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Chef Deluxe Me, a native of Perth Amboy, NJ, cooks for celebrities

Perth Amboy residents can enjoy a meal worthy of a celebrity when they stop by the Chef Deluxe Me food truck in Washington Park.

That's because food truck owner and chef Manaury Castro has cooked for Fat Joe, Bow Wow and Cardi B, among others.

Castro is known for its five-cheese macaroni and cheese, chicken wings, beef sliders with cabbage and gravy, flank steak sandwich with mozzarella, cabbage, chimichurri and gravy, crispy shrimp with sweet chili, empanadas, and fries with chicken, bacon and ranch dressing.

The Dominican native and Perth Amboy resident “brings a little bit of Latin America into everything I do,” he said. He started his food truck two years ago after giving up a police training program to pursue his love of food.

A year earlier, he cooked crispy shrimp, king crab legs, fried potatoes, flank steak, penne vodka and mac and cheese for Fat Joe when the rapper opened his sneaker store UP NYC in New York City.

Fat Joe asked Castro to film him for Instagram while he was tasting the chef's food. Since Fat Joe is known for the saying “Yesterday's price is not today's price,” the artist said while tasting Castro's crispy shrimp, “Yesterday's shrimp is not today's shrimp.”

This is just one of the posts on Castro's Instagram at @chefdeluxeme, which has earned him nearly 40,000 followers, making him both a chef and an influencer.

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Castro also cooked for Cardi B's daughter Kulture's birthday party in Jersey City last year, where he prepared mac and cheese, chicken tenders, sliders and flank steak.

He also cooked for Bow Wow twice: once on a yacht in Miami for the artist's birthday, when he prepared turkey sliders, wings, quesadillas and tacos, and once at an intimate private dinner at Bow Wow's home in Georgia, when he prepared spicy rigatoni with lobster tails.

“He fell in love with our turkey sliders,” Castro said. “Bob Wow is very humble and likes to joke around. He's a very family-oriented person.”

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The Chef Deluxe Me food truck is located at Washington Park in Perth Amboy, 581 Lee St., Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

It will also be on display at the Perth Amboy Dominican Festival on the waterfront from Friday, August 30th to Sunday, September 1st.

Castro is also a personal chef, which inspired him to open his food truck. While working as a police officer, he cooked for parties on the side. Soon, he was creating his own recipes and learning the food business, while customers asked him how they could eat his food more regularly.

“I thought I would do food truck pop-ups one or two weekends a month, but the universe had other plans,” Castro said. “We had overwhelming support within the first two days.”

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Long before that, Castro had been a gourmet at heart, he said.

“I always asked my parents for different things,” Castro continued. “Every time I go out to eat, I am inspired by new dishes. Little by little, this became my lifestyle.”

Go: Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Washington Park in Perth Amboy, 581 Lee St.; instagram.com/chefdeluxeme.

Contact: [email protected]

Jenna Intersimone has been a USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey contributor since 2014, though she's been a lifelong Jersey resident and considers herself an expert on everything from the Jersey Shore to the Garden State's vibrant downtowns. For unlimited access to her stories about food, drink and fun, subscribe or activate your digital account today. You can also follow her on Instagram at @seejennaeat and on Twitter at. @JIntersimone.

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