“On top of offering an amazing experience for our guests, Comal’s new location will provide us with a more dynamic space to help our participants achieve their dreams,” says Seynabou Sohai, program manager of Focus Points Family Resource Center, a nonprofit organization serving low-income families in the greater Denver area. “We’re incredibly excited about this next chapter for Comal, and the RiNo Art District’s dedication to fostering a welcoming, creative community is a perfect match for Comal’s mission of cultural exchange.”
Focus Points launched the Comal restaurant training program in 2016 with a group of Mexican women from the neighboring Globeville, Elyria-Swansea, Five Points and Cole communities. The idea behind it was to foster and support immigrants and refugees by teaching them the skills they needed to run their own food-based business.
Over the years, women from Mexico, Ethiopia, Syria, Venezuela and more have participated and served food from their home countries to hungry diners.
While its old space was just 1,600 square feet, the new one is 2,600 square feet and can accommodate more participants — up to twenty — and diners. Along with room for 65 guests indoors, there is extensive outdoor seating that opens up to the park.
Current program participants include Maria Elena Perez, Silvia Alvarez, Silvia “Judith” Guevara, Selene Arteaga, Maricela Rivera Sanchez and Gilnia Contreras, and each woman brings her own culture, recipes and goals to the incubator. For example, Arteaga, who is from Mexico City, was teaching cake-making and now wants to expand her skills and learn to run her own shop. Perez, originally from Sonora, Mexico, is highlighting her home region's carne asada traditions and dreams of opening a coffee shop with a small space for events.
El caribe-o tilapia empanizada with coleslaw and tostones is on the summer menu at Comal.
Linnea Covington
The summer menu includes ham, cheese and veggie burritos; pollo en pipán with rice and beans; chile relleno de picadillo dulce; el caribe-o tilapia empanizada with coleslaw and tostones; tacos de carne asada; vegetable a la plancha; and weekly chef specials.
The team is also working on getting a liquor license and has plans to collaborate on a beer with a nearby brewery.
Comal Heritage Food Incubator is located at 1950 35th Street and is open Tuesday through Friday for breakfast from 8 to 10 a.m. and lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, visit comaldenver.com.
