DENVER • As black and white visuals of Frida Kahlo and Malala Yousafzai gaze out from a mural within Comal Heritage Food Incubator, lunch seekers queue up.

They’ve arrive for the chips and guacamole, churros with mango and strawberry jam, calabacitas, rice and beans, Venezuelan burritos, birria, puerco en salsa verde and pork tamales, all produced from contemporary ingredients. Mexican, Syrian, Ethiopian, Venezuelan, Salvadoran — the menu adjustments consistently, reflecting the heritage of whomever is in the kitchen.

But patrons are doing extra than filling their bellies, no matter whether they know it or not. By shelling out a handful of bucks for lunch, they are serving to Emphasis Details Spouse and children Resource Heart run Comal as a schooling software for refugees and immigrants who hope to open their very own firms or uncover work opportunities in the meals market.

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“It’s a demanding plan,” reported Jules Kelty, executive director for Target Factors, a nonprofit that serves minimal-cash flow people in the increased northeast Denver region. “It’s not quick to launch your possess small business. The cafe industry is not uncomplicated. The women of all ages in in this article are incredibly really serious about this operate.”

On a scorching Wednesday early morning in Oct, Comal is jumping, with people today scattered within and out, waiting at very long picnic tables for their foods. Many thanks to a mention in The New York Times’ ideal restaurant list of 2021, the lunch-only hotspot in the 5 Points neighborhood established a file the preceding day, carrying out three moments its normal profits.

“On a current visit to Comal, very long-cooked pork shoulder with a redolent salsa roja arrived with tortillas on the flawlessly near facet of pillowy,” wrote Brian Gallagher in the Occasions.

Kelty…