Hibiscus flowers, jackfruit and oyster mushrooms are just some of the “meat substitutes” chef Paola Lagunas cooks at Alma y Sazon. Lagunas has worked in the restaurant industry since the age of 15, including a stint at À Côté. At the beginning of her career, she was taught to “revere food.” Since 2022, when Alma y Sazon opened as a pop-up, the underlying philosophy behind her culinary approach has been to respect “real ingredients from the natural world.”
After holding pop-ups for a couple of years at venues like Roasted and Raw, and Temescal Brewing, the kitchen incubator La Cocina offered Alma y Sazon the Emeryville kiosk in February. Restaurants such as Mama Lamees and Nusa once held court there. The short-term, six-month lease includes the possibility to extend it up to a year. Lagunas believes “it’s a really good way to understand restaurant operation—labor, our time and food. And just how we can really scale this and grow without having it feel like too much pressure.”
For now, Alma y Sazon is a family business run by Lagunas, her husband Xavier Herrera and her sister, Fernanda. “We don’t have any employees,” Lagunas said. “We all own it equally.” Lagunas fills the role of primary chef, Fernanda, of front-of-house manager. Herrera is the culinary director.
The vegan-vegetarian menu features traditional Mexican recipes from Lagunas’ mother. “Xavier brings in more of the innovation,” she said. “It helps because vegan food, a lot of the time, it’s a little more experimental. You need more ingredients for it.” He’s responsible for the cashew crema and an almond-queso fresco. Both of which show up on a range of tacos, tostadas and sopesitos—or masa cups—a new addition.
Lagunas regularly drank jamaica agua frescas at home, but she didn’t grow up eating hibiscus flowers. She discovered their full edible potential on social media. “We started playing with them and found they have a meaty texture and taste, almost like a jerky,” she said. I tried the flower in a tostada ranchera ($8) and in the hibiscus asada taco ($4.75). It’s really much more tender than a jerky but chewier than, say, a geranium. To achieve that substantial texture, Lagunas caramelizes the flower for nearly an hour at a low temperature.
Two taco options feature mushrooms as the key ingredient. The carnitas taco ($5) is much lighter fare than the de mar ($8) and needs something to fill it out: squash or beans or even tomatoes. Lagunas gets a nice sauté on the thin slices of oyster mushrooms, but the tempura fry in the de mar makes it feel like the more complete dish.
Currently, the tortillas are made by La Finca Tortilleria in Oakland. “We wanted to use someone who was local,” Lagunas said. La Palma in San Francisco and Tortilleria El Molino in Concord were also contenders. “If we were to make the tortillas, my team would need more help with figuring it out. It’s really hard to make a tortilla.”
Alma y Sazon’s tagline reads: “Mexican Tradition. Vegan Revolution.” No animal products are used but Lagunas, who also describes her food as vegetarian, is aware of the “harsh connotation” some diners associate with vegan cuisine. But now that they have a brick-and-mortar space, more plant-based people have found them. “They are coming up to us really excited that there’s another vegan restaurant in town,” she said.
When a dubious carnivore approaches the kiosk, the tostada ranchera is Lagunas’ go-to recommendation. “Everything else on the tostada—beans, pepitas, lettuce, carrots, radishes, sour cream and queso—most people are used to,” she said. “Then you get a fun surprise with the hibiscus flower.”
The homemade sopesitos ($16) also have familiar ingredients such as refried beans, poblanos and corn. “Having the vegetarian twist on it, I’m hoping that more people are interested in trying it for the sake of having less impact on the environment,” she said.
Alma y Sazon, 5959 Shellmound St., Emeryville. Open Tue 4:30–8pm, Wed-Sat 11am to 8pm and Sun 11am to 7:30pm. IG: @almaysazonllc. almaysazonvegano.com
