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Bringing culture and community together at Comal Heritage Food Incubator

The restaurant and training program at Comal has trained women from around the world to be successful entrepreneurs.

DENVER — Behind every plate at Comal Heritage Food Incubator is a different story, a different history, and more often than not, traditions tied to food.

Five years ago, a group of Mexican women started Comal through the Focus Points Family Resource Center as a restaurant and training program. 

Participants gain restaurant industry skills, lessons in marketing, packaging, food buying, cost and profit analysis, customer service, and more. The paid earn while you learn program is a stepping stone for many women who want to start their own businesses. 

"What we do really is support immigrant and refugee women who want to start their own food business with their own recipes," said Comal's Program Manager and Executive Chef Arden Lewis. 

Lewis said the program has helped immigrants from Ethiopia, Syria, Venezuela, Mexico and other countries. 

"It's really unique and it really does showcase and highlight immigrant and refugee populations in Colorado," Lewis said. 

The kitchen is filled with people like Maria Sandoval, who are passionate about sharing their cultures through food.

Sandoval started cooking when she was only 10 years-old, helping her mom make and sell tamales. 

"Es bonito a compartir y es muy importante a nuestra cultura, nuestros raices," she said. "Sharing is a beautiful thing and it's very important for our culture, our roots." 

She hopes to have her own small restaurant serving traditional Mexican gorditas, her favorite dish to cook. 

"A la major va creciendo y puedo hacer otra tipo de comida," said Sandoval. "Maybe my restaurant will grow and I'll be able to serve other types of food." 

Sandoval said she learned about Comal through a friend who also participated in the program. Not only has she learned about the different things that go into being a restaurant owner, she said she's also learned about different foods from different cultures. 

"Aqui somos de varias partes y aprenden uno poquito de cada cultura," she said. "We're all from different places, so we learn a little bit about each culture." 

Comal is open to the public Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. People interested in learning more about participating in the training program can contact Comal at 720-500-3455 or email comal@focuspoints.org

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