Cal Poly student creates pop-up food shops around town

By Haylee Banta

Rachel Castellino’s first memory in the kitchen comes from a time when she could barely see over the stove. Zucchini, tomato, cheese and egg. Her mom was perplexed at what was in front of her, but when she took a bite, she was surprised to find that her daughter had made something delightful. 

Driven by her love for food, the Cal Poly statistics junior is still cooking. Castellino has started creating pop-up food shops around San Luis Obispo that showcase her culinary abilities and raise money for charity—she donates the proceeds to organizations that support racial justice. 

Castellino isn’t alone in her passion for food. She began her pop-up shops with the help of Elan Valdez-Kaminsky, environmental management and protection junior. Introduced by a mutual friend, they immediately started planning a collaboration.

“I thought that I was crazy to love food the way I did before I met Elan, the first person I ever did a pop-up with,” Castellino said. “He is the sole reason that I am still doing it today.” 

Two weeks before Valentine’s Day, Castellino and Kaminsky hosted a donut and food plate pop-up, which was Castellino’s first event. The rest, they say, was history. 

“Rachel is one of the most impressive people that I have ever met,” Kaminsky said. “When I think about what she has become since I reached out to her initially, I feel like I have released a Kraken.” 

Castellino said she feels guilty for taking money for doing something that she loves, which is why she decided to donate the proceeds. Her previous pop-up revenue has benefitted Black Lives Matter organizations, and the latest proceeds from the Kin Coffee pop-up went to anti-Asian-American-hate groups.  

As she schedules more pop-up events, customers can place orders through a Google Form one week in advance. Castellino bases every order on pick-up time and only allows three spots per 15 minutes. She places a cap on her orders at a range of 100 to 120 people and allows for a 10% buffer. The more often she starts hosting pop-ups, she says, the easier it will be to price her food. 

Outside the kitchen, Castellino leads a gasp-for-air lifestyle. She recently started as an assistant chef at Six-Test Kitchens in Atascadero, is the founder and president of the Data Science Club at Cal Poly, was previously a statistics workshop leader and has taught cooking classes online. 

“It’s not easy and I am still learning,” Castellino said. “Normally it would be fine. I have always been a busy person, but I am still trying to figure out how to manage my time, and a lot is changing really fast.” 

Her latest event at Kin Coffee was the first time she has hired help. The owner of Kin Coffee, Julian “Jules” Conteras, said that everyone who participated was “extremely happy.” Kin is a place to “allow creativity to flow,” he said, and working with students has been “absolutely amazing.”

“I learn from them just the same way they expect to learn from our business,” Conteras said. “Kin is for the community and that means college students and locals alike.” 

Castellino came to Cal Poly as a business administration student but later realized she did not have a particularly strong inclination to pursue a career within the field. She later switched to statistics and attributes her switch to her STEM-heavy high school and the urge for something “more challenging.” 

“I didn’t have a plan to do something only culinary,” Castellino said.“I like school and I like studying. I’m actually a really big nerd.” 

Castellino plans to use her bachelor’s degree in statistics as a safety net for the future but does not see herself merging cooking into her degree. Cooking is her biggest passion, she said, adding that she would like to make it a bigger part of her life after she graduates. Castellino insists it is important to find personal passions and encourages everyone to find a balance.

“I don’t want stability; I want to be challenged,” Castellino said. “I don’t want to experience a normal life if that means that I have to do what I love, less.”

Video by Jennifer Newton. Photos by Lauren Walike.

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