The Little Chilean Spot That Could

Chef Guisell Osorio of restaurant Sabores Del Sur knows the key to success lies in the power of community 

By Na Hyun Kim

“No one does food the way I do it,” says Chef Guisell Osorio. 

The spirited owner of Sabores Del Sur (“Flavors of the South”), a beloved Chilean eatery in San Francisco's Bay Area, Osorio does not play when it comes to the dishes and desserts of her homeland Chile. 

Her love for Chilean cooking is ubiquitous, from her mission to make the familiar dishes she grew up with to her gospel-level zest for shortbread cookies held together by dulce de leche. She exclaims, “You don’t know what an alfajores is? You poor thing. You haven’t lived yet! I’ll get you one before you leave.”

During her childhood in Santiago, she was never allowed to cook in the kitchen at home. Instead, she watched, helping with clean up and following her grandmother to pick fresh tomatoes and green beans from the farm. The closest she got to cooking was playing with dough that was set out for her. Her love for cooking would come years later. 

As a college student juggling multiple jobs like bartending, hosting, and waiting, she was in constant search for “real” Chilean cuisine. “I kept looking for my food but nobody carried it, so I started making it at home just for myself,” she explains. “I learned to cook on the phone talking to my grandma, my mom, or my dad. My dad mostly,” she continues. ”I asked for recipes every day.” 

Food became their common thread and shared second nature. Not only did she replicate her family recipes, she improved on them; she thanks her access to organic and seasonal ingredients in the U.S. “None of my cousins have the recipes for my alfajores, even though my cookies are improved now — because of the quality of the ingredients and product that I use. And my grandma used to use very little dulce de leche in it — so I bring back alfajores every time. Instead of bringing it from Chile to the U.S., I’m bringing alfajores from the U.S. to Chile!”

Her appreciation for cooking — something that she had oly participated as an observer in her younger years — strengthened in culinary school, an endeavor she’d pursued for fun. “I wanted to entertain myself. And I fell in love with it,” she says. Her infatuation soon became her craft, and as with those with contagious talent, her expertise did not go unnoticed. After she finished her 6 month weekend program, her friends invited her to spend time at their bakery where she would bake sweets as her version of self-care. “My friends there used to tell me how depressed I was at my job, and that I should come help make cookies to relax — I loved it.” Soon, her cookies, courtesy of her grandmother’s recipe, and other creations were a hit. “The more I cooked, the more people wanted my food,” she says. “Everyone kept saying that I should have a restaurant and start in the food business.”

Later, she became the first woman to sign under La Cocina, a nonprofit working to solve problems of equity in business ownership for women, immigrants, and POCs. “I saw on TV that the Women’s Initiative was doing a ‘start your own business’ thing. When I finally met La Cocina, I loved it. Even before they said I was approved for the program, I went and got my business license,” she continues.

She credits her grit for her success. “I’m glad that I’m the driven and crazy person that I am because I think I would have failed as a Latina. [New companies] have better resources and stupid things like that that were not there for me [in the beginning]. But right now, if I didn’t have them [La Cocina], I would feel lost. It’s been such an amazing support group, and because of them, Off Their Plate found me too.”

The lovechild of Osario’s ongoing quest to find Chilean food in the States, Sabores Del Sur is where she and her team churn out her favorite South American dishes. More than aesthetics and glamorous presentations, she focuses her attention to presenting dishes you might find in any Chilean household. She says, “The most amazing foods are somewhere on the streets somewhere in the world. So I decided to do very authentic Chilean cuisine that you could get if you were invited to someone’s house in Chile. Nothing that would be super pretty or styled.”

Like many of our beloved restaurants that have and continue to navigate the ripples and storms of the pandemic, this small cafe of big presence is no exception. Sabores just wants to survive. “When I first heard about shelter-in-place, it was like… You know when you play Jenga and you take the last piece out? And everything crumbles?,” Osario says. “That sound is the best way I can describe it.” 

As the shelter-in-place orders started to become reality, catering events fell through, and less and less of her regulars came through the doors. “Nothing is for sure. I mean, it’s always been like that. Life is just like that,” she continues. “But right now, it’s like everybody feels the same thing — we don’t know what’s gonna happen tomorrow.”

Though she was unable to receive PPP loans, she believes her restaurant will come out of the pandemic, and she knows it won’t happen without support. “We’re counting on the community a lot too. And if we survive, we’re gonna go down in history — the little Chilean place that survived COVID-19. I mean, there are so many other big name restaurants that won’t.” She laughs, “Could you imagine, if I manage to survive?”

Despite all that’s happened this year, she’s seen no shortage of generosity and it’s what has kept her where she is. World Central Kitchen sent her 8,000 meals to ______, and faithful patrons travel from San Jose to eat at Sabores. “One of the ladies who comes up for her Spanish meetup group on Saturdays gave me a $500 tip,” she says. “I did cry. The second time I almost kissed her because she did it twice. I didn’t realize we were such a part of the community. I feel very blessed.” 

In a season of uncertain futures and blind curves, one thing is for sure: Chilean and non-Chilean customers alike will continue to come from far and wide to taste her cooking. You would too. Her alfajores are to die for.

About Voices:

A new campaign run by Off Their Plate, Voices is a creative platform that seeks to amplify the untold narratives of restaurant professionals across America, shedding light on personal experiences that go beyond their day to day work. 

In late May, we started interviewing owners and workers, listening to their challenges, fears, and outlooks on the future of the food service industry as their cities recover from COVID-19. Using

mediums such as portraits, short videos, testimonies, and interviews, we produce authentic and thoughtful content to highlight their diversity, talents, and cultures.

About Off Their Plate: 

Off Their Plate (OTP) is a grassroots organization that started on March 15 in Boston by Natalie Guo. 100% volunteer run and operational in nine of the most COVID-impacted US cities, OTP set out to deliver nutritious meals to frontline healthcare professionals, while providing economic relief to local restaurants and their workers. Building an impactful, equity-focused and locally-minded model in less than eight weeks enabled us to become an organization that is nimble to the evolving impact of COVID-19 and assess where the most acute needs are. In early May, we decided to expand our mission and serve additional communities experiencing hunger within our nine cities while maintaining our goal to provide a reliable and sufficient economic lifeline to our restaurant partners as they navigate the coming months. As COVID-19’s impacts continue to unfold, OTP is committed to our communities, using our resources to take one thing “off their plate,” one meal at a time.