We started off more than 20 years ago as a small Puerto Rican restaurant named Sofrito, right in the heart of the Fruitvale district in Oakland, CA. We were the first of our kind, and when my little brother and I opened the doors, we weren’t sure if there were any other Puerto Ricans around, but sure enough, Sofrito became a lighthouse for all of the coquis who were roaming around the Bay Area, looking for a small slice of home. People came from as far as Monterey to eat at our restaurant, and we even received a full color, two page write up in El Nuevo Dia, the largest newspaper on the island of Puerto Rico.

The walls were painted bright, like the streets of Viejo San Juan, and the walls were lined with dozens of family photos and artwork donated by local artists of Puerto Rican heroes and she-roes. There was always salsa or bomba y plena or jibaro music playing, and walking into our restaurant was like stepping into your grandmother’s kitchen before a family gathering.

A few years in, I started a family and decided to close Sofrito to have more time at home, but the kitchen never stopped calling me, and once the children were off to school, Cali Rican Catering was born. The same recipes as always, but with two more decades of experience. If you miss the taste of Boriquén, let me feed you.