Episode 2 Gabriel Balderas - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Gabriel Balderas, Owner and Chef of El Cabo Verde and Zuzul, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development with the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:

1:10 1. Gabriel, correct me if I am wrong, but you grew up in Oaxaca, moved to the States when you were 16, and have lived in Chicago, Kentucky, Birmingham and Washington DC. Can you talk a little bit about how you got to Shreveport-Bossier?

 

3:05 2. What did Shreveport-Bossier feel like or look like to you when you arrived? What did you notice?

 

4:23 3. You are Hispanic, one of Shreveport-Bossier’s numerous ethnic populations. Can you talk about the Hispanic population locally? Do you feel like it is a healthy population? Are the Hispanics locally unified?

 

7:20 4. Many people know you as the owner and chef of two great local restaurants, El Cabo Verde and Zuzul. But what most people don’t know is that you are also a board member of the Metropolitan Planning Commission. Talk to me about your work on the Planning Commission. How did it come about and why is serving as a board member on the MPC important to you?

 

12:05 5. You value this community and are often giving back, whether it is by committing to utilize ingredients from local growers or overseeing a garden at a local elementary school. How did you learn such a sense of community? Who taught you that or where does it come from?

 

14:56 6. What do you feel is holding us back from being one of the next, great cities in the United States? What are some areas of this community you feel can be improved upon?

 

17:55 7. As you look around, what makes you prideful of Shreveport-Bossier?