San Francisco’s Mission District is a cultural crossroads for food, where Mexican bodegas and burrito shops meet gourmet bakeries and cutting-edge California cuisine. It’s also home to a kitchen where some of the most promising food startups in the region are getting a boost.. In 2010, Villanueva found La Cocina, the Spanish word for “kitchen.” Founded in 2005 by an anonymous donor, the nonprofit organization provides equipment, mentoring, industrial kitchens and — most importantly — access to capital to low-income food entrepreneurs in the Bay Area.

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