Plática: Stories Behind Mexican Foodways in L.A. since the Days of El Pueblo

Join us for a discussion on food and its relationship to regional identity from the late 1700s to today, from Mexico to Los Angeles. Panelist will consider how Angelenos and our neighbors have experienced food pathways over time and how those ideas contributed to health, society, and economic wellbeing.

Guest speakers: Carlos Salomon (Professor of Ethnic Studies, California State University East Bay), Natalie Santizo (Assistant Professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies, San Diego State University), Enrique C. Ochoa (Professor of Latin American Studies and history, California State University, Los Angeles), and Dominica Rice-Cisneros (James Beard nominated chef and owner of Bombera in Oakland, California).

CARLOS SALOMON is a Professor of Ethnic Studies at California State University, East Bay. His research focuses on 19th-century Mexican California and Mexican and Indigenous folkways. He is the author of Pío Pico: The Last Governor of Mexican California.

NATALIE SANTIZO is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies at San Diego State University. She is an interdisciplinary historian whose work examines how foodways—the production, consumption, and distribution of food and food entrepreneurship over time—have shaped Latinx placemaking and survival in Southern California.

ENRIQUE C. OCHOA is a Professor of Latin American Studies and History at California State University, Los Angeles. A community-based public historian, he has published multiple books and articles on Mexican politics and history, food studies, Latina(o) studies, and critical community-based education. His latest book is México Between Feast and Famine: Food, Corporate Power, and Inequality.

DOMINICA RICE-CISNEROS is a James Beard–nominated chef and the owner of Bombera in Oakland, California, which was awarded the Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2024 and 2025. Her culinary approach was honed at Chez Panisse, where she spent six years working closely with her mentor, Alice Waters. Emphasizing organic, local, and whole foods, Dominica has played a pivotal role in placing California-based Mexican cuisine in conversation with the protection of biodiversity and Mexican heritage.

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