About Founder Table Notes from Cassava SF
Reflections on restaurant systems, ethical operations, and building durable hospitality businesses.
I’m Yuka Ioroi, CEO and co-owner of Cassava SF. Together with my husband and owner-chef Kris Toliao, we’ve spent more than a decade shaping Cassava into a restaurant that reflects what we believe hospitality should be: fair, sustainable, and deeply human.
This publication shares both the flavors and philosophies behind our work.
You’ll find recipes from Kris’s kitchen, sourcing stories from our local purveyors, and honest conversations about rebuilding a restaurant through constant change; from pandemic survival to life after bankruptcy.
Each post comes from our courtyard café in the historic One Jackson Place building in Jackson Square, right across the street from Substack HQ.
For anyone who loves good food, believes restaurants can be better, and wants to see how small, independent places like ours keep going, this space is for you!
About Rise SF
Building a community for food founders in San Francisco
Rise SF is the community-building side of this publication; created for food founders and anyone dreaming of starting their own food business in San Francisco.
Through Rise SF, I share what I’ve learned about opening and rebuilding restaurants, navigating city permits, hiring and training teams, designing equitable pay systems, and building a financially sustainable business in one of the most challenging cities in the world.
My goal is to make the path clearer for the next generation of founders — to show that it’s possible to build a restaurant that lasts, treats people well, and still makes money.
If you’re an aspiring food founder, I want to meet you. The more of us there are, the stronger we become together.
Because San Francisco is still one of the greatest cities to start your food founder journey.
