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I will quote some of the article..
Gringo Café Opens in Ipanema
By Doug Gray, Senior Contributing Reporter
By Doug Gray, Senior Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO – Bringing a taste of the United States to Carioca café culture, the Gringo Café opened two weeks ago and already looks set to fill a significant gap in Ipanema’s restaurant market with a combination of slick good looks and some nifty new ideas.
Sam Flowers is the man behind the new venture, and experience in several fields within the hospitality and entertainment industry led him to this latest foray in his adopted hometown of Rio.
“I wanted to get comfortable with every role that a CEO would need to understand and have held executive positions at Taco Bell, in finance at Disney, and marketing at Universal Studios as well as experience in mergers and acquisitions and real estate appraisals for hotels,” he said.
A first visit to Rio in 1999 was not without its problems and the city was a different beast from what it is today, with more violence, difficulties getting money, and fewer choices of restaurants. Flowers felt an affinity though, that would lead to him opening a restaurant here eleven years later with a very clear goal; to provide a “resource” for people keen for somewhere to feel at home.
“I grew up in Santa Barbara, California, so always loved the beach, but Rio offers the urban environment too, and I had never been anywhere so mixed in terms of race and where I just blended in with the crowd.”
“I wanted to get comfortable with every role that a CEO would need to understand and have held executive positions at Taco Bell, in finance at Disney, and marketing at Universal Studios as well as experience in mergers and acquisitions and real estate appraisals for hotels,” he said.
A first visit to Rio in 1999 was not without its problems and the city was a different beast from what it is today, with more violence, difficulties getting money, and fewer choices of restaurants. Flowers felt an affinity though, that would lead to him opening a restaurant here eleven years later with a very clear goal; to provide a “resource” for people keen for somewhere to feel at home.
“I grew up in Santa Barbara, California, so always loved the beach, but Rio offers the urban environment too, and I had never been anywhere so mixed in terms of race and where I just blended in with the crowd.”
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Good job Sam! Boa sorte!