Deaf chef brings food truck to St. Pete

Anna Cerney knows good food – and she knows that not being able to hear doesn’t stop her from making great food.

“You can smell, you can see. You can sample it to make sure that tastes all right. There’s a lot of visual components to cooking, so the sound really isn’t that big of a deal,” Cerney said. She uses American Sign Language as her primary method of communication, which her father and business partner, Brian Cerney, translates for her. The Cerneys moved to St. Petersburg last month, bringing their food truck concept, Def burger, with them.

Def burger serves savory, made-to-order appetizers, sandwiches, wings and Executive Chef Anna’s signature Def burger: a quarter-pound ground beef patty topped with provolone cheese, Remoulade sauce and fresh-mixed slaw on a sesame seed bun. Def burger had been serving food outside a brewery in Richmond Hill, Georgia, for the past two years, but Cerney and her father said moving to Florida was always part of the business plan.

The Def burger food truck is currently parked at 1506 54th Ave. N., the only remaining unit in a strip mall revitalized by local developer Robert Blackmon. The space encompasses about 2,250 square feet and features a drive-through window, offering space for the Cerneys to expand their business in the future. For now, they’re waiting for the final inspections required to obtain their food truck license and plan to keep the truck stationed outside as they work to build a customer base.

The Def burger food truck is parked at 1506 54th Ave. N., just outside the interior space the Cerneys plan to build out.

“We wanted to be more tied to the community, to serve families in the community as best as we can,” Cerney said. “There’s also a lot of people working from home, which is even better. If you’re working from home and you want lunch, where do you go?”

Cerney hopes to double their previous sales at their new spot in St. Pete, enabling her and her father to build out the interior space with a full commercial kitchen and customer seating. Cerney wants more space to flex her creative muscles, somewhere with enough room to expand the current menu, explore new dishes and cook up seasonal specials. Of course, an open kitchen will be key.

“We’re trying to experiment with how to keep it visual, because she’s a visual communicator,” Brian Cerney said. “So when she’s cooking on one side of the hood and people are cooking on the other side of the hood, they’re facing each other and can see each other.”

“And so you’re also not hidden away from the customers. They can see what you’re doing,” Anna Cerney added. “My experience for many years of being a chef is that you’re kind of hidden away. We want our space to be bright, clean and with visibility for clear, visual communication.”

Cerney said customers are often surprised or confused when they first try to speak to her; she can read lips when it comes to simple phrases but mostly uses ASL to speak. With Def burger, she’s created simple solutions, like a visual menu listing the ingredients of each item and any potential allergens. Customers can write their order on a paper menu and write down any questions they might have. After they order, Cerney likes to keep an eye on her customers to gauge their reaction to her food.

Def burger customers write their orders on a visual menu, making it easier to communicate with Cerney.

“There’s a lot of expression, a lot of feedback that they might not even know they’re doing. So people will take a bite of their hamburger and their eyes will widen and they will nod their head, and maybe say to their neighbor, ‘Oh wow, that’s good.’ If I couldn’t see that, it would keep me from that final understanding of how my food was enjoyed or appreciated.”

After earning multiple degrees and working in a variety of restaurants, Cerney created Def burger not only as a way to serve her own mouthwatering dishes, but also to challenge stereotypes and break down barriers for deaf people and those with disabilities.

“We’re here to serve food, of course, but part of our mission is to help hearing people become more comfortable with deaf people and know that deaf people can do things anyone else can,” Brian Cerney said.

“We want to be a place where everyone is comfortable and people can enjoy eating something that’s not the mundane, typical burger,” Anna added.