Applying to La Cocina

La Cocina’s program is limited to a few businesses that are identified as qualified after completing the application and assessment process. Please see the bottom of this page for our qualification criteria. Non-qualified businesses may apply as commercial kitchen users.

Attend Orientation

In order to apply to La Cocina’s incubator program, you must attend an Orientation Workshop. This workshop is free and open to the public but we suggest that you sign up ahead of time to make checking in easier. We will send a confirmation email 2 days before the orientation to confirm your sign up. All orientations take place on Wednesdays from 6-8pm at La Cocina.

In 2012 our Orientations will take place on:

January 18th             Sign Up

March 7th                   Sign Up

May 2nd                      Sign Up

July 11th                      Sign Up

September 5th            Sign Up

November 7th             Sign Up

Attend Office Hours

Office Hours are optional, but highly suggested for anyone who is interested in applying. Office Hours are free and open to anyone who has attended an orientation and signs up. Following every orientation, La Cocina staff will be available on a designated day to answer questions relating to business planning or to the application. We will send a confirmation email on the last day people can sign up with a calendar of available time slots throughout the day and into the evening.

In 2012 our Office Hour Days are

January 30th Sign Up by Jan 25th

March 26th FULL

May 21st Sign Up by May 14th

July 23rd Sign Up by Jul 16th

September 24th Sign Up by Sep 17th

November 26th Sign Up by Nov 19th

Turn in Application

You can download the La Cocina application here.  It explains all of the information you will need to get together in order to apply to the incubator program.  In addition to completing the application form, you will need to provide a completed business plan including financials, your resume, two letters of recommendation for the program and proof of your current income.

We have three application dates in 2012:

April 10^th

September 10^th

December 10^th

Only completed applications will be considered. They must be either delivered or mailed as a hard copy AND sent as an electronic copy via email to info@lacocinasf.org on or before the application date.

After turning in the application, qualified applicants will be invited to a personal interview with La Cocina staff and advisory committee. For those not qualified La Cocina will make an effort to provide referrals to other organization for further training.

If enrollment is approved, the prospective program participant will receive a pre-incubation plan that will include fixed benchmarks and goals for the period of pre-incubation.

Qualification Criteria

La Cocina screens applicants to the kitchen for a variety of qualifications. The incubation program is not for everyone and La Cocina requires that participants be:

• Low Income:  La Cocina only works with low and very low-income entrepreneurs. For income limits see the HUD listings for your county. Women, immigrants, and people from communities of color will be given the highest priority.
• Business Ready: Ready-to-Start businesses, that is, qualified applicants who show evidence that they are business and personally ready, and whose business shows potential to succeed will be the highest priority. Readiness is a personal and business stage where people have already taken action to advance in their business venture, have researched and tested a feasible business, have developed some entrepreneurial skills and have achieved a threshold of personal circumstance favorable to successful management of the business. La Cocina can consider candidates who need time to achieve business readiness if they show promise.
• Micro Businesses: Business of with a maximum of 5 employees with below $35,000 in assets will be La Cocina’s highest priority. La Cocina encourages the formation of small cooperatives and will consider such collaborations as a high priority.

La Cocina carefully screens applicants in order to find indicators that suggest an entrepreneur’s business readiness level as well as a business idea’s chance for success in the industry. The application process will help assess:

• Entrepreneurial Skills and Competencies: La Cocina assesses the applicant’s professional experience, entrepreneurial spirit, openness to learning new skills and making necessary changes and an ability to cooperate in a challenging and busy environment.
• Product Viability: At interviews, La Cocina staff samples products and menu items from each business to see if the proposed product or concept has the potential to be successful.
• Community Spirit: La Cocina’s kitchen is a shared space and the incubator is a community that requires its members to work together. We look for candidates who will be:
• Flexible in sharing equipment and able to work with the people around them
• Capable of scheduling their kitchen use times in advance, adhering to their own schedules and planning realistically
• Willing to share financial and business information and statistics with La Cocina staff
• Willing to implement changes and take advice in order to improve their business or product
• Open to finding new ways of doing business, including potential partnerships and/or collaborations with other tenants
• Receptive to La Cocina technical assistance and training
• Able to comply with La Cocina food safety and sanitation policies
• Responsible for following the rules and regulations of La Cocina

Plating, Garnishing, and Displaying Foods

You’ve succeeded in preparing the best tasting meal ever, now what? Join La Cocina on May 23 from 3-5pm to learn how to do your delicious creations justice through our Plating, Garnishing, and Displaying Foods class. The good news is that the hardest part is over ,now you just need to make it look as good as it already tastes!

Where: La Cocina, 2948 Folsom Street from 3-5Pm.

How Much: This work­shop is free for pro­gram par­tic­i­pants and clients of part­ner orga­ni­za­tions,$15 each session for com­mer­cial users and $25 each session for the gen­eral pub­lic. To RSVP please click here

Who: Matt Skov, Kitchen and Facility Manager at La Cocina and Deagon Williams

About the panelist:

Deagon Williams: Chef. MBA.

Deagon was born in California, but her cultural and culinary training ground was Paris-where she moved as a teenager in order to undergo formal culinary training. She came of age grappling with her own culture and cuisine while living and learning another. Deagon earned her Grand Diplôme d’Études Culinaires at l’Ecole de Cuisine, La Varenne, and then apprenticed with Michel Comby and La Maison du Chocolat.

As a chef, Deagon ran a 25 person kitchen staff with a daily changing menu as well as created new businesses from scratch. In order to build organizational expertise, Deagon studied systems and organizational theory-earning a BA in Sociology at Mills College. Next, she sought to deepen her understanding of business and economics by earning an MBA-also at Mills.

Deagon then became Client Services Manager at the Center for Culinary Development, where she worked on business development and food marketing for multinational corporations.

Deagon now enjoys running her own consultancy, Culinary Business Strategy, where she has the challenging pleasure of delivering strategic results and business growth for her clients.

Background

La Cocina, a shared-use commercial kitchen and business incubator for low-income food entrepreneurs, is seeking a Graphic Designer Intern. Our mission is to assist low-income Latina, minority, and women microentrepreneurs in achieving economic self-sufficiency by giving them access to affordable licensed commercial kitchen space, and to the training, technical assistance, and the access to new markets they need to turn their businesses into livelihoods. La Cocina opened its doors to program participants in 2005; in 2008 we obtained our own 501 (C) 3 and successfully transitioned to operating independently.

Internship Available:

San Francisco Street Food Festival Intern: The SFSFF Intern will work with the Event Associate to assist in event logistics and execution.  This includes maintaining the Salesforce database for the event; collaborating and assisting other staff members, event producers, program participants, vendors, and sponsors; and helping to ensure the seamless execution of the event. For more information click here.

Program Intern:  The Program Intern will work with the Cart Programs Associate to assist in goal planning and technical assistance to incubator program participants, manage and maintain the Salesforce reporting components and engage in one longer-term project identified by the intern with staff. This position reports directly to the Cart Programs Associate with management from the Interim Operations Director. For more information click here.

Culinary Intern:  

This internship position will work with the Kitchen and Facilities Manager to help maintain the day to day operation of the kitchen.  This includes: managing inventory of kitchen and cleaning supplies, scheduling equipment repair and maintenance, scheduling of tenant shifts, instruction of tenants on how to properly and safely use the kitchen equipment, enforcement of sanitary food handling methods and of kitchen use policies and procedures.   This is a great opportunity for up-and-coming culinary professionals interested in managing a kitchen and managing staff.

Additionally, the culinary intern will work with the Kitchen and Facilities Manager to support the food businesses in the La Cocina incubator program as they launch their business.  Some topics covered will include product development, standardizing recipes, food costing, sourcing, scaling up to larger volumes and catering.

 For more information click here.

Graphic Design Intern:  The Graphic Designer will play an active role in the La Cocina’s marketing efforts, including assisting our participants with their branding, marketing collateral and website. The graphic designer will also produce pieces for the San Francisco Street Food Festival and La Cocina’s organization. This position reports directly to Marketing Coordinator with management from the Interim Operations Director.  For more information click here.

By: Annie Happel

Azalina was born in a tribal village in Penang, Malaysia where her parents grew spices in their backyard and picked them fresh for family meals. A favorite dish was Mamak Noodle Soup – consisting of rather humble ingredients then enhanced with spices that elevated it to fantastically flavorful heights.
Malaysian cuisine is a reflection of the country’s multicultural history, melding Malay, Chinese and Indian flavors into a multitude of symbiotically salivating dishes. For Azalina, this is the food of her childhood and cooking it transports her back to where she came from. When asked to name the one spice she couldn’t dream of living without, Azalina mentioned six – star anise, cinnamon, cardamom, black pepper, turmeric and arbol chilies. Just goes to show that Malaysian cuisine is nothing if not bold, fiery and beautiful. Quite like Azalina herself.
Malaysian Mamak Noodle Soup (Serves 2)

½ bag of dried rice vermicelli noodles, soaked in hot water
5 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 shallots, chopped
8 arbol red chilies, chopped
¼ cup lentils, soaked overnight
8 oz cubed lamb or firm tofu
2 fresh tomatoes, cut into wedges
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
1 whole cinnamon stick
4 whole star anise
2 hard boiled eggs, cut in half
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 cup coconut milk
2 limes, sliced in wedges
2 tablespoons green onion, thinly sliced
1 fried shallot – thinly sliced shallot, patted dry and fried in canola oil until golden brown, cooled completely

• Heat 3 tablespoons canola oil in large pot
• Add lamb or tofu and sear for about 2 minutes
• Add in onion, garlic, cinnamon stick, star anise, red chilies and soaked lentils and sauté for about 3 minutes until the onion and garlic are soft
• Add 7 cups of water and simmer until the lamb and lentils are cooked through, about 20 minutes
• Add the coconut milk, vermicelli noodles, tomatoes and cilantro and simmer for 1 minute
• Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper, to taste
• Ladle into bowls, garnish with egg, fried shallots, green onion and lime wedges
Hungry for more? On April 11th, Azalina will guide La Cocina’s cooking class through the streets of Malaysia, sharing recipes for Laksa, Roti Rolls, and her famous Roti Jala lacey crepes. Click here to attend. You can also purchase Azalina’s sauces and jam at Bi-Rite Market and Whole Foods locations in San Francisco.

Owner: Alejandra Garcia

Website: http://hangoverwatersf.com/

Email: hangoverwater@gmail.com

Phone: (415) 933-2963

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/hangoverwater

Twitter: http://twitter.com/hangoverwater

About Hangover Water:

Lucky for all you partiers out there, former chemical engineer from Colombia Alejandra Catalina Garcia is now mixing up her own miracle hangover cure at La Cocina! A highly productive entrepreneur, Alejandra moved to the Bay Area two years ago where she has quickly developed her own jewelry business and also enrolled in cosmetology school.

Most recently Alejandra founded HangOver Water to help the 35% of San Franciscans who wake up with a hangover every morning get their party on. She combines probiotic cultures with fructose and other secret ingredients to make the hangover cure that her friends have already started begging her for! Get ready for round two, with a little HangOver Water before and after the party, you can go all night!

Owner: Tiffany & Sylvee 

Website: hellaveganeats.com

Email: Hellaveganeats@gmail.com

Phone:  510 282-8233

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/hellaveganeats

Twitter: http://twitter.com/hellaveganeats

About Hella Vegan Eats:

Forget the tofu pup, Slyvee and Tiffany of HellaVegan Eats are packing a multi-cultural explosion of flavor into their innovative new vegan dishes. You’ve probably already spotted this dynamic duo selling tantalizing vegan tamales alongside their eclectic Mexican art at the Oakland Art Murmur or Underground Market. You may have even been lucky enough to attend the hella good pop-up vegan Thanksgiving dinner they hosted at Rock, Paper, Scissors Restaurant in Oakland last year! Southern California natives and East Bay residents, you can find Sylvee and Tiffany currently working on food trucks, the Brunch Box and the Bandit.

Inspired by their honeymoon trip through Mexico and Central America where they explored a wide range of flavors at street food stands and inside welcoming kitchens, Sylvee and Tiffany combine spices and cooking techniques from diverse ethnic cuisines to come up with their own unique new vegan “food you’ve never heard of” – Yet!

Spring has sprung and the wait is over! Off the Grid is back at Fort Mason! Starting on Friday 23th March, six La Cocina businesses will proudly serve us their best food every Friday from 5pm to 10pm. Chaac Mool, Azalina’s, Onigilly and for the first time at Fort Mason Alicia’s Tamales Los Mayas, Don Bugito and Delicioso Creperie will join the other 35 participants at this rising event!

A pinch of talent mixed with a large portion of culture and history, a big dose of love and passion… This truly is the recipe for the greatest, most amazing food you will discover and taste at Fort Mason this year! Chaac Mool will walk us through the delicious Yucatecan region of Mexico, the special dish being cochinita pibil.  Asia is represented by Azalina’s Malaysian food, with her delightful Penang Curry, Chai Bananas and Corn Fritters. Onigilly will dish up his luscious Japanese rice balls.

As a newcomer to Off the Grid at Fort Mason, Alicia is going to lovingly serve her famous savory and sweet tamales. If you want to try the amazing mix of French, Lebanese and Mexican style crepes, step inside the Delicioso Creperie tent.  And last, but not least, don’t miss Don Bugito’s insects, an original and interesting source of protein. Rain or shine, come enjoy spring at Fort Mason and don’t forget to visit La Cocina’s participants tents!

Hope to see you there!