Plain and simple, the food world is male-dominated. Nearly three-quarters of food businesses are owned by men within the same industry, men make a 24 percent higher salary, according to La Cocina’s 2013 report. The impact is felt throughout the Bay Area’s food and restaurant industry - and especially its women. Yet the effects of La Cocina go far beyond its dozens of supported businesses and their incredible diversity. I do the food, but they helped me to make the business.”Īs did Irish-born Claire Keane of Clairesquares: “It’s like a village raising a child.” Mexico City native Veronica Salazar of El Huarache Loco concurred: “They made El Huarache Loco. It’s a great thing - just being here and doing things.” Now I know I can make a difference in people’s lives. “Three years ago, I thought I had lost myself. Sometimes I feel like I divide myself in a hundred thousand pieces,” said Pradhan, whose Bini’s Kitchen goods can now be purchased at Off the Grid and Bay Area Whole Foods. “For a single mom starting from morning to night is always a challenge.
But the stats tell only a fraction of the story surrounding the groundbreaking organization. Of La Cocina’s 34 current program participants, half are immigrants, 92 percent are women, and 61 percent are mothers.
There is Heena Patel, quietly chopping cauliflower in the corner and readying Gujarati spices for her nascent business, Rasoi, where she cooks the vegetarian food of her western India.įront and center are Alicia Villanueva and the ladies from Alicia’s Tamales Los Mayas, who make up to 5,000 tamales a week to sell at farmers’ markets. Now she serves little bites of heaven in her fresh momo dumplings at Bini’s Kitchen. There is Nepalese-born Binita Pradhan, a single mom who found a sanctuary in La Cocina when she arrived in the Bay Area three years ago, following time in a battered women’s shelter.
She’ll quickly tell kitchen visitors about her cameo in a Woody Allen movie, as her broad smile reveals a grill of stars engraved on her teeth. Her decade-old San Francisco business, Estrellita’s Snacks, was one of the first to enter La Cocina’s culinary incubator program. There is Maria del Carmen Flores, whose food career began a lifetime ago at the bus stops of El Salvador. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle Show More Show Less Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle Show More Show Less 6 of6 A sample of nom pachok kampot made by Nite Yun of Nyum Bai for a focus group sits on a table at La Cocina on Thursday, in San Francisco, Calif. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle Show More Show Less 5 of6 Turkey Momo’s from Bini’s Kitchen are lined up on a tray in the kitchen at La Cocina. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle Show More Show Less 4 of6 An image of Maria del Carmen Flores, owner Estrellita's Snack's is seen on a mural at La Cocina on Thursday, in San Francisco, Calif. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle Show More Show Less 3 of6 Genevieve Gladson, Don Bugito production, checks on mealworms toasting in the oven at La Cocina on Thursday, in San Francisco, Calif. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle Show More Show Less 2 of6 Caleb Zigas (right), La Cocina executive director, works with program participants Guadalupe Moreno (left), Tina Stevens (second from left) and Nafy Flatley (second from right) during a product meeting at La Cocina on Thursday, in San Francisco, Calif. He will help you determine if our facility is right for you and get you in touch with the appropriate regulatory agency.1 of6 Shortbread and caramel squares are brushed before being packaged in the production kitchen at Clairesquares on Tuesday, in Sausalito, Calif. If you are interested in using the BIK, please email Cody Suggs at or call 91. BIK recognizes the historic importance of agriculture to southeastern North Carolina and the value this industry still provides in terms of economic growth, physical health, and food security for the people of our area. The mission of the Burgaw Incubator Kitchen is to encourage and support the development of a thriving food industry in Pender County by providing commercial kitchen space, business training opportunities, regulatory information, and networking opportunities to small, start-up, and expanding food businesses. This helps offset many of the start-up costs for culinary businesses. BIK provides Pender County Health Department and NC Department of Agriculture approved kitchen space and equipment to specialty-food makers. The Burgaw Incubator Kitchen (BIK) is a shared-use commercial kitchen facility located in the historic Burgaw Depot.
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