Help Francisco Torres, The Octopus - Fight Cancer!

I met Francisco Torres when he arrived for a dishwashing shift… I had hired his friend for. That was eight years ago and we still laugh about it today.

Francisco quickly showed he could work the dish pit with enough speed (have you ever worked in a busy kitchen? There are a LOT of dirty dishes coming at you non-stop) and agility to have time help out as a prep cook. There he proved he had worked the line in other kitchens with enough skill to work in mine. Francisco later told me it was always his goal to make food in my kitchen. He knew he could do it, he didn’t have to ask for the job straight out.

Until a few weeks ago, Francisco was running my kitchen at The Corner. He had been having some pain in his side and one of our other cooks got after him to go to the doctor where Francisco learned he has liver cancer that has spread to his bile duct. He just turned 36 years old and showed no other symptoms.

A restaurant kitchen is its own unique microcosm, a family within a family where everyone has each other’s back. You don’t ask if someone needs help, you see and do to make sure everyone is taken care of.

Francisco Torres is one of the best hires I’ve made in this business. He is hardworking, humble and always there to help. He shows up early, stays late and I don’t think I’ve ever heard him complain, not even now. We call him The Octopus because he can flawlessly execute eight things at a time. He puts his heart into all he does and greets each new dish in every passing season with a glint in his eye. Everything in our kitchen is made from scratch and it’s one of his favorite things about working at The Corner – there is always something to learn, perfect, make better for our guests. Making food comes from the heart and Francisco is all heart.

Francisco is being treated at UCI Medical Center. We do not know how long his treatment will be or how much it will cost, but we are holding his place at The Corner. We want him to focus fully on his recovery without any additional stressors, so we are humbly calling on our community to join us in supporting Francisco financially and prayerfully. He has a wife and two young sons, so on top of medical bills we are hoping to relieve some of the burden of their day-to-day expenses as she maintains her full-time job while also helping be there for him. All funds will go directly to medical expenses and daily family expenses.

Please give if you can and know how much it means to all of us at The Corner, and to Francisco and his family. We THANK YOU – for all the support you’ve given us this year.

-Chris Grodach
and the Team at The Corner HB

*We will be updating this page as more information becomes available. Francisco is scheduled to have a port put in next week for chemotherapy.

Francisco working the line on a busy Friday.

Francisco, Joel and I running takeout only during the Covid shutdown.