La Reina Boricua back selling Puerto Rican food at Compass takeover Thursday
Monica and Julio Berrios are excited to get their Puerto Rican empanadas and desserts back out into the community when their business, La Reina Boricua, takes over Compass cafe at The Well Community Development Corporation Thursday.
The takeover will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 647 E. Market St. in Akron's Middlebury neighborhood.
The La Reina Boricua owners stopped selling their food at Akron-Canton Airport and by delivery in the Akron area in November due because the food wasn't cooked at a commercial kitchen licensed by Summit County Public Health.
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Now, Monica Berrios, with the help of her husband, Julio, will be cooking at Akron Food Works, a commercially licensed kitchen at The Well CDC. Members rent time at the shared-use commercial kitchen, which is available 24 hours, seven days a week.
Wednesday night, Monica Berrios will be whipping up plenty of empanadas as well as bread pudding ($3.50) and tres leches ($3.50) desserts for her first time cooking in the Akron Food Works kitchen. Empanadas, which are $5 each, will be sold in chicken cheese, ground beef, cheese steak and yuca root vegetarian varieties.
"I'm so happy and I'm grateful for everything and I can't wait," Monica Berrios said of the Compass takeover.
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La Reina Boricua became a member of Akron Food Works, which now has 47 members, in April. To become a member, La Reina Boricua was required to have food liability insurance and Monica Berrios received person-in-charge food safety certification through a class at the University of Akron.
Compass baristas will take orders from the counter as the Berrioses work in the kitchen Thursday. Erica Banks, Akron Food Works coordinator, and Kyle Koerner, social enterprise manager, also will jump in to help as needed in the kitchen.
"It is their business and we want to help," Banks said. "This is their official kickstart.
"They are sweethearts so we're excited for them."
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Banks said 30 to 70 meals are typically sold for cafe takeovers, an opportunity for member food entrepreneurs that started in August at Compass.
Akron Food Works, a program of the nonprofit Well CDC, has a mission of removing barriers local food entrepreneurs may face as they build their businesses. The program offers both kitchen space and business incubation services.
To order La Reina Boricua food for the takeover Thursday, see compassakron.square.site. Customers can also contact La Reina Boricua through WhatsApp or messenger on the business's Facebook page and receive a QR code to pre-order.
La Reina Boricua received an anonymous $100 donation to cover rental costs starting out in the Akron Food Works Kitchen this week. Other upcoming takeovers will be Breakfast in Bed by LaCole from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, featuring a steak omelet, shrimp and grits and more; and Big Deal Whitfield from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 13, which will offer brunch for its first cafe takeover.
The Berrioses plan to continue cooking at Akron Food Works to restart La Reina Boricua's delivery business. They are also working with the Akron Food Works program to obtain a license from the Ohio Department of Agriculture to sell food off-site at venues, including farmers markets.
More news for La Reina Boricua
La Reina Boricua is also competing in the Life's a Pitch event May 12 as part of the ninth cohort at MORTAR at Bounce. The Program at Bounce Innovation Hub in Akron is a 15-week small business accelerator that helps entrepreneurs take a deeper dive into the nuances of business ownership and grow their company.
It focuses on serving minority- and woman-owned businesses, but applications are open to all.
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The free event, which runs from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at Bounce Innovation Hub, 526 S. Main St., will have finalists pitching their business plans to compete for $3,000. La Reina Boricua is the only food business in the competition.
The evening will include networking, food and music. To reserve a seat, register at https://tinyurl.com/75wa3sp5/.
Arts and restaurant writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: La Reina Boricua gets kickstart selling food at Compass cafe takeover
