In honor of Women’s History Month in March, Roswell Park is highlighting minority women-owned businesses.

When Bernarda Arias was looking for a restaurant to cater an event for the Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, one name came to mind.

Located on Hertel Avenue at Commonwealth Avenue in what has long been considered Buffalo’s Italian district, La Kueva has been offering city residents a flavor of Puerto Rican cuisine for years.

The ability to introduce Roswell Park employees to tostones, pastelitos and other dishes associated with Hispanic and Latinx cultures is important to Arias, a Director of Community Outreach and Engagement for the Roswell Park Corporate and Social Responsibility team.

The previous owner of La Kueva, Walesca Sierra, says she was more than happy to strike up a partnership with Roswell Park.

“It was a good opportunity for a small business,” Sierra said from her home in Puerto Rico. “I always like to be involved with the community and to share my culture. I think sharing food is the best way to do that.”

In addition to catering Roswell Park’s Hispanic Heritage events, Sierra also catered the annual Salsa for a Cure fundraiser, a night of dancing that wouldn’t be complete without refreshments, including arroz con guandules, pastelitos and potato salad, to help keep participants fueled up and ready to dance the night away.

“Every time I had the opportunity to help my community in any way, I always say I’m here,” Sierra said. “The Puerto Rican people, it’s a small community in Buffalo. We have a lot to offer and there’s a lot of people trying to do a lot of things for our community. We come together no matter what in many ways.”

Two years ago, Sierra sold the restaurant to Arlena Matos, a native of the Dominican Republic, and her husband, Jose Borian, who have been working to upgrade the current location while keeping the kitchen open to serve hungry Buffalonians roast pork (pernil), marinated chicken (pollo marinado), BBQ ribs (costillas), rice with pigeon peas, tostones and other traditional foods.

Matos is the chef and has been cooking most of her life, she says through her husband who serves as her translator.

“She does everything. She cooks, she does all the desserts, everything,” Borian says, adding that Matos owned a restaurant in the Dominican Republic before moving to Buffalo.

Since reopening the restaurant, which might undergo a name change soon as part of other modifications to make the space their own, Borian and Matos says they’ve been busy with customers enjoying their cuisine.

Everything is made fresh and some items, like their roasted pork, will sell out quickly, leaving people wanting more. Matos says her favorite thing to make is sancocho, a Dominican soup, something Arias is eager to try and share with her colleagues at Roswell Park.

“I knew about the restaurant because I live on Hertel and wanted to support a small, woman-owned and run business” Arias says. “I’ll definitely be ordering from Arlena in the future.”