El Pajaro CDC Celebrates 40th anniversary with Tacos & Tapas Fundraising party in Watsonville on Oct. 25

Sponsorships Now Available Event Expands to Three Food Trucks and 22 Food Partners. End Quote

(1888PressRelease) September 11, 2019 - Watsonville, CA - To celebrate 40 years of helping local entrepreneurs reach their small business dreams, El Pajaro Community Development Corporation is throwing its second Tacos & Tapas fundraising party on Oct. 25 in Watsonville.

The 40th anniversary celebration will be held from 6-9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25, at El Pajaro CDC’s Kitchen Incubator located at 412 East Riverside Drive in Watsonville.

The food-and-drink party will feature 22 food purveyors, all Kitchen Incubator entrepreneurs, including for the first time three food trucks. Purveyors will serve a variety of different regional foods, including tacos, tamales, tapas, sushi, pizza, sausages, pies and tarts, and more. Margaritas and sangria will be offered, in addition to wine and beer.

“It’s a celebration of a very strong legacy of passion for helping the community by supporting entrepreneurship,” said Carmen Herrera-Mansir, executive director of El Pajaro CDC. “We’re grateful for everyone who has played a role in helping us grow during the past four decades.”

A recently updated list of food partners (along with their menus) include:

• Artisan Hand Foods. Handmade sausage (Cumberland sausage, classic and spicy) wrapped in puff pastry. Three pastry snacks — chicken leek, lamb curry and spinach, artichoke and mushroom.
• Borinken Goodies. Traditional Puerto Rican food: Tostones con cerdo (fried plantains topped with roasted pork, avocado aioli and fresh tomatoes); majado de viandas con bacalao (mashed root vegetables with codfish; coquito (traditional drink with coconut milk).
• Cuevas Express Foods. Tamales, chicken in green sauce, pork in red sauce and veggies with jalapeños and cheese, all topped with cheese, sour cream and salsa, and a side of veggie stew.
• Dos Hermanos Pupuseria (food truck). Pupusas: bean and cheese; bean, cheese and pork; and vegetarian (spinach, zucchini and cheese).
• Easypreps. Chicken Thai noodles with peanut sauce, carrots and black sesame seeds; ceviche cocktail, lemon juice, tomatoes, onions and cilantro, garnished with fresh cucumber.
• El Nopalito Produce. Caprese skewers with grilled nopales, tomatoes, basil and mozzarella cheese, drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper.
• Fired up (food truck). Pizzas, baked in a wood-fired oven — margherita, parzola, and chicken with chipotle pesto.
• Hakouya. Sushi roll with cucumber, avocado and imitation crab; tofu pockets stuffed with sushi rice, egg, snow peas and pickled ginger; each served with soy sauce and miso dressing.
• Hiccuping Dragon. Bite-sized, kid-friendly hot dogs: Cheesy Bavarian, Polish dog, all-beef hot dogs with toppings.
• Il Biscotto. Handmade Italian cannoli filled with sweet orange-ricotta cheese.
• Mary's Fruit Tarts. Fresh, homemade crust filled with cream cheese and fresh, seasonal fruit.
• My Mom's Mole. Tacos, handmade blue-corn tortillas with roasted veggies or chicken and mole sauce, verde or traditional.
• Percy's Pies. Gourmet Louisiana-style sweet potato pies — original, ginger snap, coffee liqueur and praline.
• Ronda Paella y Tapas. Offering the real flavor of Spain: Paella mixta (seafood, chicken, pork and Spanish chorizo), tortilla Española (Spanish omelette), fried tapas (ham croquettes, stuffed mussel shell) and Pisto (Spanish ratatouille).
• Rooster Ridge Farm. Locally grown, cured olives served with cheese.
• Splendid Blended. Wholesome ingredients mixed to create the perfect blend; dark chocolate spice and cinnamon banana flavors.
• Sunvalley Farm. Cactus and kale salad with tomatoes, jalapeños, cilantro with a lemon juice vinaigrette.
• That Garlic Stuff. Beef meatballs with red sauce, Parmesan cheese, drizzled with “that garlic stuff.”
• The Ballesteros Catering Co. Tacos al pastor with chorizo and deep-fried, beer-battered mushrooms with the fixings.
• The Green Waffle. New grain-free, coconut-chia waffle, toasted and topped with fresh, local, seasonal berries. All other varieties available for sale during the event.
• Unique Sweets. Strawberry shortcake drizzled with chocolate-raspberry flavored balsamic vinegar.
• Yoli's Adobo. Beef and chicken tacos marinated on Yoli’s adobo sauce and vegetarian green pozole.

Sponsors of the event include: Santa Cruz County Bank, Santa Cruz Community Credit Union, Salud Para La Gente,Union Bank, Bernardus, Scheid Vineyards, Apple City Cider, Kong's Burger & Café, Elkhorn Slough Brewery, Mechanics Bank (formerly Rabobank).

El Pajaro CDC is proud to welcome Edible Monterey Bay as its Media Sponsor.

Tickets are $65 per person through Sept. 30. Tickets will be the full price of $75 during October leading up to the event and, if available, at the door for $75. Sponsorship opportunities to help cover the cost of the event are also available.

Ticket price includes:

Admission plus 5 Tickets for food and or drinks.
Additional food/drink tickets can be acquired at the event.
Tickets are available at https://tacosandtapas2019.eventbrite.com

Stay tuned for details on our special auction! Details announced in October!

About Pajaro CDC
In 1979, El Pájaro CDC was formed following widespread community support of under-represented Latino and Spanish-speaking business owners in Watsonville. For 40 years El Pajaro has helped budding entrepreneurs throughout the Central Coast by offering technical, legal, financial and managerial assistance.

“If you give someone an opportunity it can change lives, and lead to generations of success,” said Carmen Hererra-Mansir, executive director of El Pajaro CDC. “To see a journey from farmworker to entrepreneur — many started that way when they came to us — is so rewarding.”

El Pájaro CDC offers a wide range of assistance, including low-cost and often free bilingual business education and training workshops to low-income entrepreneurs. Workshops cover business plan preparation, marketing and sales, customer service, bookkeeping, computer basics, business management, and financial literacy.

In 1997, El Pajaro Plaza Vigil a retail business incubator at 23 Beach St. in downtown Watsonville was created to assist low- to moderate-income, Spanish-speaking entrepreneurs with starting and operating a successful business.

Plaza Vigil houses dozens of businesses, with another 44 food purveyors using the separate Commercial Kitchen Incubator Program, a fully equipped, shared-use facility at 412 Riverside Drive.

Following a charter expansion in 2007, El Pájaro CDC serves Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito counties. Bilingual and bicultural services, business development services and training are available to anyone with plans to open or expand a small business in the region.

Contact:
Marci Bracco Cain
Chatterbox PR
Salinas, CA 93901
(831) 747-7455
http://www.elpajarocdc.org/

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