It spurred him to offer the world the same experience his mother offered him–indigenous meals made from scratch, with plenty of love. Thus, in 2014, he established The Freakin Rican Brand with his husband, Victor Vargas. He started out by selling food at street fairs in New York City. Leveraging his culinary art and marketing management acumen, his brand soon became a household name, quickly garnering a social media presence of 450k+ followers.
The Freakin Rican Brand has been the talk of town since its conception and has thus been featured in the New York Times, El Diaro, Grub Street and on Primer Impacto on Univision. Derick works round the clock to keep his Puerto Rican culture alive by providing New York City with high quality food, cooking products, a cooking channel on YouTube as well as exciting special events and a second-to-none luxury experience with his brand.
Hola Familia !!! Derick Lopez is the Executive Chef and Owner of the Freakin Rican Brand–the home of Authentic Puerto Rican food. Spending his early life in Bronx, New York City, he always dreamed of owning a restaurant through which he would familiarize his community with Puerto Rican cuisine. His interest in quick casual dining stemmed from observing his mother’s passion and enthusiasm as she put her impeccable cooking skills to use.
