Three-In-One Concept La Victoria Healing Kitchen Ready to Debut in Aurora

“There are three businesses housed in the building, and they each have their own focus, goals and objectives,” says Katie Goldman, owner and founder of La Victoria Healing Kitchen. Its new instructional kitchen, shared commercial kitchen and development services office are located at 1427 Elmira Street, at the center of Aurora’s Cultural Arts District.

On February 3 from 2 to 7 p.m., La Victoria will host a public grand-opening event, with dishes from local businesses plus cooking demonstrations by chef Dan Witherspoon, owner of the Seasoned Chef Cooking School, and private chef Aarika Ortiz. There will also be live music performances and prizes including Caraway pans, gift certificates and other giveaways.

The celebration has been a long time coming. As an architect, Goldman worked alongside culinary businesses for years; she got more involved in the food industry when she opened her restaurant consulting practice, Oh-zhoo. When COVID-19 collapsed the restaurant industry, she started thinking about other ways to support it.

Goldman says that in August 2020, she was meditating during an acupuncture session when her grandmother gifted a vision to her and told her to create a healing kitchen. Goldman promptly called a commercial real estate broker connection, who told her about an available property.
“I just immediately felt the energy of the area and the space,” Goldman recalls, and by mid-October, she had closed on the building. But at that point, the timeline of her project slowed significantly — not because of permitting issues, as many food businesses have recently experienced in Denver, but because of financing.

Initially, Goldman had hopes of securing a Small Business Administration (SBA) loan. But, she notes, “the bank that I was partnered with at that time kept moving the goalposts on me. I was supposed to have a loan in place by July. By November, I still didn't have a loan.”

She ended up switching partners, nixing the SBA loan and funding renovations on personal assets. Although there were some hiccups with the building’s water line and she needed to negotiate the acceptance of residential hoods, there were no major holdups in construction.

“​​We were able to improve the building enough to pay the construction loan off and mull it into the long-term mortgage because of the equity we put in,” explains Goldman. Her next step was to begin filling the 4,000-square-foot space.
Currently, La Victoria Healing Kitchen acts as the headquarters for nineteen food businesses, though its 2,300-square-foot incubator kitchen is only at 35 percent capacity.
“We have four semi-private kitchens back there, which means that we can have four different food concepts working at the same time without [them] being on top of each other or having to share equipment or prep space,” says Goldman. “Every kitchen has its own prep sink and hand sink, and then we have communal dishwashing, refrigeration, freezer and dry storage areas.”

La Victoria Healing Kitchen aims to use this shared space to foster community, never competition. For example, two kitchen users, Denver Macaron and ViDa Eats catering, have partnered to create dessert boards for customers.

Lala’s Bakery, famous for bringing back the Market’s iconic Spring Fling cake, also operates out of La Victoria Healing Kitchen. According to Goldman, Lala co-owner Laura Madrid has been a great resource to new bakers working out of the space.

“Those are the [kinds of] things that we see here, and it's really special,” comments Goldman. “Having a commercial kitchen space that's accessible and supporting the growth and development of businesses is really crucial to helping businesses grow.”

The 200-square-foot development services office, where Oh-zhoo conducts its consulting work, further supports on-site food businesses, as well as those outside of La Victoria Healing Kitchen. Goldman explains that through Oh-zhoo, “we're able to turn [a business owner’s idea] into a real project and help guide them through the process to get to that next level of growth.”

Finally, there’s the 1,500-square-foot healing kitchen, a public space dedicated to bringing people together through the culinary and healing arts. “The idea was to provide a space where people could come in and learn how to put good stuff in their bodies — not just purely nutritional, but local eating, sustainable eating, seasonal eating,” explains Goldman.

She adds that she wants La Victoria Healing Kitchen to also be a place where people can celebrate diversity and share their cultures through food. “Food is a way to exchange ideas, drop barriers and learn. That provides healing in itself, as well.

“I'm a big believer in holistic healing, and I think it has its place in the food space," she continues. "There are a lot of healers out there that have a lot of wisdom to share, and that's what the space is for.”
Upcoming classes at La Victoria Healing Kitchen include the following, all of which take place from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. unless otherwise specified. Tickets start at $85 per person and will be available soon at lavictoriahk.com.

• Thursday, February 8: Tastes of Thailand
• Friday, February 9: Couples Class — Sushi Date Night
• Wednesday, February 14: Valentine's Day: Romance in the Alps
• Friday, February 16: Bulgogi & Korean BBQ
• Saturday, February 17, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.: An Ode to Julia Child — With a Twist!
• Wednesday, February 21: Cozy Curries
• Thursday, February 22: Vegan Comfort Foods
• Friday, March 1: Couples Class — French Countryside Cooking
• Saturday, March 2, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Crepes & Cocktails

The instructional kitchen features eight induction cooktops, a large bench down the middle of the space, and two large tables. It can accommodate up to 24 seated guests and is also open to private events such as team-building activities, healing workshops and cultural gatherings.