- [Narrator] Funding for this episode of "Que Pasa?

"New Jersey With Carlos Medina" has been provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, The New Jersey Economic Development Authority, The Engineer's Labor Employer Cooperative 825, Hackensack Meridian Health, PSE and G, NJM Insurance Group, PNC, Bank of America.

- Welcome back familia.

What better way to close our season than with stories of grit, flavor, and public service?

First, we have Juan Hernandez, born in Colombia during a blackout, and now lighting up Bergenfield with Antojitos de Mi Tierra.

His rise from hot dog cart to New Jersey's best burger proves dreams are built on authenticity and perseverance.

Then Congressman Albio Sires, who came from Cuba as a boy and rose from basketball star to history making speaker of the New Jersey Assembly.

After nearly two decades in Congress, he's back as Mayor of West New York, New Jersey, continuing a lifetime of service.

It's the perfect finale full of flavor, history, and inspiration right here on "Que Pasa".

(upbeat music) - You're one of those people that should have had a show for a long time.

(upbeat music continues) - It is, it's amazing, it's amazing.

(upbeat music continues) - Our first guest was born in Columbia during a blackout, and welcomed to the world by candlelight.

Since then, Juan Hernandez has brought both light and flavor from his mother's kitchen.

To grueling hours in the United States working at restaurants, he turned grit into greatness.

Today as the owner of Antojitos de Mi Tierra in Bergenfield, his authentic Colombian street food has earned him New Jersey's best burger, not once, but twice.

Let's welcome Juan Hernandez.

Welcome to "Que Pasa".

- Thank you, Carlos.

- Tell me a little bit, I understand there's a story that you came into the world during a blackout via candlelight.

- Yes, that is true.

When I was born, I was born during a blackout.

It's definitely symbolic to me and to my business.

I do believe that Antojitos was also born during a blackout.

Antojitos was born during COVID, so I do believe that it resonates with my story a lot.

- Sure, sure.

You grew up in Colombia, so growing up, and you traveled between Colombia and New Jersey.

Tell me how that's impacted, not only community, but the way you, you know, showcase your flavors in your cuisine.

- Wow, I mean, food in Columbia, it's about gathering in a table, sitting down, the neighbor coming by, taking your time.

You have two hours to eat lunch in peace.

Over here, it's quick, fast.

You have no time.

It's, you've gotta eat on the go.

So bringing those two worlds into one, into Antojitos, it's definitely gathering people around a table with a quick bite.

So it's definitely helped me with my business using both worlds.

- I love it.

What was your first spark or love for food?

You know, when did you realize that could possibly be a career path and- - I think I fell in love with food when my mother told me I wasn't allowed in the kitchen.

She used to teach my sisters, and they did not like the kitchen.

So I learned from hearing her argue with my sisters, and one day she told me, come in, make a rice.

And ever since I stayed in the kitchen.

- How old were you then?

- Oh, I was about six, seven years old.

- Wow, impressive, impressive.

- Yeah.

- What was the rice?

Try to, can you remember?

- Oh, it was regular rice.

It was, it was just plain old- - Fancy.

- Regular rice.

But I did no mistakes.

I did it right.

She didn't argue, so she was like, all right, you can stay in the kitchen.

- I love it, I love it.

You spend hours grinding in the kitchen sometimes 80 hours a week.

- Yes.

- You know, what did working those crazy shifts and grinding teach you about business and tenacity and grit?

- Oh, I mean, back then I thought it was just work.

You know, you're just working, working, work, and now that I look back at it, it was all, I was all, I was getting the right strategies, I was getting all the right equipment that I needed, the right techniques.

I was, it was creating me to be the person I needed to be, or my business needed me to be.

- Sure, you talked a little bit about COVID and how your business, in a sense, was birthed during COVID.

Tell me about that time.

My recollection of your story is you literally dusted off an old hot dog cart.

- Yes, I got a hot dog cart and I (speaking Spanish) I put it away in a garage.

I had no idea what I wanted to do with it for about nine months, and then COVID hit.

I used to work about 80, 70 hours a week.

They brought me back down to 40 hours, which, for me, was a part-time, and I was left with time, which is exactly what I needed to be able to do my trailer.

Brought it outside the garage, about a week later, I made $72.

About a month later, I decided to go at an event, and that's when I was like, all right, I'm making more than I am making working for somebody else, so let me try and do this.

- I love it, I love it.

You've won "New Jersey's Best Burger" twice at the Meadowlands event.

- Yes.

- Tell me what makes your Colombian hamburger stand out?

- It's definitely the love and authenticity that we put in it.

We have not wanted to Americanize our product.

We have kept it a hundred percent how you would eat it, like if you were in Columbia.

So we're taking you straight back to Columbia with each bite.

- Tell me a little bit about what's in a Colombian burger recipe or without any proprietary information, of course.

- We see in the patty our own way.

It's got lettuce, tomato, the patty, caramelized onions, ham, cheese, bacon, potato sticks and the three sauces.

- [Carlos] Right.

- Garlic cilantro sauce, pineapple sauce, and pink sauce.

- Wow.

- Everything's made from scratch, seasoning, sauces, everything.

- I love it, I love it.

I know, you know, hearing you speak at the chamber at some events, it's important that failure is not something that stops you, but you use it as a teacher.

- Oh, yes.

- Talk to me a little bit about that, how failure has been your teacher in your career path.

- I mean, throughout the whole entire career, it's one door closes and then you just feel like, oh, I gotta give up.

This is it.

And it's not, it's just looking for another way to be able to open that door, go through the window, do what you gotta do, to just push.

Showing up has definitely been very important for me.

Showing up for myself, for my business, for my family, for my kids, and it has made me grow.

- Amazing, amazing.

Tell me about your experience with the Hispanic Chamber and their entrepreneurship training program.

I believe you were the winner of their pitch competition.

- Yes, I was.

- Which was a big deal because I know the pitches there are very sophisticated.

Tell me about that whole experience, taking the class, winning the pitch, and becoming part of that, almost like alumni or familia.

- Yes, yes, absolutely, yes.

- Talk to us a little bit about that.

- Before the HETP program, before the statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, I had no idea what I was doing with my business.

It was confusing.

I was in a commissary kitchen, two menus.

It was very dark.

I had no idea if I was doing it right.

I started going to the classes, I started showing up, I started learning.

I started asking questions, more importantly.

A lot of people, including the coaches and other students, started answering and I started to apply to my business.

I started to, I got the coaches, the one-on-ones with them.

I did everything they told me to do, permit wise, marketing wise, social media wise.

I had to get in front of the camera more.

I gotta be less shy.

So it took me to go out and start talking to people, go networking.

I started going to networking events, and this year I'm doing the LETS program as well.

Same thing, I'm taking everything they're throwing at me and just absorbing it.

I say it all the time, I don't just use it then and there.

I know you gotta keep using it.

You gotta keep using it, and this is what it is.

This is what familia is.

It's don't do it once, and even if you make a mistake later, just get back up and keep going.

This is why we're here for you.

So it's definitely a very, very good familia to be in.

- I love it.

You explained it well.

The Chairman, Luis De La Hoz always says, "The chamber's like a gym membership.

"You get out of it what you put in," and you obviously put in a lot of hard work.

- Yeah.

- So congratulations on that.

Looking ahead, you know, what do you see as your dream for Antojitos?

What's the next, the next chapter?

What, how do you wanna scale it?

How do you wanna improve?

- I definitely wanna franchise.

- Okay.

- I definitely wanna franchise all along the East Coast.

I, during COVID, I was in California working for another restaurant.

They had moved me there to open the restaurant.

And when I started on Antojitos, I feel like I started in California.

A lot of Colombian people over there, but not a lot of Colombian food.

It's very hard to get that culture experience over there.

So for me, it's definitely franchising along the east and west coast, going back to California and doing it right this time.

- I love it.

Talk to me about how you franchise, but keep the authentic, you know, that Colombian flavor.

- Yes.

- The recipes, the love, as you mentioned earlier.

You know, how do you feel you'll be able to accomplish that in a franchise - Strategies.

- [Carlos] Yep.

- I mean, everybody I talk to, they tell me the same thing.

It's, if you have the right strategies in place, if you have the right formulas in place, and you're doing the right training to the right people, then you don't gotta hold back on you doing it yourself every single time.

And that's something I learned at the Chamber of Commerce.

You gotta let go.

If you wanna scale in your business, then you gotta let go.

You gotta delegate.

You gotta let people know.

So training is definitely a very one-on-one thing that you gotta do with the person coming up and that's gonna do the job that you're doing.

But it's also not mixing the flavors.

Colombians don't eat yellow cheese.

I'm not gonna put yellow cheese in the menu.

Even though there's cheddar and American cheese and everybody loves cheddar and American cheese, you're just not gonna find it in our menu.

- [Carlos] Sure.

- So it's keeping that authenticity alive inside our food.

- I love that.

I mean, you have given a lot of good tips for those who want to take that journey of entrepreneurship.

But my last question is, give our viewers that are entrepreneurs, or are thinking about becoming entrepreneurs, some advice or pitfalls to avoid.

- For me, it's been a lot of hold on to the law of opportunity.

If you don't do it, then someone else is gonna do it, and then that's gonna be an even bigger issue for you.

So take the opportunities, show up, and even though if you're gonna fail probably a thousand times, just keep getting back up and keep doing it.

- I love it.

Thank you for being here- - Thank you for having me.

- And congratulations, wish you much success on your endeavors.

- I appreciate that, I mean, gracias.

- Our next guest is Albio Sires, born in Bejucal, Cuba who came to West New York, New Jersey as a boy.

He went from basketball star to teacher, businessman, and barrier breaking public servant.

He made history as the first Hispanic Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly.

He served 16 years in Congress, championing housing, transit, immigration, and foreign affairs.

Today he's back where it all started, as Mayor of West New York, continuing a lifetime of service to his community.

Please welcome my mentor and friend, Congressman Albio Sires.

Welcome to "Que Pasa".

You were born in Cuba and you came here as a young child.

Tell me how the immigrant experience, you know, shaped your life and tell me about that journey, that struggle to come to the Promised Land.

- Well, you know, we came in 1962, my mother and father, my brother and I. I was one of three Hispanic in the entire school.

The other one was my brother.

There was no ESL.

There was no bilingual education.

All they did was they just threw you in a classroom and you had to survive.

- You attended Memorial High School where you were a standout athlete, basketball player.

I was talking with Mayor Richard Turner, and he reminded me, you have a big build, you're a good athlete.

But he said as one of the only Latinos on the court, that you were getting your, you know, you're getting, they were giving you the business on the court.

- Oh yeah.

- Tell me about that experience 'cause you know, I had Rob Menendez, the current congressman, and we talked a lot about grit.

You know, growing up in Hudson County, the grit.

That to me is like the perfect example of grit.

You know, fighting for your heritage and for your team on the court.

- Well, I hate to tell you all the things that I was called while I was playing.

It was myself and you know, we had a, by that time we had a few guys that would, that played basketball and we played in some of these schools were there were not, you know, believe it or not, some of the Catholic schools are the most aggressive, lemme put it that way, in pointing at us, pointing out where we're from.

But it was, you know, Hudson County, if you survive in Hudson County, you can survive anywhere.

- Exactly, exactly.

- But especially in sports.

- Tell me about, you know, that time in Memorial.

At that time it was probably, the Latinos were 90% Cuban, maybe some Puerto Ricans.

- Right.

- And now it's a huge melting pot.

You know, being mayor of such a diverse city, tell me how that adds value to, you know, to the culture.

- Well, back then, you're right, it was in the seventies or yeah, I guess sixties, late sixties, seventies.

So, you know, that's the influx of Cubans that came.

And they started buying the businesses on Bergenline Avenue.

They had a, you know, many of them had businesses there.

It was a thriving Bergenline Avenue back then.

At the high school, they, you know, were also all the kids that left with their parents and attended Memorial High School and they did very well.

You know, some of them did very, very well.

Today, you know, the student population in West New York is 94% Hispanic.

- [Carlos] Wow, wow.

- Union City, I think is 95.

- Amazing.

- And back then, obviously, that was when the population started growing.

Now we have, every country is just about represented.

- [Carlos] Amazing.

- Yeah, at the high school.

We have 2,400 students at the high school now.

- Do you then, actually went back to teaching, which is amazing.

- Yeah, well, I taught for 10 years at Memorial High School.

- Okay, teacher, coach.

Tell me what were some of the lessons of the class, in the classroom and working with young people?

- I loved working with kids.

You know, I loved coaching.

I coached for most of those 10 years.

And the kids were great.

You know, I mean, there was a big cultural difference because I was one of the first Hispanic teachers to teach at Memorial High School.

And then when they had the dances, the principal would make me one of the ushers, one of the people at the gym.

And my job was to entertain the mothers that came with their daughters to the dances because the girls could not come to the dances unless they brought their mother.

So you will have a crowd of, you know, six, seven mothers on the corner and my job was to entertain them while the kids dance in the gym.

- That's funny, that's funny.

Yeah, I wonder if our viewers have that memory.

I do, because my wife was born in Cuba and her parents were really strict.

So her mom would come to the back, we'd go to the movies.

So she would sit in the back and at least let us be alone to watch the movie.

But yeah, her dad was really strict.

You made history here in New Jersey and I remember it very well.

It was a very proud moment for me and my family to be the Speaker of the General Assembly here in New Jersey.

Tell me about that moment.

I mean, it really put a spotlight on you 'cause you, I remember people saying, "Who's this assemblyman now suddenly leading "the entire general assembly?"

- It was, you know, obviously it was unexpected.

You know, the Speaker is the third most powerful position in the State of New Jersey.

You have the governor, you have the President of the Senate, and then you have the Speaker.

And you know, balancing all different sections of the state was not easy.

- [Carlos] Exactly.

- People forget, you know, the Mason Dixon line cut across Southern New Jersey, which is in your history, if you remember that in your history.

Very interesting, New Jersey.

- Yep, beaches, mountains.

- Yeah, for a state that's so small.

- I love Jersey and we get a bad rap nationally.

- Yeah, well for being so small, for a state so small, we have a lot of diversity in the things that, you know, there are some sections of New Jersey that are gorgeous.

People think that New Jersey is the turnpike.

- Exactly.

- You know, which it's not.

Everybody makes fun of the turnpike, everybody, but you know, I'll give you, you name me five states that have as good a road system as New Jersey.

And you would have to search around because we have one of the best road systems in the country whether it's the turnpike, the parkway, and all the other branches outside of the turnpike.

- Yeah, people don't realize we're stuck in the middle between Philly and New York.

- [Albio] Yeah.

- Other states don't have that pressure of commuting all - I think 35% of the people that pay in the turnpike are outta state.

- Exactly, exactly.

Another milestone was in the mid eighties, the chamber that I'm very involved with, you and at the time it was Governor Tom Kean- - [Albio] Right.

- You guys basically pushed a group of Latino businessmen and said, you guys gotta start this, you gotta start this chamber.

- It was funny because they had a group of Latino members' businesses and they push for a statewide chamber of commerce.

So what we did at the Glen Point in Teaneck at the time- - Yes.

- Was called the Glen Point, Governor Kean was running and we said, "Well, we're gonna put a dinner together."

All the members, all the business members.

We wound up having like eight, 900 people at this dinner.

And right then and there, the governor said, "And I am going to put together "a Hispanic Chamber of Commerce."

And this is where it is today.

You guys have done a great job in building it up.

- Thank you.

- You know, after that, - Those roots and that history are important.

People forget.

- Yeah.

- You know, the how that all- - And it was a Republican governor- - Yeah.

- Who put it together.

But that Republican governor was more democrat than most because he, I mean, he won the second term, you know, hands down.

- Yeah, definitely one of the most beloved politicians- - Yeah.

- In New Jersey.

- To this day.

- Very well respected.

You mentioned the joy you get of working with young people.

Will you give some of our young viewers some advice who wanna step into public service like you have done incredibly?

- This is a tough time to join public service, but it is very rewarding if you're looking to get, you know, not monetarily rewarding.

You know, it's rewarding to see people get ahead.

You know, I always emphasized the fact that education was a way out 'cause that's how it was with my coach in high school, you know, basketball was important, but education, basketball was a means to get an education.

- Yep, I don't wanna embarrass you, but I wanna thank you because you've been a mentor and when you were Speaker of the General Assembly, you had the ability to do what's called the direct appointment to the EDA.

And I don't know if you recall, but- - [Albio] Sure.

- You appointed me, man, that was over 30 years ago and that was really, gave me some notoriety.

So I always appreciate that you had trust in me to serve on a board of directors at that time.

- Well, it's an important board.

- Yeah.

- You know, they help out people with money, you know, especially businesses and since you're always so involved with Hispanic business, you know, I thought it was a perfect fitting for you.

It's good because, you know, we do contribute a great deal to New Jersey.

A lot of people don't realize that.

What are we, a million Hispanics now in New Jersey or something like that?

- Over a million.

- Over a million.

- Getting close to 2 million.

- Getting close to 2 million.

- The GDP is $127 billion a year.

- Wow.

- I mean, we're doing great things.

- Yeah.

- And people don't give New Jersey Latinos credit, but we're the fifth largest GDP of Hispanics in the country.

- [Albio] Yeah.

- And we're not as big as California, Florida, but we're putting out numbers that rival those states.

- Yeah, no, we, I always knew that we, you know, the business side of the Hispanic community was very, contribute a great deal to New Jersey economy.

Some people didn't want to recognize it, but over time, people are starting to, you know, realize, hey.

- With technology, we have the numbers now so they can't- - Yeah, they can't.

- They can't they can't deny the facts.

- They can't deny the fact, yeah.

But, you know, and it's unfortunate what's happening with what's going on with ICE and everything else.

It's just, I get it but.

- Yeah, it's tricky because it's having an impact on our businesses.

- Yeah, I'm sure.

- Because even if you're here properly, you have your paperwork, but you look Hispanic, you're fearful to go to a business on Bergenline because people have been getting picked up that are born in Puerto Rico and- - [Albio] That's right.

- It's like, come on.

So its having, the president wants economic growth and I support him in that, but he's actually doing the opposite with this program.

So I would hope that he would pivot a little and leave the people that have been good citizens doing work here, paying taxes, you know, leave those folks alone.

- The Hispanic community is no different than any other community.

You don't want thieves, you don't want people that are not good for the community.

You know, they should be deported.

They, this country should not get stuck with people who are come here to rob and, you know, kill and so forth.

So it just unfortunately that everybody gets wiped with the same brush.

- Exactly.

- You know, and it's not healthy, not healthy for the country.

- Congressman, Mayor, thank you.

Thank you for being a role model.

Part of the reason for this show is to tell stories of people like you that have done great things so younger people could see themselves.

So really, I truly thank you.

- Well, I appreciate and I appreciate your contribution to the Hispanic community.

You know, you're always promoting the Hispanic community, which is like you said, almost 2 million people.

- Yeah, well, thank you again, and thank you for your service.

- No, thank you, thank you for what you do.

Familia, that's a wrap.

That's the season finale.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for supporting us during six seasons.

We hope to be back.

I know PBS is going through some troubled waters, but we'll also have content on YouTube and reach out with your ideas, your suggestions.

You've been giving us some great leads.

Keep it up.

Don't stop and I hope to see you next season.

Thank you, familia - [Narrator] Funding for this episode of "Que Pasa "New Jersey with Carlos Medina" has been provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, The New Jersey Economic Development Authority, The Engineer's Labor Employer Cooperative 825, Hackensack Meridian Health, PSE and G, NJM Insurance Group, PNC, Bank of America.

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