Casa Rosario – Creating Safe Spaces in the Food World for All with

Casandra Rosario founded Food Before Love in 2012 because she found that the food industry lacked representation and spaces for people who look like her: an Afro Latina, Puerto Rican to be more precise, that grew up in Spanish Harlem. At the time of Food Before Love’s founding, Casandra was working at JP Morgan — not exactly her dream job. She had finished her hospitality degree a year before and always thought she would own a restaurant.

Her job at JP Morgan wasn’t exactly fulfilling to her — not when she missed food. At first, Casandra considered a TV show — a cooking show that would break the monolith of black southern cooking. While the show may not have happened, Casandra started blogging about the places she ate in New York. She had already eaten at a lot of places and had a lot of pictures. Her blog took off and Food Before Love became a barrier-breaking dining guide. Fine dining and food events strategically and purposefully leave people out.

When she would attend these events she would ask herself questions like: “are these companies being intentional about inviting people like me, that look like me, that have similar backgrounds.” She recognized a classist element to these events that allowed them to exclude people of color. Not only were these events not marketed towards people of color, but they tended to not be affordable for them either. And even if you were able to find an event and buy a ticket, you might not have felt safe and welcomed in that space due to a lack of knowledge.

Food Before Love doesn’t “[price] out their audience” like others tend to do. They host events that are affordable, sometimes even free, so that all can enjoy. They also work on educating people on the nuances of the food industry so that when they do find an event they can participate and carve out their own safe space. There aren’t many spaces for people like us in the fine dining experience. Casandra Rosario is not only creating those spaces, she’s also equipping us with the tools to navigate the dining experience.