This acclaimed S.F. food hall helped low-income chefs. What do they do when it closes? August 30, 2023

This acclaimed S.F. food hall helped low-income chefs. What do they do when it closes? Photo of Mario Cortez Mario Cortez Aug. 30, 2023 Updated: Aug. 30, 2023 10:05 a.m. Ivonne Cruz serves a guest at Los Cilantros inside La Cocina Municipal Marketplace. With the closing of the food hall, the restaurant is relocating to Berkeley. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle When ambitious San Francisco food hall La Cocina Municipal Marketplace closes its kiosks to the public on Friday, where will its women and immigrant food entrepreneurs go next — and how will the celebrated nonprofit move forward with its city-leased space in the Tenderloin? One person asking is Tiffany Carter. She started her Louisiana-meets-California soul food business, Boug Cali, by selling rich gumbo and po’boy sandwiches at her uncle’s church in the Bayview. As part of La Cocina’s incubator program, Carter got the chance to run her own subsidized restaurant kiosk as one of six original vendors at the Marketplace, which opened in April 2021 in a disused post office building at 101 Hyde St. But at a meeting in July, everything changed. La Cocina told Carter and her fellow vendors that the nonprofit would soon convert the food hall to commercial kitchen space, like at its original Mission District facility. Only the front coffee bar would continue to serve walk-in customers, featuring one La Cocina pop-up at a time. “I’m still processing that it’s happening. It’s surreal, and it doesn’t feel good,” Carter said on a quiet Thursday morning, waiting for the midday lunch rush. “I almost feel more sad for the community than for myself.” After Friday, La Cocina Municipal Marketplace in San Francisco will only be open to in-person customers for special events. A cafe will serve food from one rotating pop-up restaurant. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle Many more stakeholders — from the city, which subsidized the hall with $1.5 million in pledged funding, to Tenderloin businesses and residents — are also weighing the magnitude of the loss. In a neighborhood without grocery stores, low-income residents could use EBT for fresh meals at a reasonable price. The market served more than 5,000 meals for $5 to diners in need, no questions asked. Though sales at the kiosks totaled more than $1.5 million, La Cocina Executive Director Leticia Landa said they ultimately fell short of expectations, citing San Francisco’s slow downtown recovery and remote work. In its initial pre-pandemic plans for the hub, La Cocina expected each kiosk to bring in around $40,000 in monthly sales. Recently, sales ranged from $7,000 to $12,000 per kiosk. “Just with the math, you can understand why we’ve made this decision,” Landa said. Still, up to 70% of Boug Cali’s revenue comes from her kiosk, Carter said, with the rest from catering. She wants to keep serving diners in downtown San Francisco. She has looked from the Tenderloin to the Embarcadero for a new venue, but rents have been out of her price range. One location she liked charged $14,000 per month. At the La Cocina food hall, rent began at $500, with tiered increments based on sales percentages that capped out at $5,000. The dining area inside La Cocina Municipal Marketplace will be used for commissary kitchen space. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle Just steps from Boug Cali, Nafy Flatley serves Senegalese and West African fare like peanut stews topped with vegetables, and tamarind chicken thighs. She’s open to moving her business, Teranga, almost anywhere in the city, but rents are high. She liked a property in the Fillmore that was $9,000 a month, but found it too small for a restaurant and catering operation. In the meantime, Flatley will hold a three-month pop-up at the Embarcadero Center as part of the city’s Vacant to Vibrant program, which will bring 17 pop-ups to vacant spaces in the Financial District to rev up business activity in the area. Flatley considered an affordable location in the Tenderloin but turned it down on a second visit, citing the problems she’s had working in the neighborhood. “I wouldn’t feel comfortable walking with my kids or leaving by myself at night,” she said. More from Mario Cortez Vegan Mexican restaurant closes after 14 years in S.F. One-of-a-kind Salvadoran restaurant brings wood-fired pupusas to the Bay Area Safety, which La Cocina hoped to improve with its presence in the Tenderloin, proved a constant concern. In interviews, vendors described drug use and crime after dark. At least one person was found dead in the hall’s restroom, according to vendors and La Cocina. La Cocina has spent $667,735 on private security services for the hall since opening, and installed $65,809 in security equipment. As a precaution, the hall has kept its Hyde Street door locked on one side, acting as an exit only. “Our environment is not conducive for thriving small businesses,” said Kate Robinson, executive director of the Tenderloin Community Benefit District, a neighborhood nonprofit. “That is something we have to put on the forefront, because it all starts there.” The exterior of La Cocina Municipal Marketplace. The food hall hoped to bring new life to the former post office building, but crime and drug use in the area made doing business difficult, food vendors said. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle With the coming closure, several entrepreneurs are shifting their attention to other ventures such as food trucks. Algerian food kiosk Kayma, known for its couscous chicken bowls and veggie-lentil stews, is parking its existing food truck at the Presidio Tunnel Tops park on Mondays, Tuesdays and Saturdays in an arrangement facilitated by La Cocina. Mexican food kiosk Mi Morena will do the same Friday through Sunday. It could be a more lucrative approach: Jose Alberto Salazar, who works with his mother and Mi Morena owner Lupe Moreno, said the truck brings in four times more revenue than the kiosk, which would only get around 20 customers per day. Some food hall tenants are smoothly transitioning into new brick-and-mortar locations — just not in San Francisco. Los Cilantros, which serves tacos, tostadas and more Mexican plates at the hall, is moving to South Berkeley’s La Peña Cultural Center. There, it will take over a renovated cafe space starting Friday. The business is already familiar with the neighborhood: It previously ran a restaurant at 3105 Shattuck Ave., which closed during the pandemic. Los Cilantros owner Dilsa Lugo is cautiously optimistic about the new space, aware that Los Cilantros survived inside the food hall thanks to subsidized rent and assistance from La Cocina. But the change in scenery could be good for business. “I don’t think my food didn’t work,” Lugo said. “(The Tenderloin) is just a hard neighborhood, and the post-pandemic situation is also hard.” Tiffany Carter, right, works behind the counter at Boug Cali inside La Cocina Municipal Marketplace. “I almost feel more sad for the community than for myself,” Carter said of closing her kiosk, which is her main source of revenue. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle La Cocina’s original commercial kitchen space in the Mission District is currently packed, with 44 businesses running consumer packaged goods operations or preparing food for farmers’ markets or catering engagements. Now, some will move to the Tenderloin space, though they’ll need new licenses for the location. The downtown food hall is currently zoned for restaurant use, and La Cocina still needs to file for a permit change. No construction or remodeling work will be done. “By pivoting to it being a commercial kitchen and being able to serve more business, this is our attempt to be able to serve the community as best we can and not just roll down the windows and walk away,” Landa said. La Cocina’s lease on the Tenderloin property runs through the end of 2025; the city eventually plans to build affordable housing at the site. Entrepreneurs like Carter want to see the city support more dedicated affordable business spaces, akin to affordable housing. “We need those small spaces for very low-income small businesses to survive in San Francisco,” she said. Law students Noelle Ruane, left, and Saamia Aziz eat tacos from Mi Morena inside La Cocina Municipal Marketplace. “This space has been a space for everyone,” said Boug Cali owner Tiffany Carter. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle In September, Boug Cali will occupy the food hall’s single pop-up space, giving Carter a bit more time to serve customers. “People need spaces where they feel welcome. This space has been a space for everyone,” she said. During her time at the food hall, she served law students, tech and construction workers, neighborhood families, tourists, and many others. “I can’t think of anywhere else that has that commonality.” Reach Mario Cortez: mario