Photos of food formed the foundation of a loving relationship between a former Michigan man and a Pittsburgh woman.
Carlos Milanes Jr. would drive about four hours one way to spend precious moments with his future wife, Collyn, in the Steel City before returning to Detroit and his trucking company job.
In what may become a modern Lifetime movie, the pair first connected through Instagram — liking one another’s food photos.
“I didn’t even have a picture of myself, I only had a picture of my food on there,” Carlos said.
Their love of good meals quickly became a love for each other.
“We both had just gotten out of (relationships) and the last thing on my mind was settling down with somebody else,” Collyn said. “I never was able to cook for a man where I was like, ‘He’s not going to pick out the onions and peppers.’
“I was so excited. We definitely bonded over for sure that — taking care of each other.”
They have been married five years and live in Coraopolis.
The couple recently turned their passion for food into fuel for a food truck business.
Milanes Mobile formally hit the road in January. Their base of operations is the commissary at the Valley Veterans Association in Glenfield.
They do a lot of their prep work in the kitchen and occasionally cook for the association.
Collyn Milanes’ mother, Barbara, is a member of the club.
Carlos said they base a lot of their family vacations around food and travel to South Florida often — Carlos was raised in Miami by his Cuban parents, Maria and Carlos Milanes Sr.
They wanted to bring a taste of Miami to Pittsburgh.
Building a new life
Carlos and Collyn spent the better part of at least two years transforming a 1975 GMC Kurbmaster into their mobile dream machine while working full-time jobs.
Carlos rebuilt the engine, installed a host of other parts and nearly rebuilt the whole thing with the help of some online research and how-to videos.
“It was just an aluminum shell when I bought it,” Carlos Milanes said. “We started in February 2023. One paycheck, we went and got the walls. Another paycheck, we went in and did the electrical. We did it little by little. We started selling food (out of) it in January of this year. It’s crazy what you learn on YouTube and Googling.”
Collyn Milanes came up with the color scheme, including dark brown, white, pink and teal stripes.
The look is designed to give off a South Beach vibe.
They use a buzzer system, similar to sit-down restaurants. A small device lights up and buzzes when an order is ready.
Carlos was a parts manager for North Star Chevrolet in West Liberty. Collyn was an assistant manager for the restaurant Wexford Public. She also worked as a waitress for other local restaurants.
They have six children, ages 2 to 17 years old. Carlos and Collyn each have two children from previous relationships and have two children together.
So, Dad would work more during the day and Mom worked evenings. They wanted to find a way to survive while carving out more time for their children and each other.
“We were tired of working 50 hours (a week) for somebody else,” Collyn said. “We’d rather work 80 for ourselves. … I really do love being with him.
“It’s definitely taught us to be more patient with each other, just because we are with each other all the time and have to work with each other. You have to learn to separate work from relationship a lot of the time.”
Finding the food
One of the things that separates Milanes Mobile from other Cuban restaurants isthat they make their own bread.
They also focus on using the finest meats and ingredients instead of the most affordable.
“Even though we can make a lot more money using cheaper stuff, we try to put the good (stuff) in it,” Carlos Milanes said. “We cook what we like to eat. We don’t want to cook crap.”
A majority of the offerings are traditional meals made from recipes passed down from Carlos’ Cuba-born mother.
Collyn said she watched Maria closely for many months, perfecting the dishes and finding ways to add her own flavors to some of the options. The matriarch rarely measured anything while cooking.
“It’s definitely been a lot of practice on my part because even something as simple as Cuban bread took a couple months to learn how to make,” Collyn said. “That’s something that I still tweak a little bit every time. My brain is so full having to follow directions and keep things still traditional, but still be able to put some of our flair into it.”
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Some of the tweaks to traditional meals include adding a garlic sauce and pico de gallo to a completa, a dish that features rice, beans, meat and plantains.
Carlos Milanes said he takes great pride in being able to share family recipes with his wife and the rest of the world via the food truck.
Seasoned ground beef empanadas with sweet dough and a Cuban sandwich with roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, mustard and pickle between pressed Cuban bread are among their most popular items. The bread is very fluffy with a thin, crispy crust.
The Milanes also claim their fries are just as good as McDonald’s.
The food truck will be parked outside Big Sewickley Creek Brewery on the evening of May 15 and at The Dog Penn in the Strip District on May 18.
People can check out their food via Instagram, @MilanesMobile412.