When Cucina Migrante co-founders Francesco Bonsinetto and Adisa Ziric prepare a meal for a client, they never work from a standard menu. Every meal is unique from the next, depending on the customer’s tastes, dietary concerns and allergies, and whatever fresh items Bonsinetto picks up that day from a local farm or meat market.
Bonsinetto, who hails from Sicily, and Ziric, a Bosnian refugee, say their goal with Cucina Migrante is to encourage Americans to embrace the European tradition of making locally grown food and leisurely communal dining the centerpiece of their lives.“I like to give people the idea that it’s important to share food and a meal with a friend or a stranger and you don’t need to rush,” Bonsinetto said. “In the U.S., everything has to be fast. We offer exactly the opposite.
Combining Bonsinetto’s cooking and teaching background and Ziric’s flair for marketing and event-planning, they began offering food experiences for people staying in Airbnb properties around Southern California. Their business exploded, and in 2018, Airbnb named Cucina Migrante their No. 1 “experience” provider in the United States. It was a boon for business until the pandemic arrived and shut everything down.