About PICA PICA

Pica Pica Maize Kitchen's main ingredient is corn. This kitchen offers the flavors of the unexplored, delicious cuisine of Venezuela to American food lovers.
There are three different types of maize breads:
AREPA: grilled corn flour cake
CACHAPA: 100% sweet corn pancake
MAIZE'WICH: sweet corn bread

Each corn bread is stuffed with a variety of fillings, with ingredients such as meats, cheeses, beans and vegetables.
The main dish can be complemented with a soup, salad or side of yuca fries or sweet plantains.
Pica Pica Maize Kitchen is great any time of day, from breakfast to dinner.
Everything on the menu is wheat and gluten free, so there are no cross contamination risks. Pica Pica supports the fight against celiac disease through the North Bay Celiacs, as members of the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA) and participants in NFCA's GREAT kitchens certification program.

Respectful of nature, Pica Pica favors local ingredients and serves its food in
100% biodegradable containers.

WHO WE ARE

Tradition and family are the inspiration of this business group. Father and daughter, Leopoldo López Gil and Adriana López Vermut, joined by Luis Sosa, transported and translated their passion for their native Venezuelan food and created a convenient and delicious formula that produced Pica Pica Maize Kitchen or the California Arepera.

The concept
Pica Pica Maize Kitchen is inspired in the tradition of areperas, which are as present in Venezuela as coffee houses are in the United States. These 24/7 diners or take-out restaurants offer arepas, cachapas and batidos (freshly squeezed fruit juices), served with a combination of fillings that accommodate the various tastes at breakfast, lunch, dinner as well as a snack between meals. Pica Pica Maize Kitchen offers an introductory gastronomic tour of the most characteristic and flavorful tastes of Venezuelan cuisine.

The team decided to create the first Venezuelan arepera in California and it put together the most distinctive combination of sweet, savory and spicy flavors that represent a centuries-old culinary culture, unique for its authentic combination of Spanish, African, Caribbean and indigenous flavors. Venezuelan cookery combines the most original New World ingredients, such as maize (corn), with European culinary delicacies such as stews, cheeses and cured meats.

Pica Pica Maize kitchen offers its customers the opportunity to explore lesser-known flavors of Latin cuisine.

The team
Adriana Lopez Vermut, who comes from a family of cooks and restaurant owners, found in Pica Pica an opportunity to marry her passion for her Venezuelan culinary heritage and her entrepreneurial spirit. She has experience with new businesses, having worked in technology start-ups and a venture capital firm. She is responsible of overseeing the development, fund raising, launch and marketing of Pica Pica.

Leopoldo López Gil has launched and run several restaurants in Caracas, Venezuela. He has leveraged that experience, along with his lifelong passion for food and wine, to create a culinary concept that demonstrates high quality and efficiency standards. Founding member of the Slow Food movement in Venezuela.

Luis Sosa has 26 years of experience in the food business in Venezuela and Florida, from large world-wide companies such as McDonald's, local Venezuelan companies like Chipi's and his own food distribution company, All Over Import and Export in Miami. Luis has been responsible for the launch and day-to-day management of Pica Pica, Napa.

CONTACT US

Location

San Francisco, 401 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
Phone: 415-400-5453
Hours of operation
Monday thru Sunday: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Friday thru Saturday: open late!

Napa Store
Oxbow Public Market, 610 First Street, #5, Napa, CA 94559
Phone: 707-251-3757
Hours of operation
Monday thru Thursday: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Friday thru Saturday: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Sunday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

info@picapicakitchen.com

1 Pepeada: chicken salad with Guasacaca (creamy avocado)
2 Pelu'a: shredded skirt steak with cheddar cheese
3 Pabellón: shredded skirt steak, sweet plantains, black beans, cheese
4 La Vegetariana: tofu, avocado, sweet plantains, black beans, spicy sauce
5 La Shuli: black beans, seasoned tomatoes, onions, cilantro. Guasacaca on the side
6 Catira: sautéed chicken in our signature sofrito, cheddar cheese
7 Pernil: pulled pork, sliced tomatoes, avocado, aioli
8 Chorizo: chorizo, cheddar cheese, diced tomatoes
9 Clásica: Ham & Cheese
10 Perico: Venezuelan style scrambled eggs, onions, diced tomatoes. Add cheese or chorizo
add a small soup, pasapalo or salad

Kids Menu

Ham & Cheese
mini Arepa or Maize'wich

Plus

EMPANADAS
Choice of 3 corn flour pockets + 1 dipping salsa
1 Guiso: beef, chicken, pork stew
2 Tilapia: fresh water fish
3 Queso fresco
4 Morena: black beans

SOUPS

Chupe
Shrimp
Soup of the day

SALADS

Bululú

SIDES

PASAPALOS:
Choice of Venezuelan sides served with one dipping salsa
Yucca Fries & Sweet Plantain
with choice of one dipping salsa

SALSAS:
Pica'Chup: our own spiced ketchup
Pica'Pun: our signature hot sauce
Morena: black bean paste
Mela'o: Papelón & Tamarindo
Aioli: garlic & olive oil
Spicy cream: sour cream & smoked chile

DRINKS:
Bottles, Cans,
Beer, Wine & Sangria

GLOSSARY

Pica Pica (peeka-peeka) "A little bit of this, a little bit of that." In Spanish PICAR has multiple meanings: hens peck; spicy; to eat little bits of different foods.
Pabellón (paa-be-yóhn) Shredded skirt steak, black beans and sweet plantains. The pabellón is Venezuela's national dish evoking the mestizaje characteristic of our cultural heritage. Stew-style shredded skirt steak, Spanish. Black beans and plantains, Afro-Caribbean. Arepa, indigenous tribes. Any hint of spice is signature of the Lopez family recipe book.
Perico (per-ee-co) Venezuela's signature scrambled eggs, made with diced onions and tomatoes. The combination of colors (yellow, white, red) is reminiscent of the feathers of a parrot (i.e. perico)
Sofrito (so-free-to) The sofrito is the base for pretty much anything that is sautéed in Latin cuisine. The diced ingredients: garlic, onions, peppers, tomatoes, cilantro and ají dulce (sweet pepper) are cooked slowly to give each dish a unique seasoning.
Bululú (boo-loo-loo) a burst of tropical freshness in this salad made with roasted corn kernels, red bell peppers, daikon spouts, jicama and bits of pineapple with passion fruit vinaigrette. Bululú in Venezuela means a very noisy gathering!
Chupe (chew-pay) Andean style chicken noodle soup, without the noodles! A vegetable broth base, with potatoes, chicken, sliced corn and bits of queso fresco.
Yuca (Yuc"-ca) this starchy root, properly called cassava, is a tropical plant eaten as a main source of carbohydrates. The flour made out of yuca is tapioca. Pica Pica's yuca fries are addictive
Pelu’a (pe-luu-aa) it means shaggy, a look given by the shredded cheddar cheese. The heart of the filling is the 'carne mechada' or shredded meat. Skirt steak, cooked for hours, shredded by hand and cooked in a sofrito base. This tender meat is juicy and moist, and it the perfect home cooked meat
Domino (dom"i-no) A tribute to the game of dominoes. The combination of black beans and white cheese alludes to the colors of the domino pieces
Guasacaca (wá-sa-ka-ka): Venezuela’s version of Guacamole but without tomatoes. Ours has chucky avocado, red onions, green peppers, garlic, cilantro, lime and a splash of out secret Pica’pun hot sauce!
Pepeada (pe-pea-ada): better know in Venezuela as “Reina Pepeada” or “Curvy Queen.” The story goes that this arepa filling was named after Susan Dujim, Miss World 1955, the first South American woman to ever hold the title. Pepeada refers to beautiful and voluptuous. This filling calls for slowly braised chicken, shredded and mixed with avocado, green bell pepper, Serrano peppers, red onions, cilantro, lime and a few other kickers that make this one of Pica Pica’s (and Venezuela’s!) top sellers.