Rosey Alvero
Photographer: Mathieu Wauters
Name: Rosey Alvero
Current City: Los Angeles, CA (in the Mar Vista neighborhood)!
Hometown: San Francisco, CA | Manila, PI | Victorville, CA, but also feel at home in Ghent, BE, Paris, FR, and New York, NY
Occupation: Food & Travel Show Host, Creator, and Producer
Rosey Alvero, food & travel show host, creator and producer, is constantly trekking around the globe, diving deep into the culture of other cities and learning about the cuisine.
Alvero has always stood up for herself as a woman and a minority. "It's not until recently that I learned of my mother flying from Manila to San Fransico with a layover in Tokyo just 2 days before I was born to have me in a country where women had equal rights to men," starts Alvero. "I truly feel this played a large role in determining parts of my character and desires as an adventurous woman that always seeks a new experience, as well as being vocal on my beliefs for equality for all. I always strive for purpose and happiness."
As of now, Alvero is working alongside KCET for the launch of SoCal Wanderer, premiering Tuesday, August 7, which follows her journey through Southern California, beginning with Ojai.
Read on to discover more!
Between Cache Cache, Feed the Flame and SoCal Wanderer, you've got quite the impressive resume. Let's start with Cache Cache, where it all began. What's the origin story, and do you have any events planned for the future?
Cache Cache has always been a fun project, a way for me to marry two of my passions, food + film. It started when I hosted a dinner for my husband’s birthday at a friend's beautiful loft in TriBeCa. During the dinner, we played video images from a projector up against a wall. A friend then came to me to tell me what a great ambiance I had created with a film in the background while having dinner and she suggested I host “Dinner and a Movie”.
A light bulb went off and I began to outline an experiential dinner concept that could also work as a platform for rising film artists who don’t normally have a space to share their work, at the same time I would be able to source the best possible food and have an open discussion about it with my guests. I knew we would never be stationary and we could pop up anywhere in the world, hence the name Cache Cache, which is a French idiom for hide-and-seek.
At the moment I am in talks with nonprofit, Feed Back, for an event in either New York or Los Angeles, but nothing is finalized yet.
Next, you worked with the Olympics last year at the host of Feed the Flame. Would you walk us through that experience, and what it was like to spend time in Kenya?
This was such a wonderful experience! I got to discover what was behind the success of Olympic long-distance runners in the home of long-distance running: Iten, Kenya.
Travel is always exciting, but what's more thrilling is the people you connect with and what they can teach you. I loved their way of life which is lived with gratitude and a sense of community. It’s such a rarity to feel this sense of community and belonging in the US as we can be so divided and individualistic.
We can all learn so much by going out of our comfort zone and experiencing how others live life. This is why I believe travel is so important in enriching our lives. To this day, I remain friends with many of the people I've met with or interviewed and to have a connection to someone far away is so special.
Photographer: Mathieu Wauters
Lastly, you have a show titled SoCal Wanderer, which launches next month. Without giving any spoilers, is there anything you can tell us about your show and what to expect?
This is one of the most exciting projects I’ve worked on.
Firstly, I love KCET, what they represent and the content they produce. There is something to be said about an independent channel that thoroughly represents a community and intends to entertain AND educate viewers. To work with a local channel is so me, I’m an advocate of supporting and growing your local community, so to be a part of the KCET family is an honor.
Secondly, SoCal Wanderer is all about exploring the beautiful region of Southern California and there’s nothing I love more than discovering what my home has to offer. It’s so easy to take for granted the things we can enjoy right here in our backyard. We don’t need to go far to experience something new!
As the host of this show, you can expect me to be honest and show kindness to the people I encounter with a genuine curiosity. It’s my way of revealing how connected we all are despite our differences. Lastly, I love working with this crew lead by a badass female director who made sure to have a diverse crew. I think this show will inspire you to get out there and explore!
What are the challenges you've faced throughout your career, and how did you overcome them?
Not having studied or worked in film or media means I started from the very bottom without any knowledge of how to do any of this.
Years ago I stopped working in corporate fashion to pursue what I loved most: food + travel. I had done a lot of solo traveling throughout Asia and Europe before I moved to NYC. I reflected on how beneficial it was for me to explore and how my favorite way of connecting with people was over a warm meal.
I found that food is the one thing that people will always come together over – everyone enjoys eating! So with this in mind I kept thinking about what I could do professionally that would bring me joy and decided I would pursue a food + travel show.
Many trials and errors lead me to where I am now and I wouldn’t be where I am without the support of friends and family who have guided me through this process. I reached out to everyone I knew in the industry and asked as many questions as I could. If you have the passion for it, it doesn’t matter whether you know the industry or not, you’ll figure it out. I don’t have it all figured out, but I’m working on it!
Do you have any other projects or collaborations on the books you'd like the readers to know about?
I am currently in the middle of pitching a food and travel series I created and want to host called Foodprints. Foodprints is a documentary series that travels the globe as each episode tracks the journey of a single food ingredient.
Each episode takes us on a cross-border journey to discover the story behind the ingredient. Along the way, we’ll explore the ingredients uses, along with its impact on global culture, environment, and policy. You can learn more about it at bitly.com/foodprintsrosey.
This is such a special project for me, it’s been years in the making with lots of research and I am just now pitching and it’s receiving so much positive feedback and support. With so much content out there I think it’s important to find a way to not only entertain viewers but positively impact our everyday life through education; knowledge is power and I hope this show empowers viewers!
Photographer: Mathieu Wauters
My husband and I also recently started a motorcycle sidecar touring business that we hope to expand to major cities across the US and abroad. We are still debating what to call our business, but it’s between Sunny Side Rides and CoPilot. If you have a preference let me know. I’ll take you for a ride one day, it’s so much fun!
Outside of the remarkable list above, what are some of your aspirations for the future?
It’s quite simple actually, I hope to be doing work that I love and leave a positive impact. My goal is for Foodprints to be a tangible food revolution we can all be a part of. And of course, health & happiness!
Where is your favorite place to escape and clear your head?
My home. I live in my dream house in Mar Vista. It’s my own little oasis near the beach that always feels like a vacation. My husband and I have made a cozy home for ourselves with our two pups, Patrick and Murphy. There are few things that bring me more joy than coming home to two fur balls bursting with joy to see me! You can expect good vibes when you come over.
Discuss the importance of paying it forward?
We should all want the best for each other. If you are in a position to help someone then there’s no better way to keep the positivity flowing than with a little bit of generosity – helping one another achieves overall success. You don’t have to go above and beyond either, everyday acts of kindness is an easy way to pay it forward and it goes a long way.
If you could give one piece of advice to young individuals around the globe, what would it be and why?
Don’t let fear of the unknown stop you from pursuing what you want to do even if that dream seems wild.
Find out what it is that you love and pursue it with determination. I think it’s important to teach kids to take risks and that failure doesn’t mean you didn’t succeed; trial and error is a great learning method worth embracing.
Photographer: Mathieu Wauters
Who are some of your greatest influences?
All of the women in my family. I come from a long line of strong women including my great-grandmother whom I was named after. She started the first female University of the Philippines and was a prominent journalist. I never met her, but I like to think we have the same spirit.
My grandmother who holds our family together and throws down in the kitchen, and my mother who has raised 8 kids and came to America on her own to provide a better life for her family.
And my many titas who left their homeland to pursue a new life abroad. The things these women have faced and overcome amazes me.
What/who are you grateful for?
I have a lot to be grateful for! I am extremely grateful for the worldwide community of friends and family who continue to support me. I feel fortunate to have a strong mother who has always cheered me on as I take a path that’s unconventional and sometimes quite risky. I have a wonderful husband who takes on every challenge with me, he’s also my lucky charm. It’s this part of my life that I feel rich!
What does empowerment mean to you?
Empowerment means believing in yourself and becoming the best version of yourself so that you have the ability to achieve anything. The only person you need to convince of your capabilities is yourself.
Do you have a personal mantra or quote that inspires you?
This may be very cheesy, but when I was trekking through Peru on the Salkantay Pass, during difficult times our guide kept saying, “the journey is the destination” and it stuck with me.
There were so many challenges during that trip that it became difficult to enjoy the moment. It’s easy to want to see the end result of something, but life is too short not to enjoy the process; the end may never come so you might as well live it up along the way!