Chef Victoria Lozano of Andina, who joined La Cocina’s incubator program in May 2022, brought her Venezuelan fare to B-Side bar in Hayes Valley. What started as a summer pop-up became a permanent partnership; B-Side serves the drinks, and Victoria serves the food, ranging from slow-roasted pork arepas to tres leches cakes.
La Cocina graduate Fernay McPherson signed a lease for her second brick-and-mortar location, this time in the neighborhood where she was born and raised, the Fillmore District. With the support of a grant from San Francisco’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development, facilitated by La Cocina, Fernay will bring her famous fried chicken to the Fillmore in the spring of 2024.
Former La Cocina program participant Fabiola Santiago transitioned her food business into the non-profit organization Mi Oaxaca with the mission “to preserve Oaxaca’s indigenous food and beverage cultures through narrative change, education, and collaboration with compatible organizations across borders.” La Cocina was proud to support her business transition and served as the fiscal sponsor for a significant grant from the Mellon Foundation to further Fabiola’s work.
Before she joined La Cocina in 2010, Alicia Villanueva was selling tamales door-to-door in San Francisco’s Mission District to support her family. Now, Alicia’s Tamales Los Mayas produces 45,000 tamales each month and employs more than 20 people from her community. Business ownership allowed Alicia to realize her American dream - she was able to send her daughter to college and purchase a home in the Bay Area, her first since arriving in the U.S. 20 years ago. Alicia was featured in a film '"Grit & Grace: The Fight for the American Dream" from The House Select Committee on Economic Disparity.
A special thank you to our generous presenting sponsor Häagen-Dazs who made this incredible event possible.
