May 1, 2025
6:00-9:30pm
The Rincon Center, San Francisco
Join us in celebrating 20 years of La Cocina entrepreneurs creating a more inclusive, vibrant, and delicious landscape in the Bay Area. The event will feature a cocktail reception and a three-course meal created by iconic Bay Area restaurateurs and chefs. The menu will be inspired by the cuisine of La Cocina entrepreneurs.
Alter worked at the helm of kitchens such as Haven and Plum in Oakland, California. Prior to that, she worked in some of the Bay area’s most notable restaurant Kitchens including Manresa, Ubuntu, Aqua, and Acquerello. Alter’s menus showcase a commitment to technique, whole animal cookery, and support of local farms. Her food often takes familiar dishes to new places with creative spins on classics. Alter earned a James Beard Nomination in 2018 and 2020, sustainable Chef of the Year from Star Chefs and Top 100 restaurant from the Chronicle in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
Elizabeth Falkner is an award winning chef who started cooking in, and then owned restaurants in San Francisco for two decades. She moved across the country to open restaurants in New York and cooks both savory and sweet. She loves cooking competition and has competed and judged on many shows on food television. Chef Falkner is a fitness advocate and loves playing sports and staying “Fit to Cook”. She’s an author of three cookbooks, and she cooks, speaks and teaches all over the world. She is on the board of trustees of the James Beard Foundation. In 2020 she re-located to Los Angeles and produced/hosted a documentary called, “Sorry We’re Closed”, which won Best Documentary Feature at Pasadena Film Festival 2023. The film is available on steaming platforms. In 2024, she and her partner, Heather Freyer launched T’MARO spirits in September 2024 with an Eau de Vie and Amaro made with California dates from The Coachella Valley.
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Gaby Maeda grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii where she had exposure to several different types of cuisine. She spent two years cooking at Hiroshi’s Eurasian Tapas in Honolulu. The parallels in diversity between Hawaii and the Bay Area made San Francisco the obvious choice for her next destination.
Following her graduation from the California Culinary Academy in 2009 Maeda accepted an internship at Restaurant Gary Danko. Over the next five years of working on the line she established a foundation of culinary technique and skill.
In 2014 Maeda accepted a job as a line cook at State Bird Provisions and she has worked her way up through the ranks to Executive Chef.
In 2024, she accepted the position to run the kitchen as Head Chef at the acclaimed queer owned/operated bar, Friends and Family Bar in Oakland, CA. She works closely alongside Blake Cole, owner/proprietor, to create a beautiful dining experience and safe space for all.
Maeda has been nominated as a James Beard Finalist for Rising Star Chef in 2020 and Semi-Finalist for Best Chef CA in 2025. In 2021 she was named one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs.
Acclaimed chef, author and speaker Chef Preeti Mistry is honored to have been twice nominated by the James Beard Foundation as "Best Chef of the West" 2017 & 2018. They were the Co-Founder and Exec Chef of Navi Kitchen and Juhu Beach Club (both closed) as well as the co-author of The Juhu Beach Club Cookbook.
Born in London and raised in the US, Preeti held Exec Chef roles at the deYoung Museum in San Francisco and Google HQ in Mountain View, CA. They were a contestant on Top Chef Season 6. Preeti has been featured in numerous publications including Food & Wine Magazine, NY Times, Time Magazine, Bon Appetit, SF Chronicle, Wall Street Journal, Vogue India, Eater, Harper’s Bazaar in addition to Anthony Bourdain’s PARTS UNKNOWN on CNN. They have been a keynote speaker and panelist at numerous events including WSJ Talks, Cherry Bombe 2014, 2017 & 2018, Eater Young Guns 2019, FAB Charleston Keynote 2019 and James Beard Foundation Summit 2019.
In April 2021 Preeti launched a podcast, ‘Loading Dock Talks’ in partnership with award winning podcast team ‘Copper & Heat’. Most recently Preeti, created a Chef in Residency program featuring BIPOC chefs making an impact in the industry for J Vineyards called Shifting The Lens.
Preeti and their wife, Ann Nadeau, live in Sebastopol, California and spend time caring for their apple orchard and growing organic herbs and veggies.
Acclaimed chef, author and speaker Chef Preeti Mistry is honored to have been twice nominated by the James Beard Foundation as "Best Chef of the Chef Melissa Perello is a decorated chef and Michelin-star recipient based in San Francisco. Citing Chef Ron Siegel as a critical influence, Chef Perello garnered early critical acclaim from local and national outlets, earning a name as one of San Francisco Chronicle’s Rising Star Chefs in 2002. Perello also earned three consecutive James Beard Foundation Award Rising Star Chef nominations and was lauded as one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs in 2004 and 2005.
Her first owned venture, Frances, opened in December 2009, receiving a James Beard Foundation Award nomination for Best New Restaurant in 2010/ The restaurant was named an Esquire magazine Best New Restaurant by John Mariani and one of Bon Appétit magazine’s “Ten Best New Restaurants in America” in 2010, in addition to earning a Michelin Star. In 2015, Perello opened her second restaurant Octavia, which earned a Michelin star and has continued to garner critical acclaim.
Sarah Rich owns and runs Rich Table and RT Rotisserie with her husband, Evan. She grew up in Louisiana and Texas, where she discovered a passion for food and cooking. She moved to New York City for culinary school, followed by long stints at the restaurants Bouley in Tribeca, and Mas, farmhouse in the West Village. Sarah then moved to San Francisco with her husband. She worked at Michael Mina and Coi before she and Evan opened Rich Table in 2012, and their first RT Rotisserie in 2017. She is the mother of two fantastic boys who keep her busy when she’s not busy at work.
James Beard Award Winner and critically acclaimed chef, Craig Stoll, might be a New York native and a San Franciscan at heart, but it's his love and respect for soulful Italian cooking that have come to define him. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America and working through some of San Francisco's finest restaurants, Craig was awarded a scholarship to attend the ICIF cooking school in Torino, Italy. There it was an externship at Tuscany’s one-Michelin-star restaurant Da Delfina that paved his vision. He returned to San Francisco and in 1998, along with his wife Annie Stoll, opened Delfina, a relatively casual 50-seat restaurant located in the still up-and-coming Mission District, serving rustic Italian food infused with San Francisco’s local and sustainable values.Delfina quickly became a major dining destination, bringing people from all over to try Craig’s cooking including signature dishes like the Fresh Grilled Calamari, Insalata di Campo and Spaghetti and demanding the restaurant's expansion to 85-seats. This ultimately garnered him a place as one of Food & Wine’s “Best New Chefs” in 2001 and Best Chef: Pacific from the James Beard Foundation in 2010. In 2005, the Stoll’s opened their first Pizzeria Delfina next door, following up with a second location in Pacific Heights in 2009 and two more down on the Peninsula in Burlingame and Palo Alto in 2014. Craig solidified his reputation as one of the country’s most dynamic and influential chefs.
A San Francisco restaurateur and hospitality icon, Annie Stoll’s passion for good service has long been the perfect complement to her husband Craig’s passion in the kitchen. After honing her front of the house skills at some of the city's top restaurants, Annie met Craig while working at restaurants across the street from each other in Mill Valley. They soon left to open Delfina, eloping weeks after opening its doors in 1998. Since then, she has secured the reputation for the Delfina style service that perfectly reflects its food: casual and urban, with a friendly but professional sophistication leading it to a 2003 “Best Waitstaff” Award by San Francisco Magazine. Annie has overseen the hiring, training and management of all front-of house staff at the subsequent openings of Pizzeria Delfina on 18th in 2005 and Pizzeria Delfina on California Street in 2008.
A 2024 James Beard Best Chef South Semi-Finalist, Sophina Uong is the Executive Chef and Co-Owner of Mister Mao in New Orleans, a lively restaurant named one of Bon Appétit's “50 Best New Restaurants.” Known for her bold, "inauthentic" globally-inspired cuisine, Uong blends her deep knowledge of international flavors with creative interpretations of Southern cooking.
Vera Chan Waller is the third-generation owner of Yank Sing, a beloved San Francisco institution founded in 1958 by her grandparents, George and Alice Chan. Since joining the family business in 2001, Vera and her husband, Nathan Waller, have worked their way up from the kitchen, mastering the art of dim sum preparation and dumpling folding, to now overseeing the daily operations. Under Vera and Nathan’s leadership, Yank Sing continues to offer a diverse menu of over 60 traditional and contemporary dim sum dishes, while preserving its legacy as one of the few remaining restaurants in San Francisco to still offer classic cart service. With two locations in downtown San Francisco, Vera carries forward her family’s commitment to quality, tradition, and hospitality.
Addie and Marc Bidder, Siena Chiang, CBRE, Cisco, Golden State Warriors, Rocky Gowni, Oxford Properties, Krystin Rubin & Karen Heisler, Alka Tandon, Sarah Wigglesworth and Asiff Hirji, The 11th Hour Project - a program of the Schmidt Family Foundation
Alison Events Planning & Design, Office Design, Hudson Properties, Paula LeDuc Fine Catering & Events, Yank Sing, Augur Wines, Boutique DJ, Casa De Perrin, Dandelion Chocolate, Fort Point Beer, Found Rentals, Hensley Event Resources, Jessica Mangia, Nuage Rentals, Peterson Lighting, Plant Library, Tansy Wines, Snap Fiesta, Sound on Stage, Studio Mondine, Une Femme Wines
La Cocina is an award-winning social enterprise transforming the food industry by incubating businesses led by women, immigrants, and people of color. Since 2005, it has provided affordable kitchen space, training, and access to sales opportunities, helping entrepreneurs build thriving businesses that enrich the Bay Area's food culture.
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