KC chefs rally behind immigrant workers
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Charly Wilder, who grew up in Kansas City and is the executive editor of Roads & Kingdoms, greets Anti-ICE Supper Club attendees at Yoli. Photo: Courtesy of Zach Bauman
Kansas City tortilla maker Yoli Tortilleria rallied some of the city's top chefs Tuesday night to push back on federal immigration enforcement.
Why it matters: Yoli is using the national profile it earned with a 2023 James Beard Award to take a public stance against recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) tactics, which have reached the metro's own food industry.
State of play: Immigrants made up less than 7% of the KC metro's population in 2017 but more than 1 in 4 of its chefs and cooks, according to a 2019 analysis.
- Since last summer, ICE has searched two metro restaurants and a Historic Northeast food warehouse. Advocates and witnesses said workers were detained, and federal officials confirmed one arrest.
Zoom in: To raise money for immigrant families and speak out on their behalf, chefs from across KC's food scene turned Yoli's kitchen into a live-fire asada barbecue on Tuesday for an Anti-ICE Supper Club.
- The chefs included Johnny and Helen Jo Leach of The Town Co. and Dear Donna, Jeff Workman of Workman's, Fernanda Reyes of Taco Naco and Robin Krause of Billie's Grocery.
Zoom out: The dinner made KC part of a national push, led by food and travel publisher Roads & Kingdoms, that has held similar fundraisers for local immigrant rights groups from Los Angeles to Mexico City.
Follow the money: Proceeds go to Advocates for Immigrant Rights and Reconciliation, or AIRR, which helps immigrant families in Kansas and Missouri cover housing, food and a first meeting with a lawyer.
What they're saying: "By raising funds for AIRR, we can speak out and help provide the tools immigrants need to protect themselves," Yoli co-owner Marissa Tapia Gencarelli said in a statement.
What's next: Room 39 hosts another Anti-ICE Supper Club in KC on Wednesday night.