Rising Stars: Meet Michelle Castillo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Castillo.

Hi Michelle, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I am an interdisciplinary artist, writer, cultural bearer, educator, chef, and community organizer living on Cahuilla land AKA Palm Springs, CA. Currently, I serve as the founding director of an art collaborative/non-profit & I’m the chef-owner behind Lola’s Kusina.

My work as a cultural bearer and in arts & activism encompasses socially engaged art, literary arts, and culinary arts that help build generative communities. For over a decade, I have enjoyed designing and producing a variety of impactful multidisciplinary arts, cultural, and wellness programming and events with non-profits, cities, hotels, and museums.

A lot of my creative, collaborative practice and the desire to build community stem from growing up in a multigenerational Filipino immigrant household and coming from a line of powerful ancestors and elders who were farmers, activists, entrepreneurs, tastemakers, and healers.

My longest ongoing project, Lola’s Kusina, is inspired by eating lunch on Saturdays at my Lola and Lolo’s house. The house became this pivotal & special place where several generations have passed down cultural traditions and preserved our recipes for the next generation. As a child, I loved watching the women in my family sing and dance while they cooked Filipino food-the smell of soy sauce simmering with vinegar, garlic, bay leaves, and peppercorn is a distinct scent that reminds me of home. I’m not a classically trained chef, but I learned how to cook Filipino cuisine from them. Cooking Filipino food to me feels like I’m accessing memories & recipes from my childhood.

Life has put me on an interesting path that has allowed me to serve the community in many ways. I am deeply grateful for the opportunities that have led me on a journey that incorporates my multiple passions. The work I do is multi-layered and is never done in a vacuum-each layer of creative or community work has been informed by the other and continues to grow as I move along on this journey.

Currently, I am writing a book about the stories I heard in Lola’s Kusina, which means grandmother’s kitchen in Tagalog. The book is about Filipino culture, food, family, and growing up in the desert. In the future, I’d like to have a brick-and-mortar and create a commissary kitchen incubator and community space for chefs, entrepreneurs, and artists to share their cultural cuisines and traditions.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
My path is not traditional, and I’ve had a handful of challenges. Growing up and being the eldest daughter of immigrants, I’ve felt somewhat guilty to follow this path. Although, I’ve been truly blessed by having wonderful parents, supportive friends, and mentors who have encouraged, nurtured, celebrated my gifts and cheered me along the way!

For any emerging multi-hyphenates and fellow folks with multiple passions, keep going, seek out mentors in your field, connect with your elders, take risks, don’t be afraid to fail, and take up space–it will all make sense one day!

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Personally, I don’t fit in any box. I identify being someone with a unique lived experience, skill set, and perspective that I bring to any table. My work in education, community organizing, the arts and culture is showing up positively in the values of how I run my business, Lola’s Kusina.

I am most proud of building ongoing relationships and bridging multiple communities-that’s a huge component of who I am at the core and sets the tone for what I do. The people who I have worked and collaborated with have become chosen family. If I decide to collaborate with you, it’s an invitation to continue building together. When it comes to any industry – it is essential to foster genuine relationships and not have those connections feel transactional or one off. Whatever project I am working on, I find it vital to create mutual trust and cultivate a safe environment where everyone’s skill set is celebrated & can thrive.

As for Lola’s Kusina, we aren’t just an eatery, but a multidimensional concept that is community-centered and looks to preserve Filipino food, traditions and culture with an intergenerational feel. Lola’s Kusina started as a dinner series for artists, became a pop-up, and provides educational workshops on Filipino cuisine and ancestral plants. We’ve also hosted public Kamayans, a Filipino communal feast celebrating the pre-colonial tradition of eating with our hands.

In 2019, we created the 1st ever-public Kamayan dining experience in the Coachella Valley! That same year, I was invited to an artist residency where I had the opportunity to bring Lola’s Sari-Sari Store installation to life. The installation is an ongoing socially engaged work on migration, labor, identity, alternative economies, family (blood and chosen), invisible histories, and the spaces we call home. The work has been exhibited in the Mojave Desert and at the Center for the Arts Eagle Rock.

In 2021, with the help of AB626 we opened as a micro-eatery & home kitchen with a menu that included Filipino favorites & the plant-based recipes I grew up with. Lola’s Kusina offers private chef services, small events catering, and you can now find us at a local favorite, The Villagefest on Thursday nights in Downtown Palm Springs!

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
When I think of food systems and the restaurant industry, I do see it moving toward a more inclusive and equitable future- which is very exciting! I feel restaurants are looking for sustainable and multiple ways to build meaningful relationships and better support their staff and customers. In 2020, when the pandemic hit it had us all really take inventory of how we function as a whole society, what is not working, and what needs to be changed for us to move forward collectively.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/LolasKusina
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/lolas.kusina

Image Credits
Photo credits go to Brelinda, Erick Lemus Nadurille, Nica Aquino and myself.