O'rale (Part 2): Brissa's Interview

In our follow-up visit to O'rale, Alexis and I were able to spend some time with Brissa to ask her about how O'rale started, what it was like to get the restaurant up and running, fine-tuning the menu to create an authentic Mexican experience while appealing to a larger clientele, coming back from Ida's aftermath, among other topics. While our conversation naturally bounced around from topic to topic, present to past, past to future, we think it would be best to start at the beginning to better understand how O'rale became what it is today. Where did O'rale come from? How does O'rale craft its story and presence in the community, and reciprocally, how does the community help to build and develop O'rale's identity? Where does O'rale plan on going in the future? We seek to answer these, among many other questions, below.

As Brissa first relayed to us, she comes from a family of industrious businesswomen, as four of her aunts (and her mother) all run restaurants and other food ventures across Central Jersey, covering the gamut of two food trucks, a seafood restaurant, and two Mexican restaurants (including O'rale) across Manville, Plainfield, Perth Amboy, Bridgewater, and elsewhere. During our conversation, Brissa repeatedly mentioned that her one aunt was/is the powerhouse of the family who helped her sisters get their own businesses up and running, helping them with navigating numerous legal codes, completing proper inspections, financial investing, marketing development, among other components of business-owning. While talking with her, we noticed right away that Brissa was exceptionally proud of not only her aunt, but also, her mom and her other aunts, saying that she thanks God that she was born into a family with so many strong, independent women. As she told us, having so many role models to look up to during her childhood helped her become the person she is today, and in the future, she hopes to continue that tradition with the next generation.

Brissa and her family originally lived in Plainfield, and while yearning for a better life for her family after being a stay-at-home mom for several years, her mother, Ms. Rebeca Jimenez, decided to speak with her sister, who was already running her own business at the time. The sisters discussed the plans for what would eventually become O'rale and while Brissa noted that Ms. Jimenez was initially anxious about starting up the venture, as founding a restaurant has several inherent risks, her sister persuaded her by saying that despite the countless hours of hard work, dedication, and sacrifices needed to run the restaurant, she would ultimately find purpose in doing it and that her financial and emotional investment would be greatly rewarded. So, in taking that leap of faith, Ms. Jimenez religiously saved up and invested her money in order to rent space on Manville's Main Street. On May 1st, 2016, O'rale was founded.

As with any restaurant, Brissa mentioned, the first year is often the hardest, as you are working your hardest to establish yourself within the community, to develop your identity, to pay bills, and to tirelessly work to begin making a profit. When O'rale first opened up, there were only three employees: Ms. Jimenez, Brissa, and their chef. In order to build up their clientele and standing within the Manville community, O'rale was open 7 days a week and she recalled her mother and the chef regularly working 14 hours a day just to help keep the restaurant afloat. From May to October of 2016, Ms. Jimenez, Brissa, and the rest of the family were still living in Plainfield, so factor in one hour for commuting each day and in total, aside from getting sleep, Brissa and her family spent almost all of their time at O'rale. Fortunately, in a move (figuratively and literally) to make their lives a bit easier, they were able to move to Manville later in October 2016. Even with cutting out the commute, considerable time still had to be invested to ensure O'rale's success.

Brissa credits a strong sense of community in Manville, as well as the surrounding towns and townships, to the O'rale's success. Most notably, she remarked that many of their regular customers are Hispanic/Latino restaurant owners/workers who live in apartments above the storefronts on Manville's Main Street and oftentimes, when they were not working, these restaurant owners and workers would walk down to O'rale to have a bite to eat or have a cold drink. Very much steeped in Latin American cultures, these owners, workers, and their families would spend time together, patronizing O'rale's cozy dining area. She also mentioned that in particular, landscapers (owners and workers) would often come to O'rale to get lunch while on break from work, and soon enough, O'rale became an established "home base" for Hispanic/Latine people of all backgrounds (Brissa mentioned that they have many regular Mexican, Colombian, Costa Rican, and Dominican customers, among others). With that being said, not only has O'rale served the burgeoning Latin American community, but it has also done well with White, Black/African-American, and Asian-American customers, as she noted that over the years, their clientele has developed into a veritable melting pot of people from diverse backgrounds.

When talking about O'rale's overall vibe, Brissa stated that authenticity is of the utmost importance. Ranging from the menu, food preparation, interior design, etc., O'rale seeks to recreate an authentic Oaxacan experience in Manville in order to better share their family's own cultural heritage with the broader community. She noted that many other places try to cover a wide range of Latin American cuisine, in which one restaurant might serve Mexican, Guatemalan, Dominican, Colombian, Ecuadorian, and Peruvian dishes all in one place, which she said O'rale did not want to emulate. While the main reason was to preserve O'rale's authenticity, she also said that chefs typically specialize in a particular cuisine. So, if there are multiple chefs in a kitchen and one calls out, the other chefs, who do not have specialized training in that cuisine, would have to pick up the pace and try to cook dishes outside of their specializations. This, she stressed, could potentially compromise the quality of food leaving the kitchen. As Ms. Jimenez instilled in her children very early on, consistency is key, and from that mantra, they decided to focus more on quality rather than quantity.

At the heart of everything, making strong connections with community members is one of O'rale's many strong suits. While maintaining authenticity, Brissa mentioned that genuinely knowing and understanding customers is what makes O'rale especially knowledgeable of how to best serve customers. Talking specifically about Mexican cuisine, Brissa clarified common misconceptions that Mexican food is "the same'' across Mexico, which is certainly not the case. In her travels to the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Puebla, and Guerrero, she saw the diversity of Mexican cuisine and even between towns in any given state, as she found out, culinary traditions can change. For example, O'rale's molé finds its roots in traditional Oaxacan cuisine, featuring a delicate blend of sweet and spicy flavors, but in Puebla, molé is typically sweet. Brissa told us that her aunt has helped their chef on several occasions with developing the menu and also, creating and adapting classic Mexican dishes to fit the more traditional aspect of Oaxacan cuisine. She relayed to us that when people, especially those who are unfamiliar with Mexican cuisine, ask "Is all your food spicy?" ist is because of that ubiquitous question (and careful observation of their customers) that O'rale has developed sauces of differing spiciness levels, most notably in the development of three distinctive sauces with varying degrees of mildness or spiciness. She noted that over the years, as their clientele became more diversified, O'rale realized that their menu needed to evolve to meet the ever-changing needs of their clientele. At the end of the day, O'rale makes authentic Mexican food, but is also sensitive to the dietary needs/desires of the community.

Looking around O'rale, it's hard to miss the intriguing decorative pieces, as well as original dinnerware which dine-in customers regularly use. While sitting at the table at O'rale, Brissa remarked that the pepper shakers were all made with barro, a black clay material, and that these shakers, as well as other pieces around the dining area, were from an Oaxacan market. Taking a look at some of these pieces, we also looked at a handmade sand cup, tortilla warmers, napkin holders, etc. Brissa recalled that while visiting Mexico to see her grandmother, she went to the town market and purchased many of these items to bring back for the restaurant, noting that they help to give a flavor of home to the interior of the restaurant.

As to be expected, the conversation turned to Hurricane Ida and as we dove into this difficult topic, Brissa recalled how just before the flooding occurred, they had saved up enough money to purchase the building where O'rale is, and shortly after they purchased the building, tragedy struck. The expenses that come with purchasing a building, as well as repairs, renovations, property taxes, and other expenditures, kept piling up over the course of nine months while no income was coming in. Over the course of nine months, many obstacles blocked the path to recovery, but despite these challenges, they say that their faith in God and raw determination helped them to persevere in the face of adversity. Fortunately, in May 2022, O'rale was once again able to open their doors and the warm, inviting space that O'rale established in the Manville community was able to be enjoyed and appreciated by its patrons once again (along with exceptionally-delicious food and drinks, of course).

Like the word "O'rale" in Mexican Spanish, the restaurant can take on many different meanings at different times. The term "O'rale" can be "okay," "how are you?" "how's it going" or to express excitement and joy, among other uses. Originating from the Spanish word "orar" (to pray), perhaps it is appropriate that O'rale, which has endured several trials and tribulations over the past few years, would be befitting of such a title. We are certain that, without a doubt, O'rale will continue to be a culinary powerhouse in the Manville (and broader) community for years to come.