It’s not that Mackenzie Rubish went in expecting to win season two of The Great American Baking Show (streaming now on Roku). It’s more that there was no world in which she didn’t do her darndest to.
“I’m very competitive, but I’m competitive with myself. So I said, ‘If I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it,’” she recalls, laughing. “And then I won!”
Her steps forward didn’t end with the show. Rubish’s next move is opening Umu Bakehouse inside the shared SAE Kitchen space in Vista this December, which she’ll use as a base of operations for catering, special orders, pop-ups, workshops, and anything she can do to inch toward opening her brick-and-mortar bakery someday. “I would love to have my own space,” she says. “[But] what I love about doing the kitchen thing right now is I get to really find out what that niche is going to be and who my customer is.”
Rubish works as a quality analyst, so running metrics and identifying trends is familiar to her. She plans to use that data to build a business, and eventually, a bakery empire—or at least hire another bakers. “I’m a team of one,” she says. “I’m hoping to grow in the future.”
As a first-generation American Samoan, Rubish grew up as the youngest of four siblings in a family she lovingly calls loud and large. “We don’t know how to cook small,” she says. “I learned growing up that food was my love language.” In college, she’d bake in her dorm in order to create the same sense of family while she was away from hers. After marriage and motherhood, Rubish says, the pandemic reawakened the baking bug in her. “I’m naturally a busy bee. I need to be up and doing something,” she adds. “Baking became that outlet for me.”
The bakery’s name, Umu, means “oven” in Samoan and happens to be part of her maiden name, Faumuina. “Fa is ‘in the way of,’ umu, of course, is ‘oven,’ and then ina means ‘drink,’” she explains. “So the joke is that my maiden name or my last name means, ‘Let’s party!’”
Rubish says once she gets Umu up and running, she’ll take orders through her website and announce events and other pop-ups on her Instagram page. Her menu will include stuffed cookies, cakes, cupcakes, tartlets, dessert cups, and other custom orders. As she continues working towards her standalone bakery, she hopes other people look to her to get the confidence they need to follow their dreams.
“That first voice that says, ‘I can do it,’ that’s truly your voice,” she promises. “That second voice you hear that’s like, ‘Maybe not,’ that’s doubt. Don’t listen to that one. It took me 30 years to figure that out, but I did it.”
San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events
Papalo Moving from Downtown La Mesa Location
Soon after Sonoran-inspired barbecue spot Papalo and SD institution City Tacos announced they were teaming up, Papalo closed its doors in La Mesa Village, seemingly to coordinate the menu tweaks and expansion plans the two businesses laid out. However, San Diego Magazine has confirmed the partnership is not moving forward. City Tacos owner Gerry Torres is reworking the space at 8323 La Mesa Boulevard for a new concept, and Papalo revealed on Instagram that it is relocating. Don’t worry—I’m keeping an eye on the situation and will share more news as I get it.
Common Theory to Host Filipino Night on November 16
Common Theory is throwing a Filipino Night celebration this Saturday, November 16, at its new location at 1980 Optima Street in Otay Ranch. (I repeat, not the location on Convoy!) Menu specials will include Filipino-inspired dishes like pork belly pancit and pork sisig rice bowls. Attendees can sip brews from GOAL Brewing and a calamansi cocktail, and singer Katriz Trinidad, a Chula Vista native and contestant on The Voice, will be singing Tagalog songs starting at 8 p.m.
Beth’s Bites
- Help end food insecurity this holiday season by giving to Feeding San Diego during the Month of a Million Meals campaign. Over 100,000 children in San Diego face food insecurity, and FSD will match each dollar up to $353,200. Donate as little as $1 to help make a difference.
- Want another chance to give? Head to Rumorosa on Harbor Island for Friendsgiving at Rumorosa, which runs through the end of the month. Fifteen percent of proceeds will go to Berry Good Food Foundation, a local nonprofit aiming to improve access to local and sustainable food for all San Diegans and Baja Californians. The month-long “Friendsgiving Fundraiser” offers a feast for four or more at $64 per person, while the Friendsgiving Eve Fundraiser on Wednesday, November 27, is $20 per person for a buffet-style party.
- After five years in North Park, Medina is closing its doors on Sunday, November 24. BRB as I get one last taco and silently weep.
- It’s lucky number seven for Tajima, which will open its seventh location at 3782 Ingraham Street in Crown Point in mid-December—perfect timing for soup season!
Have breaking news, exciting scoops, or great stories about new San Diego restaurants or the city’s food scene? Send your pitches to [email protected].
