Any small business owner who made it through the pandemic will tell you the obvious—it was hard as hell to survive. But once you walked through the fire and reached the other side, it should have gotten easier at some point… right?
Not really, laughs chef Lea Dennis. She’s run a catering and private chef business out of a commissary kitchen in Barrio Logan since 2010, and launched Sugar Kiln, her line of small-batch cookies around 2018. After Covid, everything about operating a small business seemed to get harder and harder. From inflation instability on supplies to property insurers pulling out of California to unsubstantiated immigration shakedowns toward her employees—you name it, she went through it.
“I could do something easier than this,” Dennis assures me.
So why does she keep baking?
Well, first off, who doesn’t want their friends’ kids calling them the Cookie Lady? (A more honorable title does not exist.) Plus, her other gigs have limitations: catering’s a bit of a lonely kitchen job, and being a private chef is generally regulated to those in a certain high-end tax bracket. Making cookies means most people can actually afford her creations and she can see them purchase her goods at various locations around San Diego like Panama66, Gelato Vero, TNT Pizza, or Jacumba Hot Springs Hotel.
“That’s a really, really rewarding feeling,” she says.
Sugar Kiln bakes and packages around six to eight different flavors of cookies out of the Barrio Logan kitchen, but one stands out from the bunch.
“We call it the Oh My God cookie,” Dennis laughs. With browned butter, two types of chocolate, crunchy toffee and a bit of finishing salt—it tends to make eyes roll in the back of heads. “It’s chewy, crunchy, crispy, textural,” she explains. She’s used it to collaborate with distilleries like Heaven Hill and WhistlePig for different whiskey pairings, thanks to the cookie’s ability to accentuate notes of caramelization, brown sugar, and vanilla.
Another favorite is the mazapán snickerdoodle, a play on marzipan.
“It happens to be vegan, and I’ve almost stopped telling people that because people get scared to try it,” she says. The almond and vanilla bean dough rolled in cinnamon sugar ends up with a light, almost cake-like structure that crackles beautifully in the oven, each sugar sparkle glistening.
“It’s just perfect. That one is magical,” she promises.
Dennis says her fellow small business owners and community keep Sugar Kiln going. Jeff Motch and Clea Hantman, owners of Panama66, were the first ones to give her a shot to get her business off the ground. Now, she gets to work with other businesses with the same communal mindset.
“I’m never going to be the cheapest,” she says. “I’m never going to be the one who has the most services and can just overnight you that tomorrow. But we never would have made it if someone was just driving down to the bottom line… So they choose us. And that choice means everything.”
Dennis wants to eventually get more space to be able to expand its flavors, and maybe even get Sugar Kiln in grocery stores. But for now, she’s just stoked to be in places like The Sound, where as of this month, Sugar Kiln cookies will be in every gift box given to any artist who performs at the venue.
As someone who grew up among musicians, “it just gives me butterflies,” she says. But when her insurance company unexpectedly pulls their property coverage after a wildfire… or a legally documented employee leaves because their family members are being intimidated by immigration officials, she has to ask herself: Why am I doing this?
Because she wants to help make San Diego the way she wants it to be—a creative, tight-knit community.
“You’re going to lose businesses if you don’t continue to choose local creators,” she says. “Because nobody’s getting rich doing this.” Not even the Cookie Lady.
Sugar Kiln cookies are available for nationwide shipping and local San Diego pickup at sugarkiln.com.
San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events
Mia’s Has Landed in Solana Beach
I’m already a fan of fusion cuisine, but make it a mix of Mediterranean and Baja California and I’m completely sold. Are there two more incredible food traditions to explore? I think not, especially with local coastal seafood available for dishes like seared bluefin tuna and hamachi crudo. There’s a new spot in town dedicated to melding the two together—Mia’s in Solana Beach, which soft-opened in the former Alce 101 space this month. The team behind Bluewater Grill reimagined the space as a Baja-Med escape, with lots of craft beer, tequila, mezcal, and rum from Catalina Rum Company to go along with seafood and fire-roasted meats like carne asada, ancho-rubbed skirt steak, and rack of lamb. Everything is seed-oil free with a bunch of vegetarian and gluten-free options to cater to a variety of dietary needs. All I know is my dietary needs demand a volcano tostada and mezcal margarita, pronto.
Beth’s Bites
- It’s every parent’s worst nightmare, and it happened to Corey Willow, a chef at Wild Thyme Company. On October 20, three of his children walking to school were struck by a car while crossing the street. Two of them were hospitalized, but his son Andrew didn’t make it. The entire San Diego community has rallied around the family during this unimaginably horrific time, and there’s a GoFundMe to support the family to cover funeral expenses, medical bills, and other needs as the family grieves. Nearby neighbors, who say they’ve repeatedly warned the city of San Diego about the dangerous intersection to no avail, have already reacted with outrage at the avoidable tragedy.
- Lia’s Lumpia has been a San Diego Magazine favorite since opening in Barrio Logan in 2023, serving wildly delicious Filipino favorites and fusion dishes with soul food style. They’ve decided to shutter their brick-and-mortar location (bad news!) to focus on (here comes the good news) their catering, which has taken off. On Sunday, October 26, they’ll throw one last party at the place—a “Dia De Los Muertos” celebration. Go send ‘em off.
- Government shutdown got you down? One Chula Vista sushi restaurant is trying to take some of the burden—Ming’s Revolving Sushi & Bar is offering active duty military members and their families six plates for free. CBS8 reports that within a week, the restaurant had given out more than 2,500 plates of sushi, helping hundreds of families struggling with the uncertainty. The promotion will last as long as the shutdown does, which is already into its third week with no end in sight.
- Comedor Nishi had a short (but superlative) run in La Jolla, but there are already plans for the vacated space on Wall Street. The company behind Cazadores Mexican Food and Cotija’s Taco Shop took over the location and announced plans to open a restaurant next year—which will be a new concept, not a Cazadores or Cotija’s—so we’ll have to wait and see what’s coming. In a hot spot like that, it’s no surprise it won’t stay empty for long.
Listen Now: The Latest in San Diego’s Food and Drink Scene
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].
