By Michael Coughlin Jr.
La Esquina Verde, “a new food venture in East Boston,” is set to come to the building at 389 Maverick Street, the site of the former Tawakal Halal Cafe, according to Mónica Leitner-Laserna, who presented plans for the establishment at Monday’s Jeffries Point Neighborhood Association (JPNA) meeting.
“We’re really a local food hub focused on sustainable practices,” said Leitner-Laserna, who is taking on this endeavor with her business partner Ricardo Monroy. “La Esquina Verde in English is the green corner, so we’re right on the corner of Jeffries and Maverick; we are going to be painting it green.”
As part of the plans, the establishment is set to offer cooking classes, catering and meal plans, and events. There are plans for public and private events along with pop-up chefs.
For example, one of the public events Leitner-Laserna outlined was Public Kitchen, a program from the Design Studio For Social Intervention, a group based in Dorchester.
Currently, Leitner-Laserna hopes to open in mid-July. The plan is to use the space from around 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
“We are hoping to use the space as much as possible because we really want it to be a space for the community, for pop-up chefs, for people who are interested in doing events, so we’re saying about 5-7 days a week,” she said.
Moreover, improvements and slight renovations are taking place. However, Leitner-Laserna indicated they are not changing the building’s layout. “We’re saying it’s a development project, but it actually right now is really just a new use of the space for this business.”
Leitner-Laserna also outlined some of the benefits La Esquina Verde would bring to East Boston.
“La Esquina Verde is committed to benefiting the community by having an affordable and accessible commercial kitchen available as well as affordable and accessible events and classes,” she said.
For example, the establishment will collaborate with local non-profits like Maverick Landing and Eastie Farm, of which Leitner-Laserna is a co-founder. Further, a portion of La Esquina Verde’s profits will go toward local non-profits and initiatives, and the establishment will promote and educate sustainable practices.
It should be noted that Leitner-Laserna and Monroy have a wealth of experience they can share with the community. Both have teaching experience, as Leitner-Laserna has been a teacher for 15 years, and Monroy is a culinary arts teacher.
Moreover, both have a connection to Haley House, a non-profit in Roxbury that features a program called Take Back the Kitchen, which offers affordable and bilingual cooking classes. Leitner-Laserna has ties to several other establishments, like Eastie Farm, as previously mentioned.
After the presentation, Leitner-Laserna took questions from those in attendnace. Josh Schmidt, a JPNA Board Member, had asked about the establishment’s potential collaboration with Eastie Farm and its CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).
Eastie Farm’s CSA allows residents to sign up for and purchase shares containing a weekly supply of fresh produce from local farms and the organization.
While Leitner-Laserna indicated they are still working out the details, she theorized that patrons might get a discount on La Esquina Verde classes if they are CSA members and that there may be special events for CSA members.
Another attendee asked if there would be food for sale, to which Leitner-Laserna said yes and emphasized it would probably be “an open-fridge grab-and-go situation.” She also indicated that people can sign up for meal plans, which she said is basically picking up a whole week’s worth of food.
Finally, it should be noted that La Esquina Verde is running a NuMarket campaign with a week remaining to raise money for renovations. When you donate, you get 120% back in store credits. For more information about the campaign or to donate, visit https://numarket.co/fund/la-esquina-verde-boston.
For more information about La Esquina Verde, visit its website at https://www.laesquinaverdeboston.com/.