{"id":66635,"date":"2021-07-28T10:00:02","date_gmt":"2021-07-28T17:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/?p=66635"},"modified":"2021-07-28T11:07:28","modified_gmt":"2021-07-28T18:07:28","slug":"sidebar-lalo-luevano-restauranteur-bodega","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/firefox\/sidebar-lalo-luevano-restauranteur-bodega\/","title":{"rendered":"Lalo Luevano, restaurateur and co-founder of Bodega wine bar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On the internet you are never alone, and because of that at Mozilla we know that we can\u2019t work to build a better internet alone. We believe in and rely on our community \u2014 from our volunteers, to our staff, to our users, fans and friends. Meet Lalo Luevano, partner and co-founder of <\/em>Bodega<\/em><\/a>, a natural wine bar in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tell me a little about yourself. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was born and raised in Santa Cruz, California. It\u2019s a little surf town, very tight knit, very laid back. I think it rubbed off on me a lot because I’m a laid back sort of person. I\u2019m from a Mexican background. My parents always loved having big barbecues and having lots of friends over. They were involved with fundraisers for my baseball team or my sister’s soccer teams. I always wanted to be part of the production side, getting involved in what we were serving and in the cooking. My dad also loves to cook. He’d be on the grill and I was very much into manning the grill any chance I got. Cooking has been a big part of my family upbringing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you love about cooking?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s like my therapy, essentially. I definitely get into a meditative state when cooking. I can just kind of zero in and focus on something and that’s really important to me when I’m doing it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How long have you been involved in the restaurant scene?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right out of college, I went into engineering, working for a defense contractor for about six to eight years. I was living in Santa Clara and I found myself coming to San Francisco quite a bit to indulge in the live music scene, the food and the bars, but never really considered it as a profession or a lifestyle. It just seemed very daunting. Everybody hears the horror stories of restaurants and the failure rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By becoming friends with restaurateurs and owners of different places, I started getting the idea that maybe this is something I can do. I met somebody who was a trained chef who invited me to get involved in a pop-up so I could understand how a restaurant works behind the scenes. It was so successful the first time that we ended up doing it seasonally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We walked away with a good chunk of change that we weren’t really looking for. The pop-up was just a way to do something fun and have a bunch of friends and feed strangers, and such, but we would still walk away with a good amount of cash, at which point, I think that’s what really gave me the confidence of like saying hey, we can actually open up a spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And that led you to Bodega?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah, this space in North Beach<\/a> in San Francisco just happened to fall on our laps. I caught wind from a friend that this woman was considering selling her business, so I went and checked it out with my business partner, and it was just an amazing location right next to Washington Square Park. We\u2019ve been doing this now for six years, and I’m proud to say, I think we were probably one of the first natural wine<\/a> bars in the city. We have a really nice curated list of wines and a menu that rotates frequently but it’s really fresh and it’s inventive. It\u2019s a really fun and energetic atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you enjoy most about being a restaurateur?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The creativity of it. Like creating the concept itself. I really enjoy how the menu coincides with the wine list and the music. I just love the entire production of it. I feel like I picked the right profession because it\u2019s where I get to have a good time and explore the fun side of my personality. I really enjoy being a curator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/path><\/g><\/g><\/g><\/svg><\/div>
View this post on Instagram<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/a>

A post shared by Bodega SF (@bodegasf)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>