A Taste of the Night Market: Elsa Salazar Punyawai of Southeast Asian Taste
Collider is passionate about sharing the stories of local entrepreneurs and small business owners! We recently chatted with a couple of wonderful vendors from The Night Market and are excited to share their stories!
The Night Market, now in its second year, provides an opportunity for local vendors to sell a wide variety of art, clothing, jewelry, plants, and most importantly, amazing street food. The three events in 2021 featured more than thirty unique vendors at each event as well as performances by dancers and musicians. Each event had over 6,000 attendees.
Now in its second year, The Night Market has taken place over the course of four smaller events and is to conclude with its largest event yet on September 10th with a remarkable 60 vendor market on the Mayo Civic Plaza. From its start, The Night Market has given priority to BIPOC vendors and the mission of the project is to “highlight local BIPOC businesses and bring a slice of culture to Rochester, Minnesota.” The Night Market is organized by Tiffany Alexandria.
Photo by Tiffany Alexandria.
Elsa Salazar Punyawai attended the first Night Market events in 2021. Missing her home country, the Philippines, she was comforted by the various cultures represented at the markets and was inspired to be involved the following year.
She, her husband, and some friends, all representing different countries and cuisines (Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and the Philippines), came together to form their booth, Southeast Asian Taste.
“Food has a way of making a place feel like home. Going to The Night Market last year helped me feel less homesick and I wanted to help create that same experience for others. I love sharing my culture through food.” Elsa explained.
Photo by Tiffany Alexandria.
The group serves a variety of street foods at their booth such as meatballs with homemade sauces, hot dogs on a stick with sweet banana ketchup, halo halo, papaya salad, and a sticky rice dessert with caramelized saba (a banana variety native to the Philippines).
Pictured: Halo-halo (a popular cold dessert in the Philippines). Photo by Tiffany Alexandria.
Though the group has several delicious food options to offer, Elsa admitted that she feels limited in what they can serve due to complicated licensing regulations and expensive insurance that kept them from cooking certain items at their booth.
“As first time vendors, it can be difficult to get started. Between licensing, equipment, and supply expenses we sometimes don’t see much profit at the end of the day. I wish we could serve more traditional foods, but we had to get creative with our options.”
Regardless of some of the frustrations involved in being a vendor, Elsa loves the connections she has made with others through The Night Market.
Photo by Tiffany Alexandria.
“All of the vendors at the market create such a wonderful community. We all exchange food, drinks, and stories. There’s an amazing culture of sharing at The Night Market. It feels like home.” Elsa said.
She continued, “Tiffany is also very supportive and has offered to help us with so many different things.”
Though Elsa serves at The Night Market with friends, she also cooks independently through her cottage food business, Elsa’s Filipino Delicacies. By following her Facebook page you can check out weekly offerings and order food for pick-up or delivery!
In a recent post Elsa said, “I am not a businesswoman type, and also not even a chef. By ordering my products, I want to let you know that you are helping me in many ways. Cooking Filipino food relieves my homesickness, it builds my confidence, it makes my mom happy, and it totally feeds my soul.”
Elsa is a social worker for the elderly and is currently a student working toward her master’s degree in social work. In her free time she loves spending time with her husband and their three dogs. She loves food and is always eager to support local restaurants.
For more information about Elsa’s Filipino Delicacies, follow her page on Facebook!
Collider is a proud sponsor of The Night Market! Don’t miss the final market on Saturday, September 10th from 4pm-10pm at the Mayo Civic Plaza.
For more information on location, vendors, merchandise, and community impact, click the link below!
