sebastiani

“Cuantas va querer mi amor? Ya le van a salir.” These and other similar phrases may have been uttered by Randy and Allison, a pupuseros that sought to put pupusas on the map in Manhattan’s lower east side with his restaurant Cabalito. Put on your delanal, grab a bit of masa and get ready to echar pupusas with Randy Rodriguez and his wife Allison Sebastiani.

Randy Rodriguez is a Salvadoran enthusiast, restaurateur, and storyteller. Born in Pasadena and raised in Vermont, he made the move to Manhattan in 2010, where he reconnected with his latinidad and fell in love with restaurant culture after managing a taqueria. From 2015 to 2017, he owned and ran his own pupuseria, Cabalito, along with his wife, Allison Sebastiani, in the Lower East Side. Cabalito was featured in NY Magazine, El Diario, The Village Voice, and NY Eater. He is currently working at a food tech startup as he works on his next Salvi passion project.

Allison is a Peruvian-American software product manager born and raised in the NYC area. She is committed to creating diverse and inclusive tech spaces. Outside of tech, she dedicates her free time to social justice and environmental advocacy, tending to her plants, meal-prepping, and learning about all things Salvi.

Before we start the episode, I have a little culture for our non Salvi listeners The word Cabal is salvadoran slang for perfect or exactly. Cabalito means even more perfect or exact. So next time you want to say exactly! You can cabal instead!

• Randy Rodriguez and Allison Sebastiani
• Randy was born in LA moved to VT, never felt at home
• Allison is Peruvian-Amerrican grew up in Jersey in a very latino dominated area
• You’re not X enough for the X’ers, you’re not Y enough for the Y’ers
• Parents teaching the VT community about El Salvador
• Lacking the tools to represent your roots
• Starting over in NY and seeking challenges vs comfort
• “Amor de Tacos”
• Balancing quality vs quantity time
• Falling in love with food and restaurant communities
• Where are the pupusas at in Manhattan?
• 16 mins - Cabal sidenote?
• Learning from a pupusa señora
• How are trendy millennials gonna get down with pupusas?
• A pupuseria for non-Salvadorans
• Becoming the Salvadoran cuisine wiseman of the Lower East Side
• A man that makes pupusas?
• Salvadorans: the worst pupusa critics
• Gluten-free and vegan pupusas
• Let me get a pupusa without the pupusa
• Pupusa 101: cultural education
• Perfection takes time - pupusas should always be sold fresh
• NYC fast service vs handmade pupusas
• The esoteric art of telling what the filling is in the pupusa
• Loroco supply chain
• Loroco: squash blossom
• Michael Stipe eats pupusas!
• America Ferrera eats pupusas!
• America Ferrera’s Gente-fied series
• Delicious El Salvador by Alica Maher
• The difficulties of owning a small business
• The cost of pupusas in the city
• Connecting people with pupusas
• Shining a positive light on El Salvador
• Being a business owner is radically different from your 9-5
• Tips for couples working together

Show resources:

• https://www.instagram.com/ydnarzeugirdor/
• https://www.instagram.com/allison.sbstiani/
• https://www.instagram.com/cabalitonyc/
• https://deliciouselsalvador.com/
• America Ferrera - Gente-fied

Music:

Salvi Nacion by Crooked Stilo

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Michael Sebastiani has been in the vineyards since he was ten, if not younger. In his 20s he began working with Paul Giusto at Viansa Sonoma. While there they hatched the idea of starting their own brand. Highway 12 passes through the iconic vineyards of Russian River Valley, Sonoma Valley, Los Carneros and Napa Valley. No better name could capture the essence of the wine they wanted to offer. In this podcast you'll hear what it takes to start and operate a winery as they speak candidly about the challenges and their ultimate success with Highway 12, Carneros Highway and The Highwayman. It's time to travel On The Wine Road.