San Diego native Sara Polczynski left her job as the Consulting Executive Chef for East Village's The Blind Burro in the summer of 2015 and has since started an import company sourcing and distributing her favorite products from her ample travels throughout Mexico. Her online store Sabor Imports now brings high quality, handcrafted Mexican food products directly from the source, available for delivery anywhere in the United States and Canada, making for a delicious gift this holiday season.
The journey of Sabor Imports began with Chef Sara's visit to Oaxaca, Mexico in 2010, where she was mesmerized by the pride taken by locals who developed deep and rich flavors through painstaking processes - like wood fire toasting the area's chiles and spices for mole, grinding cacao beans on a stone metate to create Oaxacan chocolate, and hand harvesting the salt, which makes for a seasoning that simply brings the food alive.
Sabor Imports is now distributing the best quality mole pastes, Mexican chocolate, sea salt and pepper jellies to elevate your own cuisine. Each product can be adapted for various dishes and recipes. There are also a variety of sample packages available. Chef Sara also has a page on her site devoted to her own favorite recipes for using traditional Mexican ingredients and one detailing her travel experiences of Mexico.
As a native of San Diego with ample travels around Mexico, Chef Sara is well versed in authentic Latin cuisine and has travelled around and studied with celebrity chefs Ricardo Muñoz, Susana Trilling, and Rick Bayless, who is celebrated for his dedication to bringing truly authentic Mexican cuisine to the United States. Sabor Imports also distributes many of Chef Susana Trilling's Seasons of My Heart products of Oaxaca, which are featured on the menus of prominent chefs like Javier Plascencia, Rick Bayless, Christine Rivera, Fanny Gerson, and Kaelin Ulrich Trilling, as well as in retail stores throughout San Diego and the United States.
In addition to her work with Sabor Imports, Chef Polczynski operates a catering company, Seasoned Plates, specializing in bringing bold flavors, bright colors, local freshness and a custom culinary experience to each and every client. She is also an Associate Professor of Culinary Arts for San Diego Community College-Continuing Education, a program focusing on vocational education training in baking and pastry and culinary arts. Always trying to be connected to the rich culture and foods of Mexico has afforded her the opportunity to teach hands on cooking classes at the world renowned Rancho La Puerta in Tecate, MX, utilizing fresh produce grown at their on-site organic farm. Sara is also very involved with fundraising efforts for the San Diego Food Bank, organizing a team of chefs who prepare dinner for the annual spring gala fundraiser that raises monies to support a program for local school aged children who are food insecure.
A graduate of the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, Polczynski has spent the last 20 years working in the kitchens of San Diego’s top restaurants. After several positions, including five years as the corporate pastry chef for the Cohn Restaurant Group, she stepped out on her own as a restaurant consultant where she revamped sweet and savory menus across downtown, eventually taking on the consulting chef role at The Blind Burro before leaving to continue her own entrepreneurial endeavors.
For more information on Sabor Imports and to purchase products, visit saborimports.com.
A graduate of the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, Polczynski has spent the last 20 years working in the kitchens of San Diego’s top restaurants. After several positions, including five years as the corporate pastry chef for the Cohn Restaurant Group, she stepped out on her own as a restaurant consultant where she revamped sweet and savory menus across downtown, eventually taking on the consulting chef role at The Blind Burro before leaving to continue her own entrepreneurial endeavors.
For more information on Sabor Imports and to purchase products, visit saborimports.com.