"Not only do they learn from staff, they learn tons from each other, and this really contributes greatly to their success," she said.
The association estimates there are 1,200 incubation programs in the US. Only 19 of them are kitchen incubators, Kitts said, because the start-up and operating costs are much higher.
La Cocina is housed in a starkly modern structure wedged among tattered row houses and apartment buildings in the Mission District. Residents are primarily low-income from Mexico and El Salvador, where Perez Ferreiro says there is a strong tradition of entrepreneurship.
La Cocina was created by the California Women's Foundation in response to a survey that indicated that 90 percent of women in the Mission District said they needed adequate equipment and proper permits to run their businesses, but that commercial kitchen space in San Francisco was either unaffordable or geographically inconvenient. Many of them said they were cooking illegally out of their homes.
The foundation and government grants make up more than three-quarters of La Cocina's US$575,000 annual budget. About 17 percent of its funding comes from rent charged to six commercial tenants, who pay US$30 to US$40 an hour, depending on the type of equipment being used. The program participants pay US$8 to US$10 an hour.
"We are not creating a parallel nonprofit world where they are in a sheltered workshop," Perez Ferreiro said. "The reason we charge a fee is that we want them to have a business model that is sustainable. If they don't incorporate the cost of doing business, it's artificial, and it's going to crumble."
To avoid that, Jason Rose, La Cocina's culinary director, and Caleb Zigas, the program director, both of whom are bilingual, meet weekly with the women to review food costs, recipes and sales and marketing plans. Participants also pair with consultants from partner organizations who work on finances and cash flow statements.
Salazar of El Huarache Loco employs five family members at her booth at the Alemany Farmers' Market, where Zigas says she earns US$3,000 every weekend. Costs of goods, licenses, employee wages and kitchen rental means she nets US$1,000. But he points out that Salazar will soon be able to afford to buy a home; he is searching for commercial space for her to open a restaurant, a prospect he calls "thrilling."
"It's the translation from informal economy, which is cash-in, cash-out, to a formal economy, which is concept, then investment, then growth," Zigas said. "It's a really hard conceptual translation to make, to go from knowing how much you're making every day to thinking about money in a longer-term vision."
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