Food, Family, Fun…the three pillars of life.

 

We all have a favorite story about the time when an uncle, aunt, cousin, mom, dad, dog, showed up or showed out at the neighborhood picnic, thanksgiving dinner, birthday party and the“famous cook outs”. Food is used to celebrate, to comfort, to make big announcements and small gestures of appreciation. Food truly does make the world-go-round.

 

Hi, I’m Chef La La, and approximately 10 years ago, I discovered the power of food, in bringing friends, strangers’ acquaintances, communities, poor, rich, CEO’s and homeless, together as one.

 

My story isn’t your typical “always wanted to be a chef” story but rather one of a few starts and stops to find my life’s calling.

 

You see, my high school best friend's mother Patty Curtain, an amazing illustrator, worked with Alice Waters at the renowned Chez Paniesse restaurant, and exposed me to farm to table cooking.

 

After holding down several part time/full time jobs after high school, I decided to enter the culinary program at Laney College. in Oakland, CA. There I quickly learned that preparing good food for others was very rewarding.  I also found that cooking was a stress reliever. 

 

After completing the program, I worked at several restaurants including Angela's Bistro in Alameda and Oaklands own Brown Sugar Kitchen, Lake Chalet and Flora, where I served in various positions ranging from Grande Manager to Lead Line Cook to Sous Chef. Through these experiences - I fell in love with the art of cooking.

 

As I refined my cooking skills at Flora, my appreciation for culinary arts grew and I earned the opportunity to study and work under the tutelage of well-known Executive Chef Rico Rivera and Chef Yoni Levy. Working with these two talented Chef's made every day a learning experience. Not only did I learn how to prep and prepare a culinary experience, they provided me the opportunity to learn how to effectively manage the day-to-day operations.



My hunger (pun intended) for more…more culinary challenges, more restaurant management experience, more exposure, more satisfied food lovers…caught the attention of then Executive Director of Youth Uprising, where I accepted the opportunity as the Executive Chef & General Manager at Corner's Café, to create fresh, healthy and flavorable meals for YU staff, the students and faculty at Castlemont High School and the surrounding East Oakland neighborhood.

 

But even more rewarding was the ability to reach back and manage their culinary social enterprise providing culinary training, management skills, and meaningful work experience for our young women and men of color.

 

Now I have decided to take a leap of faith and step out on my own. I truly believe that God has a plan for me. I am in the beginning stages of launching a personalized catering business with a goal of opening my own restaurant.

 

As with any start up business, your support is key in taking JusLa’s catering from dream to reality.

 

How can you help? Your financial support will allow me to secure a space at a commercial kitchen to work out of, catering equipment and supplies and staff support. Additionally, if you have marketing or creative design skills, we can always use in-kind assistance in developing brochures, social media platform etc.

 

 

Thank you for reading my story, Thank you for your support. Thank you for helping me make my dream come true.

 

Respectfully

Christina “LaLa” Harrison

JusLa’s Catering,