[latinpoet]

Hola Tia Clara, thank you for setting up this website. And thank you to everyone who comes on here and appreciates our beautiful culture. I've been on this site a few times before looking for recipes to make for my friends. I was born and raised in Washington Heights and am very proud of being a "Dominican York", lol. Thanks to my mother I have managed to become a very good cook and take pride in making an excellent mangu, tostones that all my friends keep asking for, and chicharrones de pollo that keeps people licking their fingers. I now live in California and I truly miss my days back in New York surrounded by the neighborhood that has practically become "little DR". The predominant latino culture here is Mexican and everyone looks at me with a blank stare when I say I'm Dominicano. There are no restaurants, at least none I've found, and I can barely get decent platanos without having to search far and wide. I've decided that I'm going to pursue my dream and open a Dominican restaurant here in California. People love new food and I'm sure they're interested exploring other Latino foods. The only thing is that I have never opened a restaurant and I know a little about the business from working as a waiter and bartender. I was just wondering if anyone had any advice on what I should do before hand and what kind of a menu I should start out with. I have a few ideas for some basic recipes to serve and I've gone back to New York to restaurants like El Malecon and Margot's to get an idea of what would work in California where people know nothing about our food. I appreciate any and all suggestions and I look forward to reading them from anyone who replies. Thank you everyone and welcome.

Dominicano in the West Coast

[Aunt Clara]

Hi Dominicano, nice to hear from you.

Do people follow baseball in CA? Then, that's your ticket. Somehow tie your promotion to the 'land of the world's best baseball players' (only a small exageration ). Check our Recipe section for things that might interest you. But you know the basics: La bandera, asopao de camarones, tostones, pica pollo, and a variety of fruit batidas. These are all safe bets.

[Aunt Ilana]

Latinpoet, welcome to DominicanCooking and please let us know how you get on with this venture. I'm sure many of our members would be interested in hearing the story unfold.