Emiliana Puyana

She is the Program Manager of La Cocina, a social incubator that for more than a decade has been allowing the transformation of people with low-incomes – mostly immigrant and African-American women – into owners of their own business in San Francisco (California, United States). With a five-year training and follow-up programme, La Cocina has helped establish more than 30 micro-businesses and provided support for more than 90.

Emiliana has always been in love with food and cooking. Early experiences in her family’s kitchen in Venezuela taught her that food has the extraordinary ability to bring and keep people together. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in 2002 she decided to make the move from New York to San Francisco. Her time in the Bay Area has seen her hold most positions in food industry from prep cook to chef de cuisine, in restaurants like La Folie, Salt House and Marla Bakery. In 2011 she joined La Cocina’s incubator program and started her own pickling business. Three years later she decided to come herself back at La Cocina but at the other side of the table and now she has helped launched businesses like Reem’s (Semifinalist for the James Beard Awards 2019).