Bochinche fOOD & DRINK

Bochinche

C/ Cañada, 32

Telephone ordering: 722 110 590 Facebook Instagram- Monday to Thursday, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. – Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
and from 8:00 p.m. to 12:00 p.m.
– Saturdays, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
and from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.

Read the interview for the municipal website

Shall we make a fuss?

We already knew Gina and Luis for their innovative food truck, the first on this side of the Manzanares. Like any entrepreneurial business, it hides behind a good number of stories that we are about to know. They welcome us, no longer in their food truck, but in their new location, on Calle Cañada, 32, where they have given “more comfortable” expression to their food: hamburgers – the queen is the Bochinche, within six varieties: the Pedriza, the Yelmo, the Iberian, the Caraqueña and the Chamo for the little ones of the house.

But also toasts, sandwiches, croiffles (the sum of croissant and waffle created by them), salads, their tequeños, guava with cheese or just cheese, arepitas or their ‘dinner specials’: the Clubhouse, the Pepito or the Hot Dog… In short, an appetizing offer, at a more than reasonable price and without changing the quality that has long since made them known and a reference, even beyond Manzanares El Real; and that are made following a strict study of their conjunction and ingredients. “We don’t improvise anything,” says Luis, “it’s not just the quality of the meat or bread, for example, it’s the quality of the bread and meat, its treatment and the combination with other foods. And so on. Oh, and most of our products are bought in businesses in the town, which also offer excellent quality.”

There is an almost obligatory question at the beginning of this interview. Where does the name come from: Bochinche? Gina explains: “Depending on where you say it, bochinche has a meaning. For us, in Venezuela it means ‘fun’, especially a ‘party’ or ‘meeting’ (that’s what the dictionary of Americanisms says), curiously, in other latitudes, it means the opposite. In any case, we thought it was a good name to give shape to what we had been thinking about for so many years. And I think we are succeeding, the good reception that Manzanares has given us has turned our restaurant into a real bochinche,” she says, always with a smile on her face.
It seems that it is not only the food that is the key to its success. This is how we ask her: “People connect with people” -Gina points out as an answer-. Yes, the connection established with the people of the town is being fantastic. I’ll give you an example,” Gina continues, “without doing any advertising, when we went from the food truck to this place, on the opening day I ended up crying and not because no one came, on the contrary, there were so many people that we couldn’t cope and I was left with the feeling of not having served everyone as we always want, giving 150%… But, how nice it is to receive that affection!”

Bochinche: an American concept,
with a Venezuelan flavor and a Spanish
touch Luis and Gina arrived in Spain in April 2018. Before that, they both left their native Venezuela with different destinations. He, to New York, to work in the hospitality industry. Gina to Spain, to a fish farm on the outskirts of Brihuega, in Guadalajara. However, both had worked in 5-star hotels in Venezuela. “A whole life getting to know the sector,” Luis tells us, “in different parts of the world, which has undoubtedly helped us to have a broad view that we have tried to capture in Bochinche, which is an American concept, with a Venezuelan flavor and a Spanish touch.”
There came a time when the couple reunited their destinies, when Luis travels to Spain. At that time, in addition to working from Monday to Friday at the fish farm, Gina begins to work on weekends in a reputable establishment in Manzanares El Real. “That was the reason why I got to know this town. And as soon as I met it, I fell in love,” says Gina. “I told Luis: we have to go and live there, as soon as possible,” she concludes. And here they came, not without difficulties, as we will now see; and here their two children were born and are being raised.

Does everything have a beginning, or is the result the sum of several?
And how did Bochinche get there? We asked. “The first experience of working in Manzanares was not as good as I expected,” Gina tells us. “Not all businesses that make money end up being well managed. And this was the case. Then I went on to work in other establishments, where I did feel comfortable; and where Luis also worked. However, we had hoped to create our own space, our Bochinche. “During the pandemic,” says Luis, “it seemed that time stopped, but it was then that we were able to reflect and we began to think about what Manzanares needed, at the hospitality level, at that time was when Bochinche began to take shape,” concludes Luis.
Opening his company has not been an easy task, as usual. “We have made many sacrifices, after all, setting up a business is taking a lot of risks, investment, time, having children…,” says Gina. It is also true that experience has helped us a lot,” Luis points out with a sympathetic smile: “we have learned a lot from the mistakes of others.”
Thus, adapting their means and possibilities, they started in 2021 with a food truck. Now, their business is located at number 32 Calle Cañada. “We have been lucky enough to arrive in this town where we feel fully integrated, in a community. As I said before,” says Gina, “people connect people. And that happens here: in Manzanares El Real.”