Maria Esquivel is the Chef/ creator of the CHICA brand and is currently running out of a small take-out window in San Francisco’s Financial District. With a Culinary and Business/Marketing background, she offers simple foods that are flavorful, fresh, local, and seasonal that appeal to a target market that largely resides in San Francisco.
Passion for the culinary art was sparked in Maria Esquivel at a young age when she would play restaurant in her family’s kitchen. Inspired by the culture and ethnic diversity that can be found across where she grew up, Bay Area- California. After years of being a professional sales woman, she finally went back to school to get a B.S. in Business from San Francisco State University and a certification in Culinary Arts from Le Cordon Bleu San Francisco. Right after school she started as Line cook then worked her way up to Sous Chef while conducting her own Dinner and Brunch Chicana style Pop-Ups in cities from San Francisco, New York City, Berkeley, and Oakland.
She has learned from and worked along side great Chef’s in New York City, San Francisco, and Oakland. Maria has been prepping herself for her own business for over 5 years learning the ins & outs of FOH, BOH, management, and customer service. Her advantage is working every aspect of what she is passionate for.