Spice Kitchen Incubator helps launch woman-owned Dominican restaurant

SALT LAKE CITY — After living in the U.S. for nearly a decade, Ynoelia Fabian is now fulfilling her dream of opening a restaurant as a participant of the Spice Kitchen Incubator program.

Hispaniola Bistro, a Caribbean incubator kitchen at Square Kitchen Eatery, held a soft opening event on Thursday.

Hispaniola Bistro is located at 2435 S. State in South Salt Lake at Square Kitchen Eatery — a mini food hall that showcases emerging chefs using a shared kitchen and restaurant space. The bistro currently shares the space with three other businesses that serve Latino and Asian cuisine. Square Kitchen Eatery is one of multiple Spice Kitchen Incubator community partners.

While enjoying her first day in operation, Fabian credits Square Kitchen Incubator with making her dream to own a business and share Dominican flavors with the community come true.

"What I like most is, usually Latinos feel restricted," Fabian said, "but Spice Kitchen Incubator doesn't treat people differently. They treat everyone well and treat them equally … everything you want to do is important to (them)."

Hispaniola Bistro opened on Dominican Republic's independence day, a tribute to the restaurant's roots. It offers a variety of traditional Dominican snack foods, including quipes, bolitas de yuca, empanadas and tropical juices. Main dishes include the Hispaniola Bowl, Chimichurri Dominicano and La Bandera, a typical Dominican meal that consists of rice, beans, roasted chicken and sweet plantain.

Fabian shares that she is self-taught chef, but decided she wanted to gain a formal education when she moved to Utah. She attended Salt Lake Community College and was studying culinary arts when she learned about the incubator program. Now, she has spent two years in the program learning how to run a restaurant and saving money so she could make her dream of being a business owner a reality.

"I want to show other women like me, you can go and start a business, do whatever you want," said Fabian. "In this country, you make your dream possible. If you're working hard and you go to school, (you can do) whatever you want … it doesn't matter your race, color or nationality."

As a single mom to four kids, Fabian continues to work part time to support her family and fund her business while it is growing. While the experience has been difficult, she hopes her hard work will teach her children they can accomplish their dreams too.

"I hope my children can take my example and that they become good people that believe in themselves and are kind," she said. "I think being a single mother, people think they lose out, but no, we have to do it for our kids."

Hispaniola Bistro is currently operating full time at Square Kitchen Eatery but will officially debut with a grand opening event on March 22. More information can be found on its instagram.

Spice Kitchen Incubator is a program sponsored by the International Rescue Committee that provides assistance to low-income refugees and new Americans interested in starting their own food business. The program takes about five years to complete and includes education on finances, business management, marketing and more. Before graduating from the program, participants participate in an incubation phase where they receive assistance in opening their business in a commercial space. Once they successfully complete the incubation period, they graduate and move their business out of the Spice Incubator Kitchen program.

"We're really so pleased with how much we're able to contribute to the strength and cohesion of the entire local community, new Americans and native born included," said Emily Park, Spice Kitchen Incubator program manager. "They have such amazing flavors, they have such amazing talents, and we're just happy to help contribute to that."

Related topics