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How a viral food influencer helped a family-owned restaurant grow its business
Evidence tier: A1 Evidence type: Auto-discovered official publication Source: Mastercard Newsroom Official publication date: 2026-07-14 Captured: 2026-07-16T20:30:32.351Z
In late 2022, Silvano Jorge had just beaten colon cancer and wanted to bring his far-flung family back together in the Queens borough of New York City. His dream: a restaurant featuring the family’s recipes from the Dominican Republic, from hearty sancocho and fall-off-the-bone oxtail to the Jorges’ secret method for frying chicharrónes.
The timing couldn’t have been more perfect for what became Morena’s Kitchen & Bar, a 52-seat restaurant in Corona, just blocks from Citi Field, where the Mets play. After lockdowns and countless restaurant closures, New Yorkers were once again relishing their beloved foodie scene.
At the same time, the Jorge family members were each at a crossroad in their careers. Jorge’s daughter Lorena had just wrapped an acting gig in Los Angeles, while his son Lorenzo had been a chef at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Brooklyn closed by the pandemic. His wife Morena owned a boutique but jumped at the opportunity to work with her children instead. Morena’s sister, Rosa Muñoz, a homemaker, soon followed.
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