El Gaucho Inca is owned and operated by the husband and wife
team of Chef Mariano Maldonado and Rocio Navarrate. The story
of this restaurant starts out like many great stories, it starts with
love, it starts when Chef Mariano Maldonado met wife-entrepreneur
-and-businesswomen Rocio Navarrete, he was the Gaucho and
she was the Inca. On April 16th 2011 El Gaucho Inca opened its
doors to the Southwest Florida community.
Chef Mariano Maldonado was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He has been involved in the culinary world since he was just a bambino is his parents house in Argentina, where his Italian mother, aunts, and grandmothers would cook for their large weekly family gatherings, and from them he learned the secrets and passion of great homemade food. As he grew up, he became fluent in Argentinean and Italian cuisine. Chef Maldonado arrived to Naples, Florida in 2000 and immediately started working at an upscale restaurant, and while he was working there he dreamed of one day opening a restaurant of his own. In 2002 he met Rocio Navarrete and that dream of opening an Argentinean-Italian Restaurant took a creative and invigorating turn.
Rocio Navarrete was born in Lima, Peru, in the land of the great Incan culture, and rich food. In 2000 she arrived to Naples, Florida where she worked hard to achieve the American dream. A few years later her hard work paid off and she now owns her very own eco-friendly cleaning company Rossys Cleaning. She is now working for her Associates Degree in Accounting, and is the head manager at El Gaucho Inca.
The idea to combine three different international cuisines came naturally to the two owners who were honoring their Argentinean, Italian, and Peruvian heritage. Chef Maldonado puts so much passion into his food, that if you tasted his Peruvian dishes you would believe that he was a native Peruvian himself. We take pride in the fact that we can offer you--the costumer--traditional Argentinean, Peruvian and Italian food, that is prepared to perfection, which takes you on a international gastronomical trip through three unique countries. We prepare our foods with the freshest ingredients, and prepare them with superior skill and passion, if you love food as much as we do, we invite you to come and savor our amazing platters.
Chef Mariano Maldonado and Rocio Navarrate live in Fort Myers, Florida. He has one daughter Julieta, and one son Matias (the Gauchos), Rocio Navarrete has two daughters Bonie and Michelle (The Incas), and together they have one daughter Mariana (who is both Gaucho and Inca).
