Dina Csir learned how to cook when she was 12 beside her mother and grandmother.

Csir, 32, of the Dominican Republic, brought those skills with her to America and to Erie's Flagship City Food Hall, much to the delight of diners there, where Dina's Authentic Dominican Kitchen is one of the most popular attractions.

She said she used to cook for her family, including her husband, John Csir, an Erie native she met while he was in the Dominican Republic doing mission work for Frist Alliance Church. John Csir, 35, is the co-owner of the kitchen.

Cooking for crowds is right in Dina Csir's wheelhouse.

"In my country, we always make big meals," she said. "And when we cooked, it wasn't just for us. Neighbors and extended family would wander in. We always cooked for at least 10."

Dina Csir, who earned American citizenship in 2021, welcomes the help of her mother, Marilin Jimenez, in cooking for the crowds at the food hall, as well as at her church. In fact, that church is where her cooking captured the attention of John Persinger, chief executive officer of the Erie Economic Development Corp., about the time he was looking for tenants for the food hall in 2020.

"We were looking for her to re-create flavors of her home cuisine," Persinger said. "It was a great fit."

He didn't just like the food. He also liked John Csir, a businessman who owns his own company, National Logistics Network, 8115 Wattsburg Road.

"We talked about the (restaurant) concept," Persinger said. "I thought (the food) would appeal to the Erie audience, and knowing John and his background, it was almost a match made in heaven. You have Dina and her family, who excel at the culinary side, and you have John, who excels at the business side. In the restaurant world, you don't often get both."

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The "dream team" are now living the American dream: using their skills to succeed in their own small business.

"They're a textbook version of the American dream," Persinger said. "We see the food hall as a low-risk opportunity to test out a concept. We own the building and the equipment and take care of the utilities, taxes, cleaning, programming.

"All they had to worry about running their business," he said. "If it didn't work out, they weren't stuck with building and equipment, and if it did (succeed), they could expand."

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The Csirs have been married for 10 years and have three children, ages 6, 3 and 7 months, two boys and a girl. She was a stay-at-home mom since her first child was born, but she said it made sense for her family for her to start her own business just about the time Persinger was looking for someone like her.

Now she serves up luscious plates of slow-cooked, delectably-seasoned chicken, beef, pork, rice, plantains, beans, cassava fritters (like potato pancakes), flan and rice pudding. She also serves mango juice, a common beverage in the D.R., as she calls the Dominican Republic. On the weekends, they serve empanadas, or hand pies stuffed with cheese and either chicken or beef, which she said is considered D.R.'s signature street food.

The opportunity to start her own business in the food hall has improved her family's life beyond measure, Dina Csir said.

"Yes, of course it has made our lives better economically," she said, but that's not why she's doing it, really. "It's good for me. I always preferred to work. This gave me the opportunity to do what I like. I enjoy people and making a lot of friends."

She said the food hall is working out so well that she's considering expanding into another location in a year or two.

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While she's definitely the culinary part of Persinger's dream team, she's no stranger to business. Her father and uncle own and run a grocery store in the Dominican Republic.

"It feels good to be your own business owner," she said. "I get to interact with all kinds of people. I grew up with a diverse people," listing tourism in the D.R., which exposed her to many cultures, including British, French, Spanish and Haitian among others.

At the beginning of hers and John Csir's marriage, they lived in the D.R., but moved here a few years ago. The only thing she's not fond of here is the weather.

"I love the spring, summer and fall," she said with a laugh, "But not the winter."

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As far as family life, it's working. John Csir still works at his company and they tag-team on child care. John Csir said he especially likes Dina's "san cocho," the unofficial national dish in the D.R. "It's a seven-meat stew," he said, listing goat, pork, chicken, beef, ox and sausage.

San cocho is traditionally made in a huge cauldron on holidays.

"My kids are growing up on it," he said. "We also eat avocados off our tree."

As much as he loves the food, the businessman in him recognized the value of his wife's opportunity with the food hall.

"There's no overhead," he said. "It's more of an incubator. It's part of an economic driver downtown, and we didni't have to mortgage the house to open a restaurant."

Contact Jennie Geisler at jgeisler@timesnews.com. Follow her on Twitter @ETNgeisler.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Dina's Authentic Dominican Kitchen example of American dream in Erie