H umboldt has an incredibly vibrant foodie community, online, and in the real world, they are in the know of where to go and who’s doing what in the local food service and agriculture industry. At the helm of the Humboldt Foodie Group on Facebook is Jessica Silva, and in a few short years, she has overseen the growth of this Facebook community from 500 to over 18,000 active members, with more added weekly.
While laying the groundwork for Taste of Humbolt and as I began to meet some of the local restauranteurs, it became clear that Jessica is well-liked and respected within the foodie community, with everyone we met being very grateful for what she has done for the community and for their businesses. After all, it’s all about networking.
I want you to meet Jessica Silva…
So, Jessica, where are you from?
I am from Riverside County in Southern California. I come from a very small town called Menifee which was kind of a horse country town. And then, I moved to Riverside for college. And, then I’ve been traveling up and down the west coast ever since.
How did you end up in Humboldt?
I moved here for love (chuckles), my boyfriend and I are both from Southern California and he moved up here, I think six years, eight years before I did. And I was in Washington, living there, and wanted to come back to California because California is home. And he told me to come rent a room from him. This is before we were dating. He told me to come rent a room from him. And so, I moved here and I dived right into the cannabis industry, and I never left. I absolutely love it.
What do you do in the cannabis industry?
I moved here in early 2014, and I started trimming, I started growing. I became really quickly involved in the propagation sector of the industry. So, I started doing like 100,000 clone cuts per year. I was always the fastest scissors in the west. So, I really was able to grow my business. And about three or four years ago, I made the transition to the legal market after legalization happened. And I’ve been working there in a managerial or administrative capacity ever since.
What company is this?
I now work for MOCA Humboldt. I’ve only been there for five weeks now, but they’re amazing. They’re craft indoors. And it’s actually owned by some of the first people that I met when I moved here. So, it turns out that my new bosses were friends with my boyfriend before I even really knew what Humboldt was. So, I feel like it’s a full circle moment that I work for people that I knew when I first got here.
The whole cannabis situation is fascinating to me because it originated in medicine, a very effective one I may add, then it became recreational and illegal, and then it became legal and medicine again…
Yeah. I think it’s all converging back to what it was always meant to be. Plants are generally good for you. So, it’s nice that the stigma is kind of going away. And people who don’t fit this very narrow view of what a cannabis user looks like are now buying cannabis in droves. It’s nice to see older customers who have pain issues that can now address them in the light and not in the shadows and back alleys buying from someone a third of their age.
Do you see that a lot?
Older people that are buying now? Absolutely. Especially at our business because we have a retail sector of our business. We have a lot of older clientele that are coming in for medicine. They’re trying to manage their pain, they’re trying to manage chronic issues, and they’re just happy to do it without feeling drugged out and the side effects of normal medication. And it’s fascinating and it’s inspiring. I like it.
How did you get into the foodie bit?
Well, I’ve been a foodie my whole life, my parents nicknamed me Cheese Monster when I was three years old because I had a huge affinity for all kinds of cheese. And food is a big part of my culture as a Mexican. Food, family, culture, happiness, and celebrations, are all things that are completely ingrained in me. And when I moved up here, the easiest way for me to get involved with my community was to learn about the food. And I’ve never been in the community where everything that we were eating was grown within 25 miles of where I’m living. So, that was completely new for me since I come from the urban sprawl of Riverside County. So yeah, I really kind of delved into this Humboldt County foodie group, society. And I kind of became a pillar in that group because I was just being positive in promoting our local businesses. And people, I guess, liked what I had to say about food. I guess the rest is kind of history.
When did you become the Cheese Monster of the foodie group?
That was about seven years ago. My buddy, Nick, he created the group. And then, when it had 500 local members, I joined. And he asked a few of us to be co-admins. And I didn’t anticipate taking over, but I ended up taking over. He moved to Chicago, he officially gave me the group, and it’s just been an upward trajectory ever since. So yeah, about seven years now.
And it went from 500 to 18,000?
Yeah. We’re at 18,000. Nick really spearheaded from the beginning and I carried through with his vision of reaching out to all of the local business owners so that it was a safe space for them to communicate and collaborate with the community. Because we don’t allow any negative posts or any bad reviews or anything like that, businesses felt comfortable and safe, really promoting their brands, getting new ideas, and getting constructive feedback. And as a result of that, a lot of businesses have been able to grow their following from our group. And it’s kind of become this community pillar and fixture that’s driving the food economy here.
Of the 18,000, what would you say is the percentage, if you know, of restaurants who are on there versus just regular community members?
I’m sure that the actual percentage is way low just because we have so many consumers on there. But if I had to guess, I’d say we probably have over a hundred business owners on there. Because Humboldt County is such a small county, there are only so many businesses here. So, I would say, out of all of the restaurants, I would say probably about maybe 85% of them interact with our group in some capacity.
So the secret to your success is…
… direct communication. I’ve never lived in another city where I have a personal relationship with the chefs that create all my favorite foods. Here, I have befriended some of the chefs because of that group. And if I have questions, I can ask them directly. I can find out about food preparations, and where they’re sourcing their ingredients, and I can ask if they’ll do a class for the community. I have direct access to these people that feed my community and that feeds me, and I love it.
Do you have any favorite restaurants? Or do you need to stay neutral?
No, I definitely have my favorites. Honestly, as we just discovered, Cocina Mariposa is now my favorite Mexican restaurant in town. I love Five Eleven. Five Eleven is consistently just some of the best food that I’ve had in Humboldt. It’s fun and it’s playful and it’s upscale. And that’s one thing that I really missed about Southern California, was all of the very upscale, fine dining options that I grew up with. And here, it’s been a little bit slower to develop, but we have a lot of fine dining here now, that I’ve been able to watch grow. So, thanks to Five Eleven, it is kind of a trend that’s taking off, this great coastal, but laid-back fine dining. So, there’s that. And then there’s Larrupin. Larrupin is just fantastic… It’s a restaurant that just screams Humboldt. You walk in and you look around and you’re just like, “Oh, this is in Humboldt.” It just looks like it could be nowhere else on earth.
Do you have any favorite dives?
Oh God, yes. I love Vista Del Mar. I am a competitive pool player, and so on Monday nights after competitions, I used to always go to Vista Del Mar and order a Cubano sandwich and shoot another game of pool. That place has some of the best food coming out of their kitchen. It’s a great little dive bar and I love it. Let’s see, what else do I like… Oh, it’s hard, I have to be careful who I call a dive.
Well, I think Guy Fieri made it cool to be a dive.
True! We have many great dives.
Ok, the last question, do you like the whole Taste of Humboldt idea to help put Humboldt on the world stage for food?
I love Taste of Humboldt! All I wanted since I moved here was to be able to go to a giant food festival. And if there’s wine and beer and cider and weed and arts and music, that’s just more life.
You’re there?
I’m there, yeah, for sure!
