LODI — One of the hottest new executive chefs in California’s Central Valley is celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month by serving up not only incredible dishes at her restaurant but also an inspiring story of how she got there.
The fertile fields of San Joaquin County help grow many things—but there’s one you can’t see until you visit The Exchange 1874 . It’s an upscale farm-to-fork restaurant just outside of Lodi in Woodbridge.
Inside these rustic walls, it’s not the produce being cut or the fresh ingredients being perfected on a plate but a person who sprouted from these fields into the kitchen and beyond.
Meet Ruby Lopez, a rising culinary star. How she got here—well, you’ll find that off the menu.
One of six girls, Lopez comes from a farm-working family, led by her grandmother who spent countless hours in fields and her mother who worked at a cannery.
“My mom worked all day and all night just to try and provide for us,” she said.