LBCC’s Liberal Arts campus began the return to Spring semester on Tuesday Feb. 7 with a special vendor popup kickoff event, bringing vibrant local restaurants and food right to the heart of campus.
The event marks the beginning of LBCC’s most recent attempt to provide adequate food services on campus. A plan enacted with the help of Dina Feldman, owner of the Feel Good Salsa Commissary Kitchen located in Long Beach.
In collaboration with Feldman, LBCC has planned to host one popup restaurant vetted by her kitchen Mondays through Thursdays at lunch time 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for the remainder of the semester.
The commercial kitchen works as an industrial workspace that food vendors can rent out and use to fulfill orders. Feldman’s kitchen, in particular, is notable for being the first licensed shared kitchen space in Long Beach, partnering with small businesses to help them “grow in an ethical, sustainable way.”
Feldman was initially put in contact with LBCC through the office of state senator Lena Gonzalez, who had known of Feldman’s kitchen, as well as LBCC’s lack of a permanent catering service to adequately serve the student population on campus.
“It was like the perfect opportunity for these vendors to have an audience,” said Feldman.
Vendors at the kickoff event included Dear Mama, Renegade Food Co. and Mariscos Yessy, all of which have a history of working out of Feldman’s kitchen, using the workspace to grow and expand their businesses.
“Right now we’re focusing on this campus, doing the lunch popups to see kinda from there how it goes to make sure that the reception is there, that students are liking it and it’s something they’re supporting.” said Feldman.
Students and staff passing through the A quad were eager to try the restaurants’ offerings, with people stopping by to try free kombucha samples, a glimpse at menus, and enjoy the music, provided by DJ HoneyMee.
By 1:30 p.m., Mariscos Yessy had sold out, beginning to tear down their kitchen, with others still working diligently to fill the steady stream of customers who came by to try out tacos, burgers, and sweet treats from the remaining stands.
One stand housed Dear Mama LA, a plant-based and vegan Mexican food business based in Boyle Heights. The business also occasionally rents out Feel Good Salsa Kitchen when fulfilling orders for pop-ups at markets, food festivals, and in this case, school catering.
Desiree Flores, owner of Dear Mama, explained how she heard of Feldman’s kitchen space through a fellow vendor and after meeting to discuss renting out her kitchen space, they clicked well, sharing similar values when it came to plant-based and eco-friendly sensibilities.
Flores was especially excited for the opportunity to man a popup on LBCC grounds.
“I was so down. I thought it’d be really cool to come to campus. Sometimes you don’t have a lot of options. I was super excited to provide plant-based options to the community, especially college students since I was vegan in college too.” said Flores.
Popup vendors will continue to appear around lunchtime on campus for the remainder of the Spring semester, with hopes of student reception making offering more lunch and potentially breakfast vendors viable in the future.