Rosa Porto

Rosa Porto (September 19, 1930 – December 13, 2019) was a Cuban-born American baker and businesswoman, founder of Porto's Bakery & Cafe chain of restaurants in Southern California.

Rosa Porto
BornSeptember 19, 1930
Manzanillo, Cuba
DiedDecember 13, 2019
California
NationalityCuban, American
OccupationBaker, businesswoman

Early life

Porto was born in Manzanillo, Cuba. Her mother was born in Spain, and taught Porto to cook and bake. During the early years of the Cuban Revolution, her husband cut sugar cane in a labor camp, and Rosa baked for neighbors to support her family.[1] Her baking business in Manzanillo was informal, and illegal. “Whenever the secret police would come to raid the house, we already knew they were coming and the neighbors would take the equipment we had to the backyard, so they never caught her,” her daughter recounted in a 2017 interview.[2]

Career

The Portos were allowed to leave Cuba in 1971.[3] They moved to Los Angeles, where she sold her Cuban-style cakes and other foods from home, while her husband worked as a janitor. The couple used a small loan to open a bakery in Silver Lake in 1976. Their next, larger location was in Glendale in 1982, and offered an expanded menu.[4] Porto's Bakery & Cafe locations grew to include shops in Burbank, Downey, Buena Park and West Covina. Porto's was especially popular with Cuban immigrants, but had a much wider clientele.[5]

Rosa Porto retired from baking in the 1990s; her children and grandchildren continue to run the business, now with over a thousand employees.[6][7] In 2019, Los Angeles Times referred to Porto's as "the most beloved bakery in all of Los Angeles."[8]

Personal life

Rosa and Raúl Porto married in Cuba in 1955. They had three children, Beatriz (Betty), Raul Jr. and Margarita. Rosa Porto died in 2019, aged 89.[9][10]

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References
  1. Goffard, Christopher. "Rosa Porto, founder of popular Porto’s Bakery & Cafe, dies at 89" Los Angeles Times (December 14, 2019).
  2. Wei, Clarissa (2017-07-20). "Porto's: From Communist Cuba Secret to Southern California Icon". KCET. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  3. Ubaldo, Jose (2011-12-13). "Antojitos por Metro: Porto's, una historia donde el sueño americano es una realidad". El Pasajero. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  4. Burum, Linda (1994-07-21). "Porto's Bakery: Miami Vices". The Los Angeles Times. p. 100. Retrieved 2019-12-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. Fernandez, Maria Elena (2001-02-06). "Cuban Cafecitos and All the Comforts of Home". The Los Angeles Times. p. 56. Retrieved 2019-12-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. Pierson, David (2016-05-21). "For L. A.'s Porto's, volume is secret to success". The Palm Beach Post. pp. E6. Retrieved 2019-12-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Raul Porto, Jr". Made in the CSU. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  8. Lucas Kwan Peterson, "How Rosa Porto created the most beloved bakery in all of Los Angeles" The Los Angeles Times (December 17, 2019).
  9. City News Service. "Porto’s Bakery & Cafe founder Rosa Porto dies" Daily News (December 15, 2019).
  10. Ortiz, Maria. "Muere Rosa Porto, la fundadora de Porto’s Bakery y Café en Los Ángeles" La opinion" (December 15, 2019). (in Spanish)
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