Florida-based Findler Charles’ earliest memories in the kitchen involve boiled plantain and buttery rice and beans, or diri as his Haitian mother would call it. In fact, it took some maturing for the future entrepreneur to grow an appreciation for his mom’s mayi moulen—a cornmeal-based porridge—as well as other Haitian foods she prepared. Little did Charles, who was a picky eater as a child, know that those same dishes would serve as his inspiration for building his food truck business, Fin’s Kitchen.
Finding Comfort in the Kitchen
As a youth with an entrepreneurial spirit, Chef Findler reflects on his earliest days being innovative. “I would go and sell candy, babysit, take out the trash to get extra money.” Then, at 15, he landed a job at an upscale nursing home. This gig introduced him to the culinary industry, which he would grow to love. After working his way up from server to line cook, once the future business owner got behind the stove, he was tasked with baking biscuits and preparing salmon for the clients.
While at home, experimentation in the kitchen continued. Whether Charles was marinating ribs or cooking full-course meals for his friends, he knew he had finally found an aligned path. Charles’ mother, an experienced home cook, was also on board with this career path, as she often supported him in developing his craft in the kitchen. “My mom would help me out, especially with traditional Haitian cuisine. She would always steer me in the right direction, even if that meant slapping me across the head a few times if I made a mistake,” laughs Charles.
Unlike the kitchen, high school was more challenging for Charles. Though the aspiring chef was born in Florida, due to microaggressions, his teachers kept putting him in E.S.L. (English as a Second Language) classes. “They kept putting me in E.S.L. because my parents were Haitian… So it was an ongoing battle through high school for me, which landed me in community college even though I wanted to go to a university,” he shares.
Still passionate about cooking, the goal felt like an unattainable dream. At the same time, the home cook was interested in graphic design and photography, which he ultimately ended up majoring in.
From the Kitchen to Parking Lot BBQs
While attending community college, he was still working in the kitchens at the nursing home when an unexpected opportunity opened up for him to work at a local car dealership. He ended up leaving his studies because he felt the dealership would open up more financial opportunities to invest in himself. He also found a way to incorporate his passion for cooking. “While working at the dealership, I would host cookouts. Everybody would compliment the food,” he shares.
- LS Cream Introduces Traditional Haitian Drink to a New Audience of Drinkers
- Thamy’s Kitchen Picks Up the Torch to Put Haitian Cuisine on Center Stage
Inspired by episodes from the Food Network’s “The Great Food Truck Race,” owning a mobile kitchen seemed like the perfect segue from parking lot smoke outs to a new business model. Around this time, Charles had been operating a small personal chef and catering business and was craving financial freedom, which he eventually realized he would never get working at the dealership. “I didn’t like coming home smelling of grease, with cuts, scars, and oil in my hair.”
The Trials of Making a Food Truck Dream a Reality
After a couple of years, Charles saved enough between his job and his side business, and with help from his mom was able to purchase a used food truck. After months of scoping out what he thought was the perfect truck, everything felt like it was finally falling into place. Until an unlikely scam would, unfortunately, set Chef Findler back from his food truck dream.
“I purchased a truck and the seller was supposed to work on building out the kitchen. However, as soon as I gave him the money, he stopped working on it,” shares Charles. Unfortunately, it was not a small down payment either. The chef ended up losing out on $30,000.
When it rains, it pours because as Charles began to glue the pieces back together and fix up the half-finished truck he now owned, he got fired from the dealership. “When they fired me for no reason, that just forced me to push harder for my business,” shares the Miami business owner.
To add fuel to the fire, Charles had an accident during this period, saying, “I ended up rupturing a tendon in my knee… I was on bed rest dealing with a leg I could not walk on. I invested so much into my goals and dreams. So, I’m going to continue to fight for anything that I worked hard for,” shares the food truck owner.
Through continuous support from the community, he pushed forward. After making a business mistake once, Charles knew he needed to take all precautions to avoid any other issues. So, he participated in a business accelerator program at Florida Atlantic University. “These nice administrators from FAU helped me build a business plan where I could get the funding to go ahead and start my food truck.”
Persevering Through Griot Tacos
In 2019, Fin’s Kitchen finally opened to the public. For Charles, the best part was developing the menu. Despite the typical business grievances like getting the business registered and scheduling maintenance for the truck, it was all worth it when Charles got the opportunity to build his first menu.
After years of trials, the chance to showcase his food meant the world to him. “I came out with a griot taco topped with pikliz, and it was a big hit,” shares Charles. For the chef, creating fusions of traditional Haitian food was simply exciting and the main driver behind his menus.
The griot taco marked the first innovation that Charles felt incredibly excited about. The taco begins with a grilled flour tortilla and crunchy fried griot served at the base. Griot is a traditional Haitian dish with pork marinated in sour oranges and epis, a Haitian marinade. Once marinated, the juicy pork bites get fried to a crispy golden brown. The taco is finished with lettuce and pikliz, a notoriously delicious Haitian spicy-pickled slaw. But, of course, a taco always needs a good sauce, and this one has a buttermilk-based “island sauce,” shares Charles, that unifies all of the flavors in the taco.
Giving Haitian Culinary Arts Its Flowers
This love for bringing people together through his creative Haitian fusion dishes continued for Charles as he landed the opportunity to showcase his flavors further at a cooking competition last August. Up to the challenge, Charles participated in the R.I.C.E. competition at the Hue Society’s Wine and Culture Fest held in Atlanta, which highlighted the authenticity of cultural foods paired with cross-cultural wines. The R.I.C.E. event was crucial because it demonstrated that rice could be high-end and just as much of a contender to be served with wine as a classic steak dish.
During this event, Charles showcased his rice dish, sòs lambi (conch gumbo) with rice and beans, alongside other talented chefs. The festival’s founder, Tahiirah Habibi, shares, “All the dishes were delicious, but Chef Fin’s dish was the crowd favorite. He had almost double the votes from the Wine and Culture Fest attendees.”
RELATED: Les Chocolateries Askanya Engineers Sweet Success for Haiti
Chef Findler has big dreams for the future of his personal brand and Fin’s Kitchen Food Truck. The entrepreneur wants to continue showcasing Haitian flavors while bringing people together through food. “With social media as a platform to show my food, everybody watching is willing to try new things,” shares Charles. In addition, the Haitian chef wants to continue bringing awareness to Haitian fusion food, whether this is through social media or T.V. appearances.
“Haitians are overlooked. I want to show that Haitian people are innovative. I want to continue being the little light that may inspire my fellow Haitians.”
To stay updated on Findler Charles’ journey, visit www.finskitchenfoodtruck.com and follow his food truck on social media (Instagram and Facebook).
