Order an excellent cup of coffee and support this new queer space in the Tenderloin.
La Cocina Municipal Marketplace is an enormous new food market that opened a few months ago with the idea of centering business owners that are women, immigrants, and people of color. This week, they added a new business to the La Cocina family: Fluid Cooperative Cafe.
This exciting cooperative cafe and event space is owned by Shannon Amitin, Santana Tapia and JoJo Ty, 3 trans San Franciscans who want to foster an inclusive place for transgender, non-binary, and gender non-conforming customers and staff. At the moment they serve both brewed and iced coffee options, such as a Japanese sweet cream cold brew, to be enjoyed with a variety of milks and sweeteners. You can also buy roasted whole beans to take home.
“Fluid Cooperative Cafe brings us full circle and makes us whole,” they write on their website. “We will no longer demand a seat at just anyone’s table. With Fluid Cooperative Cafe, we are building our own table — and we invite you to join us each time you come in, one coffee and one event at a time.”
Fluid Cooperative Cafe debuted at La Cocina on Monday, August 2, and will be open starting at 8am on weekdays. The rest of the marketplace is open from 11am-2:30pm, also on weekdays.
La Cocina is a nonprofit organization in San Francisco that works to solve inequality for business owners that often face barriers to success; namely women, immigrants and people of color. This new trans-owned space is a welcome addition to this innovative community!
The La Cocina Municipal Marketplace, was announced nearly 5 years ago as a massive food market for the Tenderloin. Construction had nearly finished on the 7,000 square foot space when the pandemic struck last year, so after another year of delay, La Cocina finally set their new opening date for early April of this year.
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La Cocina’s website claims to have opened “the nation’s first women-led food hall.” They have worked to provide “an economic opportunity for working-class, immigrant women, a safe and accessible space for Tenderloin residents, and a transformational and replicable model for anti-gentrification and conscious, community-led development.”
Other eateries you’ll find in the marketplace are:
- BougCali (Creole bodega) by Chef Tiffany Carter. Menu items include gumbo, smoked sausage and jerk tacos.
- Estrellita’s Snacks (Salvadorian) by Chef Estrella Gonzalez. Menu items include pupusas, tamales, fried plantains, and agua fresca.
- Kayma (Algerian) by Chefs Wafa and Mounir Bahloul. Menu items include delicious soups, sandwiches, grilled chicken, and baklawa.
- Los Cilantros (Mexican) by Chef Dilsa Lugo. Menu items include tostadas, chiles rellenos, and enchiladas.
- Mi Morena (Mexican) by Chef Guadalupe Moreno. Menu items include handmade corn tortillas, stews, rice, and grilled meats.
- Teranga (Senegalese) by Chef Nafy Ba Flafley. Menu items include peanut and bean stews, muffallettas, fresh juices, and spice blends.
Find the incredible La Cocina Municipal Marketplace at 101 Hyde Street.
[Featured Image: La Cocina Marketplace]