Lisa

My passion is hospitality, my dream is to become a restaurateur, and my purpose is to serve. I was born and raised in the City of Detroit, and my vision is to enhance Detroit neighborhoods with great food and genuine hospitality. And let me tell you my WHY!

While growing up in my Detroit neighborhood, my father hosted an annual event he coined the 'Pumpkin Hunt', for our neighbors, family, friends—and friends of friends! On a crisp Saturday morning in late October, he would hide hundreds of miniature pumpkins all over our yard—in the ground cover, flowerpots, and under crunchy piles of fallen leaves. To add to the fun, he would spray-paint a few pumpkins gold and hide them more inconspicuously—often suspending them in small trees using fishing line!

At the start of the event, our guests were set loose to secure as many pumpkins as they could, redeeming each one for a bag of goodies. The golden pumpkins—an exciting challenge for the older kids year after year, were redeemable for a huge bag of even more goodies—which sometimes included a roll of quarters! At the event, we served homemade chili and natural-casing hot dogs a-plenty, plus warm apple cider to fuel the fun!

Although the Pumpkin Hunt was my father’s idea, he enlisted the help of my whole family to bring it to life. Weeks ahead of the event, we would load up in the family van—going door-to-door to deliver our handmade invitations. The nights leading up—me and my siblings would stay up way past bedtime, stuffing and stapling the hundreds of bags of goodies. The morning of, I would wake up early to help my aunt prepare the chili; and during the event, I would enthusiastically cheer the guests along, while helping my mom keep tally of each guest’s haul. Through these acts, my father unwittingly guided me toward my passion and helped spur my own embodiment of hospitality, which I have come to define as: the prompt and anticipatory facilitation of the enjoyment of others—cheerful and with a smile.

Through DA BOMB TACO, I have the opportunity to fulfill my passion, realize my dream and serve my purpose—while honoring my father and our family traditions, and improving the quality of my lifelong community.

Now I know you may be thinking, "why me?", but under my leadership, DA BOMB TACO is poised to succeed. I possess degrees in business finance and culinary arts, and over the years I’ve gained experience as a server, hostess, line cook, even a dishwasher when necessary—intentionally seeking the widest breadth of hospitality experience in the hopes that one day, it would make me a better restaurateur.

And now that day has almost come!