Three food-themed businesses are finalists for Calling All Dreamers competition
Three of the four finalists for Downtown Sacramento Foundation’s Calling All Dreamers competition are food-based startups vying for a chance to open in downtown Sacramento.
The annual business incubation program, hosted by the Downtown Sacramento Foundation, provides mentorship, startup funding and a potential storefront for emerging entrepreneurs.
Calling All Dreamers is designed to help entrepreneurs develop a business plan and open a retail space within the Downtown Sacramento Foundation’s district.
The district stretches from Front Street in Old Sacramento to 16th Street, and from the Railyards area south to O Street. The foundation’s footprint will soon expand from 66 to 102 blocks, incorporating more of the Railyards.
Participants complete more than 10 workshops led by regional business experts on topics including marketing, financing, permitting and investor pitching.
Top concepts become eligible for startup grants if they complete the program and sign a lease in the district within one year.
The winner will receive $20,000, while the runner-up will receive $10,000. Finalists may also qualify for a $5,000 lease-signing grant. Winners will be announced in February.
Last year’s winner, Pittador Brews Specialty Teas & Coffees, recently opened their brick-and-mortar cafe at 1005 Second St. in Old Sacramento.
Bytes
Billed as an “outdoor community-driven culinary space designed to spotlight local food vendors, emerging chefs and vibrant cultural events,” Alysha Lofton’s Bytes aims to create a venue where food trucks can gather in one location.
The concept draws inspiration from Spark Social in San Francisco, a food truck park that has operated since 2016.
“So my whole idea is to really find a spot where people can enjoy flavors and not have to physically sit down and wait 45 minutes to an hour just to get service,” she said.
Food trucks would rotate in and out of the park, but Lofton envisions one permanent fixture.
“We’re gonna have a stationary food truck where a small mom and pop who may not ready to actually own a food truck or a brick and mortar business can come and utilize our guest food truck so that they’ll be able to promote their business,” she said.
Finding the right location remains a challenge. She would prefer to be closer to downtown, but the district’s expansion into the Railyards may offer alternatives.
“That does give me a couple more open plots. However, it’s a little far from all the other action in downtown,” she said.
Pizza Knights
Husband-and-wife team Tyler and Paloma Jimenez began making New York-inspired pizzas for friends and family after she gave him a Gozney Arc XL pizza oven pizza oven for his birthday last year.
What started as a hobby quickly turned into a passion project.
Tyler Jimenez uses a slow fermentation process for his dough, mixing half the batch with a starter from the day before and resting it for up to 72 hours.
“I like the slow process. I feel like it gives it more of a flavor, makes it more unique,” he said.
As demand grew, so did their ambitions.
“People would come over for pizza, and then they would invite us to cook pizza at their birthday parties. I just did my friend’s baby shower,” Jimenez said.
“It was all kind of under the table, you know, like we didn’t have a permit or anything.”
When they learned about Calling All Dreamers, they decided to formalize their operation as Pizza Knights.
“We’re in the final stages of getting the health permits and looking into the different kinds of ovens we could use to pop up at breweries or farmers markets,” he said.
“Hopefully by a year from now we could open up something in downtown. I think what we’re looking for is a spot with some history, maybe places that closed since the pandemic like Ambrosia or Bud’s.”
Wonderson’s Co.
A family-run venture, Wonderson’s Co. includes three distinct concepts managed by Christine Wonderson and her adult children.
The first, Wonderson’s Candy & Coloring Co., features housemade cotton candy and gummies paired with garden-themed coloring books. The books are illustrated by Wonderson’s daughter, Hannah.
“So the cotton candy machine, we’re trying to make it look like clouds or a sunset. The gummies have a flower design,” Wonderson said.
“Once people see it, they’re like, oh, I get it.”
Another concept, Polly Pie’s, is a cat-themed cafe — a space with feline-inspired decor but no live animals.
“Kids are meant to imagine the cats are making the food,” she said. However, there will be no live cats in the cafe.
The cafe would serve hand pies, cookies and cakes, along with boba drinks and coffee.
The third concept, Sweetpea & Snookums Whistle Stop Play Shop, is a toy store.
All three would operate in a shared space, ideally in Old Sacramento, where the family expects higher foot traffic from visitors with children.
A fourth, non-food finalist, EcoPress Sacramento, intends to be an environmentally minded art studio that transforms plastic waste into functional art.
To vote on the finalists, go to callingalldreamers.org, but final decisions will be made by a panel of judges.
