck Experience at Bistro & Beignets

What makes Antonio Riviere with Bistro & Beignets a good neighbor?

Roll up to the curb and let your senses embark on a culinary adventure with Antonio Riviere, the gastronomic genius behind the wheel of Bistro & Beignets. He's been whipping up a storm in Port St. Lucie, serving up everything from boba drinks that have the teens tweeting, to Philly cheese steaks that'll make you feel like you're on the streets of Philadelphia. Antonio's story is a feast for the soul—a blend of passion, family, and an unwavering belief in the power of good food to bring people together.

Our heart-to-heart with Antonio goes beyond the sizzle of the grill. He shares an incredible tale of overcoming personal health challenges that puts his cooking creations into perspective. Battling kidney failure and bouncing back with the help of a transplant, Antonio's resilience shines through the flavors he crafts. His journey is a testament to hope, community support, and the life-affirming joys of sharing a meal. Sit back and savor the inspiration and mouthwatering musings from a man whose food truck is more than just a meal on wheels—it's a love letter to the taste buds and the heart.

To learn more about Bistro & Beignets go to:
https://www.bistro-beignets.com/

Bistro & Beignets
772-722-6172

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

This is the Good Neighbor podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, garfield Bowen.

Speaker 2: 0:14

Welcome to the Good Neighbor podcast. Are you hungry and looking for an nearby food truck? Well, one may be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your neighbor Antonio Rivera with Bistro Vient. How are you doing today, antonio?

Speaker 3: 0:32

I'm great Garfield and yourself.

Speaker 2: 0:34

I am blessed, excited to learn all about you and your business.

Speaker 3: 0:38

Tell us about your company, so we are a food truck, which is a mobile kitchen, pretty much a restaurant on wheels. We are going into business to provide a good product for people out there Because in, especially in Port St Lucie, which is growing so fast, people need new places to eat and enjoy good food. So being a food truck means that we can actually take the food to the people wherever they are. We can go in different locations, take part in events or do private parties or catering events. So my food truck basically, is multifaceted. We cater to the young folk as well as the older folk. Let me just explain a little bit about that.

Speaker 3: 1:37

So one of the main items that we are going to be selling on the food truck is boba drinks those drinks that all the young kids are into. Right now it's called tapioca pearls. We also have different types of toppings, so it's basically drinks that everybody likes. It's milk teas, it's fruit teas, it's mothtails. That is one of the main products that we will be selling. Also, we're going to be doing beignets out of New Orleans. It's a sweet treat. It's a fried dough that is covered in powdered sugar and we actually infuse our beignets with flavor and add additional toppings on there. For example, we could add sweet red beans, we could add taro bites, we could add, let's say, pineapple or mango. So that's just giving you a little rundown of what we'll be selling.

Speaker 3: 2:51

Apart from that, we also cater to, like I said, the older folk, the regular person out there. So we have the Philly cheese steak, we have the pulled pork wrap. It's basically on naan bread, so we have pulled pork. We have the sausage. We're going to be doing Italian sausages and so on. We're going to be doing that moist Philly cheese steak and quesadillas. So it's kind of multicultural. We cater a little bit of everything for everyone.

Speaker 2: 3:30

So, antonio, well, you're not busy running your business. What do you like doing for fun?

Speaker 3: 3:39

Well, I like my family, I love my family and they are the ones that keep me together. You know we love doing things as a family. Going out to eat is one of them. I also go to church, you know. I go to church, I volunteer at church. You know, I think God has blessed me and I try to give back as much as possible to the community. So basically that's what. That's my fun life. That's my fun life here.

Speaker 2: 4:10

Let's change gears a little bit. Life often does this curveball. Let's talk about one hard shift when life struggles, something that you've been through, and you can look back to the answer that you're better and stronger because of it. What comes to mind?

Speaker 3: 4:23

Well, I would say that my journey, my recent journey, right now I consider myself to be a walking miracle because I recently went through a trial in my life and I would say it was a fire, if we speak like a Christian. You know it was a fire. I went through a fire and I came out from the other side. You know, I was diagnosed with kidney failure a few years ago and ended up on dialysis.

Speaker 3: 4:54

I thought I would have been on dialysis for three to five years, because when you get put on that list, it's literally three to five years before you get a call, because obviously there's a number of people in front of you on that list. However, god stepped in and he said hey, you got more work to do, you know, and within about five months I got a call. It was miraculous, you know. My nephrologist said you know, I almost broke a record for getting a kidney the fastest by being on the list. So God has blessed me, god has taken care of me and brought me out on the other side where now I'm able to get back out there and work and support my family. So if I had to speak of a real trial in life, that would be my greatest trial that I faced.

Speaker 2: 5:52

Oh God is good. I'm going to put you on the spot a little bit, antonio, if that's okay. That's okay. I know you have a lot to say about your business, but what is the one thing that you want our listeners to remember about Bistro and Big Net?

Speaker 3: 6:10

Well, what I want listeners to remember about Bistro and Big Net is that we give good customer service. Okay. We come to you wherever you are, we do catering events, private events as well as public events, and we cook with love. We cook, you know, because we like to eat, so we cook what we know that the customers would like. Okay, and everybody out there has a different palette and we try to please all of them.

Speaker 2: 6:48

I know my listeners are probably, if they like me. They're hearing all this delicious food and they're probably getting hungry and they're asking themselves how can we get more information on Bistro and Big Net?

Speaker 3: 7:02

Well, the best place to get information on where we would be on our events or if they want to order catering from us or have of bookers for private events, would be contacting us on our social media. So we do TikTok, we do Instagram and Facebook so they can find us there at Bistro and Big Net.

Speaker 2: 7:28

And for those who just like to press the numbers on the phone, is there a number you like to share?

Speaker 3: 7:33

Absolutely, absolutely so. The business number is 7727226172.

Speaker 2: 7:44

Well, Antonio, it's been a pleasure having you on the show. I wish you and your business the very best moving forward.

Speaker 3: 7:50

Thank you very much, Gaffes, for having me.