Aileen Suzara

Written by Emiliana Puyana, La Cocina staff since 2016

Aileen Suzara walks into her interview at La Cocina. She comes prepared: beautiful plates, delicious-smelling food, a big bright smile, and a mission-driven concept. Aileen applied to our program with the hope of formalizing her business, which she wanted to call Sariwa (“fresh” in Tagalog).

With Sariwa, she hoped to achieve many goals: to bring regional Filipino dishes to the American market, to cook a lighter and healthier alternative to the Filipino food we so often see in the Bay Area, to work directly with farmers of color—particularly those from the Filipino American community—and to teach both youth and elders in the Filipino community about the virtues of eating healthy food and the magic of passing down traditions to the next generation. For Aileen, food is much more than sustenance; food has become her language—her way to connect with a country that her parents left behind. Food is her Tagalog.