High Season Reality and What's New at La Cocina

As the calendar turns, La Cocina Comunitaria is officially shifting back to our high season schedule. We are open Tuesday through Saturday, serving up daily lunch specials alongside a freshly revamped menu.

Our kitchen continues to celebrate Caribbean ancestral ingredients and local agricultural autonomy. We are especially excited to introduce new dishes that honor traditional Dominican crops, including our new Chayote Ceviche, a refreshing, plant-forward celebration of local produce harvested right here on our island.

The Reality of the "Off-Season" in Cabarete

Reopening our full schedule gives us a moment to share honest reflection with our community. If you haven't heard it directly from local vendors, street merchants, or small business owners, this past low season was exceptionally difficult across Cabarete.

Under the brutal heat of the summer, accelerated by systemic climate change, the streets of Cabarete were frequently empty. During these months, we witnessed a widening gap in economic inequality. The strain was felt across households, street corners, and local markets, deeply impacting the collective mood of our town.

Through four years of operating La Cocina Comunitaria as a social enterprise, our data and experience show a stark truth: "High season" in Cabarete effectively lasts only four months, running from late December through March.

Four months of foot traffic cannot sustain a local economy for an entire year. This seasonal extraction model leaves small entrepreneurs, local workers, and young business owners highly vulnerable for the remaining eight months of the year. When local economies rely heavily on volatile foreign tourism cycles, vulnerable and historically excluded communities bear the heaviest burden.

Building Year-Round Sovereignty Together

At Cabarete Sostenible, we do not accept that our community's well-being should rise and fall with the tourist calendar. We build food sovereignty and social enterprises to create year-round stability, keeping resources, land stewardship, and economic decision-making in local hands.

Sustaining this work requires active participation and continuous resource redistribution. Here is how you can move with us today:

• Co-Fund Our Programs: A gift of $6 USD shares a fresh, nutrient-dense ready-to-eat meal cooked at La Cocina. A gift of $15 USD provides a local family of four with two weeks of essential food staples. Contributions of any amount directly sustain our community kitchen and agro-forestry operations through every season.

• Visit Us in Person: Book a guided tour of our agro-forestry projects and see how civic agriculture actively heals our soil and feeds our neighborhood.

• Dine at La Cocina: Stop by Tuesday through Saturday to try the new menu, support local food systems, and share a meal with us.

Fuel the Movement: Click here to donate