Celebrate LatinX owned small food businesses all month long with this amazing food box!
We are excited to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, happening from September 15th to October 15th! This month is a special salute to all Hispanic and LatinX communities in the United States, recognizing their communities’ contributions and influences on the history, culture, and achievements of the United States. Seattle is home to many Hispanic and LatinX small businesses. $5.00 of each box sold will be donated to CASA Latina, a local organization advancing the power and well-being of LatinX immigrants through employment, education, and community organizing.
Check out the awesome roundup of tasty treats below, brought to you by an amazing group of small business owners in the Seattle Hispanic/LatinX community!
Maria Luisa Empanadas
When it comes to finding the best authentic empanadas in the Seattle area, one of our favorites is Maria Lusia Empanadas. Owned and operated by Chef Rodrigo Cappagli, the business is named after his grandmother, who would make hundreds of empanadas for her family’s Sunday family gatherings. Chef Rodrigo’s gourmet empanadas are each handmade using fresh ingredients – and are always made from scratch. Follow Maria Luisa Empanadas on Instagram @marialuisaempanadas.
In the Hispanic Heritage Box, you will find 2 chicken and 2 chorizo empanadas. Empanadas are packaged frozen. Just pop them in the oven and will be ready to eat in just 25 minutes!
Oso Negro Baking Co
Aislinn McManigal and Sebastian Quintana are lovebirds who first met as line cooks while working at Tom Douglas Restaurants’ Lola in downtown Seattle. Aislinn, a Seattle native, graduate of UW and Seattle Culinary academy, was working towards her goal of becoming a chef. Sebastian, born and raised in Valparaiso, Chile, moved to Seattle in 2008 and had worked in Tom Douglas kitchens for 9 years.
After getting married in 2017, Aislinn went on to work at a Michelin-star restaurant in Spain and later became sous-chef at the well-known Pike Place Market restaurant Matt's in the Market. Seba meanwhile traded in his apron for a keyboard, enrolling in SCC’s Web Development program. In 2018 they were able to take a trip to Chile to visit family and celebrate nuptials.
But it wasn’t just family that Seba introduced Aislinn to – he also introduced her to alfajores, a South American cookie noted for its delicate texture and thick caramel filling. Aislinn instantly fell in love with them, much like the sweet Chilean man who brought them into her life!
They enjoyed them throughout Chile and at many Argentine bakeries during their week in Buenos Aires. Bringing those tastes and memories home, they began developing their own recipes in their Capitol Hill kitchen to share with family and friends. In 2020 the culinary passion became a business. The name Oso Negro means Black Bear in Spanish. It is as much an ode to the cookie’s roots as it is the story of the bakers behind them. Seba’s bear-like appetite meets Aislinn’s dependency to hibernate. South America meets the Pacific Northwest. Together they are Oso Negro Baking Co.
Six alfajores are included in every Hispanic Heritage Box, including one of their seasonal flavors, nectarine cobbler!
El Jibarito
For many local small food businesses, the journey often starts at a farmer’s market. This story is no different for El Jibarito, Luis Cruz’s Puerto Rican food business. After serving as a police officer in Puerto Rico, Luis found his passion for cooking and baking. After arriving in Seattle, he sought to start his own business, setting up a spot at the Kent Farmer’s Market where he brought a taste of the island and the Caribbean to the Pacific Northwest. Sandwiches, Pasteles (Puerto Rican tamales), jams and hot sauces are some of the many things Luis has offered to his farmers market customers and was even featured at the Ventures Marketplace in the famous Pike Place Market.
Each Hispanic Heritage Box comes with four pork and cassava pasteles and a jar of Luis’s Very Berry jam. These hearty pasteles are wrapped in banana leaves and are made with slow roasted pork and cassava (a nutty-flavored root vegetable). They come frozen and fully cooked, just heat and serve with rice or beans for an authentic Puerto Rican meal!
Very Berry Jam is made with local strawberries, blackberries, blueberries and raspberries, and is 100% all natural. Slather a generous spread onto the croissants from Golden Wheat Bakery for a simple breakfast in the morning! Follow El Jibarito on Instagram @el_jibarito_in_Seattle.
Tres Lecheria
Winner of Netflix’s Sugar Rush: Christmas and Food Network’s Winner Cake All, Chef Kevin Moulder’s passion for art, cooking, and baking stems from a young age. His grandmother kept him busy by having him cook recipes from her copy of The Redbook Cookbook. A graduate of Le Cordon Bleu in Austin, Texas, Kevin began cake decorating while working for a grocery store bakery. Follow Tres Lecheria on Instagram @tres_lecheria.
Your Hispanic Heritage Box comes with two tres leches cake slices – Horchata and Pumpkin Spice.
Seeking Kombucha
Do you love everything fermented? If so, then you will love Seeking Kombucha. Started by couple Jeanette and Lyz, their passion for kombucha began when Jeanette began drinking the fermented tea to introduce healthy gut bacteria to her body. After suffering from a sensitive stomach, Jeanette began drinking kombucha every day and after some time her stomach pains started to go away. Wanting to take control of what ingredients go into their bodies, the pair began brewing their own. Follow Seeking Kombucha on Instagram @seekingkombucha.
Each Hispanic Heritage Box comes with two 16-ounce kombucha flavors, Tropical Dream and Hibiscus Ginger kombucha. Both taste vibrant, refreshing and can pair with other sweet or savory foods.
Fulcrum Coffee
If you are a coffee lover (as so many of us are in Seattle), then we’re excited to introduce you to Fulcrum Coffee. Partner and Senior Vice President Blas Alfaro is a fifth-generation Costa Rican coffee farmer, and his passion for the humble coffee bean is evident. All roasting is personally overseen by Blas, who often works with coffee farmers to help them implement sustainable practices, building long-lasting relationships in the process. Follow Fulcrum Coffee on Instagram @fulcrumcoffeeroasters.
Each Hispanic Heritage Box comes with a bag of Coast Rica Obata Maria José whole coffee beans from Fulcrum Coffee. This coffee comes from Blas’ family’s farm in Central Valley of Costa Rica. From the start of a seed, this coffee has been touched by the members of Blas’ family in every step of the way. Processed naturally, the coffee results in a juicy and lively flavor profile, with notes of Meyer lemon, strawberry, and watermelon.
Pomegranate Bistro
Award-winning Chef Lisa Dupar was born and raised in Mexico City, Mexico and later spent time in the American South along the beaches of Charleston, South Carolina. She has always had a love and passion for food, and her mother encouraged her creativity. She grew up eating a diverse array of foods and in high school started to decorate cakes for cash. She took on jobs in hotel fine dining kitchens from Georgia to Europe, with the privilege of cooking for many noteworthy clientele including Julia Child, Bill & Melinda Gates, President Obama, Prince Andrew, and Sophia Lauren. She eventually landed in Seattle, where she first opened Southern Accents and then Lisa Dupar Catering. In 2005, she opened Pomegranate Bistro. The restaurant changes menus every 4 months to reflect the changing seasons and
highlight southern dishes, Pacific Northwest ingredients, blending home-cooked charm with haute cuisine. Follow Pomegranate Bistro on Instagram @pombistro.
Each Hispanic Heritage Box will include a signed copy of Lisa’s cookbook, Fried Chicken & Champagne, along with a 4oz container of Juan’s Beach Salsa, a signature recipe featured in the cookbook.
Golden Wheat Bakery
Located in Seattle’s Central District, Golden Wheat Bakery and Café is one of the best-kept breakfast secrets in town! Here you will find a nice variety of baked goods, from cookies, croissants and other traditional bakery items. But the real treat are the Latin American offerings on the menu. Hungry guests can find tamales, empanadas, breakfast burritos, and baked goods made with Latin-inspired flavors. Pro-tip: This is the only place in Seattle you can get a guava mango Danish! Follow Golden Wheat Bakery on Instagram @goldenwheatbakeryseattle.
Enjoy these yummy eats in the Hispanic Heritage Box: (2) guava mango danishes, (2) chocolate croissants, and (2) butter croissants.
La Mexicana
Did you know the Seattle is home to one of the oldest tortilla businesses in the Pacific Northwest? Founded in 1955, La Mexicana has been providing Seattle’s restaurants and groceries with locally made, fresh tortillas and tortilla chips. In the beginning Rudy Martinez and another partner manufactured fresh corn and flour tortillas in a small building in White Center, WA two at a time on a small griddle. Martinez sold the business years later and the business has continued to grow as a family business.
Hispanic Heritage Boxes come with a bag of Solena Tortilla chips. Delicious on their own, we recommend dipping them in the Juan’s beach salsa for a zesty snack!
Topo Chico
Legend has it that there was a beautiful Aztec princess in the 1400s who suffered a terrible disease so strange that no doctor could cure her. Desperate, the King turned to the older priests in the kingdom to find a cure for his daughter. They told him about hidden waters in a northern land which flowed at high temperatures, in which one only needed to bathe in or drink from to regain vigor, joy, strength and refreshment. The King took his daughter to this sacred spot, and after spending time taking baths and drinking from the water, the princess returned strong, happy, and refreshed. News about the water’s healing properties was passed down among generations, and this refreshing mineral water began to be produced for the people of Mexico in 1895. Since then, it has grown into an internationally recognized
brand with a loyal customer base here in Seattle. Follow Topo Chico on Instagram at @topochicousa.
Each Hispanic Heritage box includes two refreshing bottles of Topo Chico mineral water. Enjoy over ice as a cool accompaniment to your tamales, empanadas, and pastries!
