Westside tortilleria’s from-scratch corn creations earn prestigious James Beard nod
February 24, 2022 | Startland News Staff
A husband-and-wife tortilla-making duo in Kansas City’s Westside neighborhood are among semifinalists for one of the world’s most-prestigious accolades for restaurants and chefs: a James Beard Award.
Marissa and Mark Gencarelli, co-founders of Yoli Tortilleria, were announced Wednesday as semifinalists for the James Beard “Outstanding Baker” honor. Twenty restaurants from across the country are now in consideration for the 2022 award.
Mark and Marissa Gencarelli, Yoli Tortilleria
Yoli Tortilleria
The young brand — which opened its operation on the corner of 17th and Jefferson streets in summer 2020 — focuses on corn tortillas inspired by Marissa Gencarelli’s roots in Sonora, Mexico, where “most Mexican places and tortillerias, for some reason, always land in a tiny little corner,” she told Startland News at the time.
“[The tortilleria] in my particular hometown, they just hand you a warm tortilla as soon as you get in. And so, we envisioned that experience,” Gencarelli explained.
“Sometimes we see people putting a tortilla under their mask and then getting a big smile.”
Click here to explore Yoli Tortilleria’s products.
“It’s a very important ingredient that a lot of people kind of dismiss as just a plate, but it really should enhance the whole experience of what you’re eating,” Gencarelli said of the critical role the tortilla plays in any traditional Mexican meal.
Yoli Tortilleria
In addition to Yoli Tortilleria, another Kansas City restauranteur — Carl Thorne-Thomsen at Story in Prairie Village — was named a semifinalist for “Best Chef: Midwest,” which includes Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Thorne-Thomsen was also a semifinalist in 2013.
Restaurant and chef award nominees are expected to be revealed March 16. Winners are set to be celebrated June 13 at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
The James Beard Foundation, the nonprofit organization behind the honors, has not awarded winners since 2019 — taking a hiatus for self-reflection that would: remove any systemic bias in the selection process; increase the diversity of the voting body; ensure that communities far and wide know about the awards and how eligible candidates may apply; and increase transparency in how the awards function.
Click here to learn more about the James Beard Foundation’s internal audit.
The organization also wanted the awards more outwardly align with the foundation’s mission and values: to celebrate, support, and elevate the people behind America’s food culture and champion a standard of good food anchored in talent, equity, and sustainability.
“The foundation has highlighted the centrality of food culture in our daily lives and is committed to supporting a resilient and flourishing industry that honors its diverse communities,” the James Beard Foundation said. “By amplifying new voices, celebrating those leading the way, and supporting those on the path to do so, the foundation is working to create a more equitable and sustainable future.”
This story is possible thanks to support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a private, nonpartisan foundation that works together with communities in education and entrepreneurship to create uncommon solutions and empower people to shape their futures and be successful.
For more information, visit www.kauffman.org and connect at www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn and www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn
Featured Business
2022 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Raaxo takes shape after pivot from Aphrodite Bra Co’s body scan concept
Despite its use of body-mapping technology, Aphrodite Bra Company wasn’t the right fit for customers’ needs, said Carlanda McKinney, founder of the newly rebooted custom intimates company Raaxo. “Aphrodite had been stuck in the starting-up space,” she said. “We’d never really gotten enough sales or enough traction to say, ‘We’re launched,’ or, ‘We’re in business.’…
Serial entrepreneur leverages past success for Bridge Space coworking project
Bridge Space will be more than a coworking office, Ben Rao said. He hopes it will be the heart of Lee’s Summit’s blossoming entrepreneurial ecosystem. “My No. 1 goal is to accelerate entrepreneurs’ success,” said Rao, Bridge Space founder and a serial entrepreneur himself. “It’s an opportunity for me to build something that would make…
KC mom’s humble entrepreneurial journey draws on healing power of creativity
Huddled in her parents’ basement, between the cribs of her crying twin babies, Keliah Smith began to draw. She was unemployed and feeling emotionally drained. The relationship with her children’s father had soured. Her escape: the stylus and smartphone in her hands. The Kansas City mother drew what she didn’t see in the mirror, she…
Harvard University recognizes KCMO digital inclusion map
Kansas City’s geographic work to illustrate the area’s digital divide earned high praise from a prestigious university. Harvard University recently highlighted the City of Kansas City, Missouri’s Digital Inclusion map, a tool that — at a block-by-block scale — detail residents’ access to internet connectivity overlaid with poverty levels. “This visualization was chosen as Harvard’s…