6/30/2023 0 Comments Arepa pica pica san franciscoShe has four children now that will sometimes help out in the kitchen and she’s used Pica Pica as a place to teach them and their classmates about how to run a restaurant. The restaurant remains a place that Adriana can connect to her family and her local community. Pica Pica’s sales have not completely returned to their pre-pandemic levels but they are on the rise. It was not about making money, it was really just about helping people and keeping people employed,” she said. As a result, she didn’t lose a single member of her team either. She raised money from friends, family and several agencies across San Francisco and soon she and her team were providing hundreds of meals a day to homeless shelters and frontline workers.įrom March 2020 to May of 2020, Adriana and her team provided over 21,000 meals to those in need which bridged the gap until they were able to get their PPP loan in June. With the whole world turned upside down, Adriana knew she had to do something. But losing those sales and providing a safe avenue for her employees to continue working were struggles. The restaurant survived in part because of Adriana’s willingness to adapt.īy 2020, 50% of their sales were office catering orders so pivoting to a totally online ordering model was not an issue. “And I have enjoyed that part of the process.” Giving Back During COVID-19ĭespite Pica Pica’s success, the COVID-19 pandemic hit everyone hard in March of 2020. “I think that being welcoming to people's needs and bending over backwards to make sure people could still experience the arepa was an important driver for me from the beginning,” said Adriana. She wanted to adapt to the needs of the modern consumer while not losing the heart of the restaurant. She wanted Pica Pica to be a safe space for customers with all types of dietary needs so she removed soy sauce from her recipes as well as honey to make sure that even her sauces were vegan and gluten-free. But Adriana wanted to go deeper than that. Traditionally, the arepa shells themselves are gluten-free because they used corn flour rather than wheat flour. With a growing customer base, the Pica Pica team fielded a lot of questions about their product and one of the biggest questions they received was about whether or not their offerings were gluten-free. So that really helped us.” Inclusivity Through Cooking “The Bay Area is really foodie-forward and adventurous, and people are always very intrigued to try new things. It was a steep learning curve, but it was an opportunity to be the first ones at introducing that new flavor profile to the foodies in the Bay Area. “They're all kind of in the same realm of food, but arepas are unique to just Venezuela and Colombia. As such, an arepa is more than just a vehicle for flavor like a traditional tortilla it is a complex dish in its own right. The cornflour shell of an arepa gives it a unique texture that is different from tacos or burritos, and it also helps to absorb the flavors of the other ingredients. However, each country has put its own spin on the dish, resulting in a variety of different flavors and styles.Ĭolombian arepas are typically stuffed with cheese and/or eggs, while Venezuelan arepas can be filled with meats, cheeses, vegetables, or other ingredients. Arepas have their origins in the cuisines of Colombia and Venezuela, where they are traditionally made with a thick corn flour pancake as the base. “But it was a huge challenge, because people had no idea what they were.”Īdriana calls arepas the first cousins of pupusas and tacos and that’s a very apt description. “We were the pioneers in bringing the concept of arepas around here. But with many diners less familiar with Venezuela than other Latin cuisines and the small size of their first location, a more streamlined approach was the best way to go. Originally, the plan was for a full-scale, fine dining concept to elevate their favorite flavors while making their presence known in the community. Adriana and her father started Pica Pica together as a result and began their commitment to introducing Venezuelan cuisine to the Bay Area. Her father asked her how she would make sure that her children would have a connection to their heritage as Latinos and specifically, as Venezuelans. It all began in 2008 when Adriana gave birth to her first child. The future presents opportunity and no one has embraced that more than Pica Pica owner and chef Adriana Lopez Vermut. No matter how much of a melting pot our world becomes, there is no reason for time to erase culture or modernity to overcome tradition. As the world becomes increasingly more globalized via the internet and social media, it can sometimes be hard to hold on to the parts of our own backgrounds and histories that remain special and unique to us and our families.
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