Never Give Up On Your Dreams
By Karen Sarto
Raquel Farca owner of Sweet & Spizy
This is an amazing story of one woman’s perseverance,
hard work, and faith in Hashem.
About seven years ago, Raquel Farca found herself divorced with four children.
She suddenly had to enter the workforce to support herself and her children.
As a newly single mother, Raquel tried selling Life Insurance. Starting an insurance business was very difficult and she was not bringing in any money.
During this time of transition and trying to build a business she lost her home and she had to borrow money from a cousin
to get a one-bedroom apartment. After the money was gone she was two months
behind on rent and couldn’t borrow any more money. She didn’t know what she was
going to do. Going to Mexico to live with her Orthodox parents and siblings was not
possible for her as she would have to leave her children behind, which was not an
option.
In desperation, Raquel, who had just a few hundred dollars to her name, decided to make and sell food.
She impulsively went to Smart & Final where she bought the ingredients to make Mexican corn.
Her plan was to take the food to Downtown LA and sell it out of the trunk of her car.
It was a Friday afternoon when she had to pick up her kids from school. Raquel put the corn in a cooler
in her trunk with plates and after working all morning she suddenly realized it was too late to go downtown to sell the corn.
She would never get back in time to pick up her children from school.
After cursing out loud in her car and angrily yelling to Hashem that she was done and
she wanted to quit trying, the first of many miracles occurred. Hashem opened her mind
and eyes and guided her to see a construction site across the street. The workers, at this site, who usually finished by
noon were working late that day to finish a project and the lunch truck was long gone.
She was really scared to get out of her car and approach the workers, but somehow gathered up the courage to
ask one of the guys if they wanted to buy her corn. He said ‘yes’. This was a
miracle that they had to work late that day – normally they would have been gone.
Twenty guys came out and bought all of her corn! Raquel made $100 in a few minutes at one place.
This was the biggest day of my life!
She clapped, cried, thanked Hashem, and went to pick
up her kids and they celebrated! Raquel continued to sell corn out of her car for three
years at construction sites and started making burritos, tortas, and tacos. She was
working so hard and for such long hours that it took a toll on her health and she became ill but had to
continue working at this to pay the bills.
Shortly after she became sick, Hashem showed her another miracle. One day while at Smart & Final where she went every day to buy her
ingredients, a man in line who recognized her from her daily trips shopping for ingredients asked her how her business was going.
She told him how the pace was taking its toll on her health. He told her he worked in the entertainment industry at Fox Studios as a snack services vendor.
He suggested she apply to become a vendor making food for the show crews at the studio.
Thanks in part to this man’s contacts at the studio and her hard work and
perseverance, Raquel got a contract cooking for show crews. She did this successfully
for several months until one day she got too many large orders which she was not able
to fulfill because her workers did not show up to help her. So, the shows stopped ordering
from her. A the same time the construction sites had also stopped buying
from her because she had stopped going to them and they felt abandoned, and she had
had to raise her prices. And everything fell apart.
Raquel did not give up. She joined the union and was hired by Fox Studios once again as a craft
services vendor, not cooking anymore, but providing snacks and drinks to the crews of
shows. After three and a half years, even though she was able to start paying her bills
and saving some money, the work was not consistent, and the paycheck was not steady.
In the meantime, Raquel always had a dream of having her own commercial kitchen
and making and selling Kosher Mexican food to the community.
About six months ago, another miracle happened. Raquel found an affordable shared commercial kitchen
where she could start cooking again. It was not a perfect situation but she felt it was a
start, a step in the right direction. However, she needed kosher supervision. Many
people, including her own family members, were very discouraging and told her she
would never get supervision in a shared kitchen. She got so depressed and sad and
began to believe she would never get kosher certified. A friend of hers who had a lunch truck
told her that he had been helped by Rabbi Simkin. He suggested she talk to him.
“Rabbi Simkin was amazing”, said Raquel. “He came to the kitchen and explained how everything has to
be locked –the fridge and freezer.” She took all the utensils to the mikvah, Raquel doesn’t use
pots – She uses disposable aluminum pans which are double-wrapped in the oven. A
mashgiach must be present at all times during the hours of operation. Rabbi Simkin
gave her all the instructions and she finally received her kosher certification.
Raquel feels like a whole new world has opened up for her and that her dreams are
really coming true. She is a lot more confident now as a business owner and as a
person. She has worked very hard for a long time and has achieved everything on her
own – with the help of Hashem! Raquel is hoping her story will be an inspiration for
others – especially women who feel they have no hope because of challenging and
overwhelming circumstances.
To order some of Raquel’s delicious, authentic kosher Mexican food, Sweet and Spizy, check out Raquel’s website; SweetSpizy.com
PERFECT FOR SMALL TO LARG PARTIES
– Taco Tuesday party for 6 or more family members
– PURIM SEUDAS
– SHABBOS MEALS
– SCHOOLS FOR TEACHER APPRECIATION LUNCHES
– Organizations for meeting lunches or events!
WEBSITE ORDERS: Sunday – Thursday 10:30 am to 8:30pm, Friday 10:30 to 2:30pm, Motzaei Shabbos 7pm to 9pm
For individual orders Burritos, Bowls, Tamale and Tacos Sunday 10:30 to 8:30pm through DoorDash, Uber eats and grub Hub.
Sweet & Spizy is a small Jewish-owned business based in West LA. Our goal is to provide the best 100% authentic Glatt Kosher Mexican food!
We are providing you the service and convenience to host your guests with something new and exciting.
Our recipe… a blend of chilies and spices including Guajillo and Ancho peppers bringing a uniqueness of flavors into the pallet creating an irresistible delicacy.
Sweet & Spizy does not use any preservatives whatsoever.
