Leticia Landa, Executive Director of La Cocina, has received this year’s Basque Culinary World Prize for her 20-year effort training and mentoring of individuals in marginalized communities and helping them join the San Francisco restaurant industry.
Founded in 2015, the Basque Culinary World Prize, which has been described by many outlets as the “Nobel of Gastronomy,” celebrates pioneers in the international culinary industry and is awarded by the Basque Culinary Center and the Department of Food, Rural Development, Agriculture and Fisheries of the Basque Government. Landa’s award was first announced on October 22, 2025.
Landa joins a prestigious list of winners including José Andrés of the World Central Kitchen (2020) and United Nations Ambassador Fatmata Binta (2022), each of whom was awarded €100,000 to support an initiative of their choice. Landa is the second award recipient from San Francisco, following Anthony Myint in 2019, co-founder of Mission Chinese Food and co-founder of Zero Foodprint, who was recognized for using gastronomy to address climate change. Landa will be donating her award to La Cocina.
“We are delighted by the selection of Leticia Landa, as her story shows how cuisine can be a powerful tool for inclusion, economic independence, and dignity — strengthening the path of those who dream of changing their destiny through work, talent, and solidarity,” Joan Roca, President of the Basque Culinary World Prize Jury, said in a statement.
La Cocina was founded in 2005 by the Women’s Foundation of California and other Mission community organizations to transform informal food businesses into sustainable enterprises. It focuses specifically on economic empowerment for women, immigrants, and people of color by providing kitchen space, training, entrepreneurship resources, and mentors.
Landa, who was born in Texas to Mexican immigrant parents, first learned about La Cocina in a newspaper article while studying anthropology at Harvard. She joined the group as its third staff member in 2008 and has since played a pivotal role in its growth. In her two decade tenure at the organization, Landa has worn almost every hat, from writing grants to developing the incubator program to co-authoring We Are La Cocina, a cookbook published by Chronicle Books in 2019.
More than 40 restaurants, cafes, and food stalls across the Bay have emerged from La Cocina’s incubator program. Some 70% of the program’s participants remain in business 10 years after graduation, including Reem Assil of Reem’s California on Mission St., Fernay McPherson of Minnie Bell’s Soul Movement on Fillmore St., Veronica Salazar of El Huarache Loco in San Francisco and Larkspur, and Koji Kanematsu, who runs six Onigilly Japanese eateries in the Bay Area.
“This achievement represents the work of many people over 20 years dedicated to advancing La Cocina’s mission. The prize honours a collective effort supported by an ecosystem of resources and community support that enables this incredible network of chefs and entrepreneurs not only to share their cuisine but to make a living from their talent and create jobs in their communities,” Landa said in a statement. “It is an honour to accept this award on behalf of everyone who has contributed to La Cocina and all the businesses that began here.”
