Above : Rob Hoffmann at DreamPower Horsemanship
Right : Rob with his wife , Val at the Gilroy Foundation ’ s Paradise Found fundraiser .
Everyone has a story … meet Rob Hoffmann
By Kelly Barbazette
A
cyclist , food connoisseur , volunteer and traveler , Rob Hoffmann is a man of many passions . One day he can be found cleaning horse stalls and the next , riding his Harley-Davidson to San Juan Bautista before cooking a feast for friends .“ I love to cook and drink wine ,” Rob , 48 , said . He and his wife Val moved to Gilroy eight years ago from Southern California and settled right in , adopting Ninja Sushi , Westside Grill - and more recently the Milias Restaurant - as their favorite restaurants .
Val even has a roll named after her at Ninja Sushi – a spicy concoction of chopped jalapeno , tuna , albacore and eel .“ We always see someone we know there ,” Rob says .
Rob recalls helping his mom in the kitchen while growing up in Milwaukee . He took cooking classes in high school and in the Philippines with his Mom and sister . He is now comfortable cooking all cuisines , especially grilling steaks and tenderloins . It ’ s not uncommon for him to smoke chicken or ribs for friends on the weekends .
Through the week , Rob ’ s Harley takes him to Monterey where he works as the Sales Operations Manager for Value Added Sales , including the bagged salads , for Dole Fresh Vegetables .
Twice a year , Rob and Val return home to visit family and go to a Green Bay Packers game . Val ’ s parents live in Green Bay , four blocks from Lambeau Field . Rob and Val met at Marquette University , where he was earning an MBA in international business .
Rob concedes that he has become a Giants fan since moving to Gilroy . They also enjoy returning each summer to Milwaukee for Summerfest , the world ’ s largest outdoor musical festival .
But the couple ’ s leisure time isn ’ t just spent traveling . Both Rob and Val , who celebrated seven years of marriage in November , enjoy giving back to their community .
They both volunteer at DreamPower Horsemanship , a non-profit group in Gilroy that provides therapeutic horsemanship programs to hundreds of children and adults .
Val ’ s love of horses drew them to DreamPower ’ s spaghetti feed one year . Val ’ s mother rode in the rodeo in Washington when Val was a child .
Rob and Val help find sponsorships and auction items for DreamPower ’ s events – including the group ’ s main fundraiser , “ Wine , Dine & Equine ,” which is held each July . Last year , they donated three dinners to the event ’ s auction .
And Rob credits cleaning horse stalls and hauling horse manure at DreamPower Horsemanship ’ s farm on the weekends for helping him shed 40 pounds last year . “ I would be soaked from head to toe and would do ( a 50-yard dash ) four to five times a day with a 150-pound wheelbarrow ,” Rob said .
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