By Zoe Pantazelos
Music, food, art, and innovation came together at the "Foreign Born, Boston Built, Immigrant Led" event on Tuesday night in Boston’s Seaport District to kick off HubWeek. Following a panel discussion in which foreign-born founders of Boston companies shared what the future looks like for immigrant-driven innovation, the food came out.
Amid the bustle of HubWeek events, Carolina García had a mini outdoor kitchen set up where she served her restaurant's specialty dish: arepas. A Venezuelan delicacy, an arepa is a small corn flour patty and stuffed with fillings such as cheese, plantains, beef, and vegetables. According to García, not a day goes by where arepas are not enjoyed in some Venezuelan households.
"Food means family, roots, tradition. The taste of things is what we normally will remember from our family." - Carolina García
García and her friend Carolina Salinas immigrated to the United States together in August 2015 from Caracas, Venezuela with the plan to open a business. García's son was studying in the U.S. at the time, so she decided to leave behind her home country and create a new life in America. When the two women arrived in the U.S., they were not exactly sure what to do but soon realized they could turn their culinary talents into a business.
While participating in an immigrant entrepreneurship program called Nibble offered by the Somerville Arts Council, “las Carolinas” perfected their gluten-free arepas and started to sell them throughout the greater Boston area. Now, after three years as entrepreneurs with Nibble, the two women have achieved their dream of opening their own restaurant, Carolicious.
García's former spouse, José Colmenares, assisted her at HubWeek and is a regular helper with the restaurant. According to Colmenares, García was invited to serve her food at HubWeek through connections she made in her previous entrepreneurship program endeavors.
Why arepas? García explains that "it is the main dish in our country. Normally, we grow up eating arepas for breakfast or for dinner."
Zhenya Karelina, a graduate student at MIT, and Neishay Ayub were among the HubWeek attendees lined up to get a sample. Ayub said she had won free tickets to HubWeek from work. Both described the food as "really good."
García says the best part of her job is "meeting a lot of people and getting feedback from them that they really love [our food]".
Carolicious will be in permanent resident in the Aeronaut Foods Hub in Somerville. The menu includes the three arepas featured at HubWeek, in addition to several other types. Other Venezuelan staples such as empanadas and pabellón are part of the menu as well.
"We try to let people know that Venezuela exists," said García. "That's our flavor, that's our roots, and that's why we love to have food as a window to the people."
Credits:
Created with an image by canliga - "corn chef kitchen"