[null, null, null, null, {"document_url": "https://natfab.org/news/2017/6/7/our-culinary-entrepreneurs-are-winning-awards", "unformatted_src": "https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54dd6cfbe4b01f6b05ba8f7d/t/593838f9b3db2bfef7a46c46/1496856847048/18765898_1565047310186443_1752466138747779112_n.jpeg", "src": "https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54dd6cfbe4b01f6b05ba8f7d/t/593838f9b3db2bfef7a46c46/1496856847048/18765898_1565047310186443_1752466138747779112_n.jpeg", "alt_text": "18765898_1565047310186443_1752466138747779112_n.jpeg"}, null]

The Rouses Culinary Innovation Center by Jenn-Air (aka the CIC or the SoFAB Kitchen) serves an incubator for many culinary entrepreneurs in need of a licensed commercial commissary space while they work to grow their businesses. Our clients include chefs, those in need of a space for a photo shoot, bakers, a jam-maker, and manufacturers of small-batch condiments. Chef Melissa Araujo, a familiar face in our kitchen, recently took home Third Place for Best Dish at the New Orleans Wine & Food Experience's (NOWFE) Grand Tasting, which featured hundreds of other competitors; and she received a standing ovation for the three-course meal she prepared for NOWFE's sold out Master Class "Portugal's Treasure Trove of Wine." It should be noted Araujo's pop-up, Alma, was the first ever of its kind to be invited to participate in NOWFE.

Chef Araujo uses farm-fresh ingredients to create beautiful foods influenced by her native Honduras. Born in La Ceiba , Atlatidad, a small beach town on the Atlantic coast of Honduras, the chef pays tribute to her grandmother's cooking through her life's work. "I had no choice but to fall in love with food," she said. "I grew up with a family and food was the center of everything. My mother, Angeolina Araujo, is Sicilian-Italian, and my father, Oscar Araujo, is Honduras-Maya with Portuguese. I was a locavore by birthright, and my early immersion in fresh, local, seasonal ingredients has informed and influenced my culinary philosophy. I love to re-create the story people share with me with the food I cook."

Chef Araujo will soon begin conducting a monthly series of pop-up Chef's Table dinner's in the SoFAB kitchen. Keep an eye on our events calendar for dates.

She shared her award-winning recipe with us.

Oysters Alma
