Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Dudich.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started cooking at a young age with my mother who was a classically trained chef. After attending Johnson & Wales University in Providence with my BS, I worked at several fine dining restaurants in the New England area. After the passing of my mother I came home and purchased a food truck, which was then named in honor of her. One food truck then became two food trucks and today we’re celebrating six years at our brick-and-mortar in Yardville, New Jersey, where I grew up. We specialize in fast casual farm to table fare with seasonal menu’s and are currently in the process of closing on the purchase of a building on Farnesworth Ave. in Bordentown city and we expect to move into the new location, late summer of 2027.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Opening a food truck comes with its own challenges that all food truck owners have experienced. I’d say the roughest part of the road was signing the lease to our first store in February 2020, roughly a couple weeks after the first COVID shutdown. This delayed our build-out due to the construction ban in New Jersey, and upon opening we had to implement safety precautions due to COVID. Everything after that seems much less stressful.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
In my opinion, what sets me apart from other chefs and restaurant owners is that Mama Dude’s is 100% chef driven. Being a classically trained chef with restaurant experience in fine dining cuisine, I’m able to bring techniques you wouldn’t traditionally see at a fast casual restaurant to a broader audience, I hope.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
My mom would make dinner regularly at home, and I’m not sure why, but whenever she’d make stew she would pre sear the beef before sweating her vegetables. She would lay the seared beef on a paper towel to rest and as I would walk by I would steal pieces off of the paper towel as a snack. For some reason this memory has always stuck with me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mamadudes.com
- Instagram: mamadudes.com
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/mamadudesfoods
