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Chefs Dennis Sydnor (left) and Vanessa \u201cChana\u201d Tapia will be launching live-fire dinner series concept Mesa de Fuego in Fair Oaks 2027.<\/p>\n
Mesa del Fuego<\/p>\n
Dennis Sydnor and Vanessa \u201cChana\u201d Tapia, two Sacramento-based chefs, are joining forces to create Mesa de Fuego, an open-air, live-fire cooking concept<\/a> in Fair Oaks, set to launch next spring.<\/p>\n The two began working together when Sydnor signed up to be a part of the Heritage Fire event at Napa Valley\u2019s Krug Winery<\/a> last year. Attendees sample tastings of live-fire dishes from various chefs while enjoying sips of premium whiskey and wines from the region. Sydnor was working with Alchemist Community Development Corporation (CDC)<\/a> at the time.<\/p>\n \u201cI reached out to Shannin Stein (director of advancement for Alchemist CDC) and asked her, hey, is there someone that you think would benefit from participating? She proposed that I use Chana,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Tapia is a 2020 graduate of the Alchemist Microenterprise Academy (AMA)<\/a>, an incubator designed to help budding food entrepreneurs build the knowledge and skills to launch their businesses. She also continued with the Alchemist Kitchen Incubator Program (AKIP)<\/a>, a more high-touch support and coaching program to help small businesses grow and succeed.<\/p>\n She assisted Sydnor at the 2025 event, and when the team returned for 2026, Sydnor encouraged Tapia to spread her wings.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought I was gonna be doing the same thing, just helping him out. He was like, \u2018Yo, homie, why don\u2019t you just do it yourself?\u2019 And I was like, \u2018You sure?\u2019 He was like, \u2018Yeah, do your carnitas.\u2019 I actually did it myself and built the fire and was controlling the flame. I told him it honestly felt like an awakening, like this is the direction I want my cooking to go in,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Fired up by the experience, Tapia conceived of an ongoing live-fire dinner series. She put together some material, and shared it with Sydnor.<\/p>\n \u201cShe sent me some new branding materials and menus, and I\u2019m like, this is actually really dope. So I was like \u2018Any way I can support you?\u2019 And she\u2019s like, \u2018You want to partner with me on it?\u2019 And I\u2019m like, \u2018Absolutely, I will absolutely do that.\u2019\u201d Sydnor said.<\/p>\n The two bring different cultures and perspectives to the table. Tapia is leaning into her Mexican family\u2019s heritage.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of my inspiration comes from my grandma. It reminds me of when she used to dig a pit in her backyard and put a whole cow head in there, and we\u2019d be in our backyard, eating tacos. I\u2019m just trying to go back to my indigenous roots,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n For Sydnor, the project is a way for him to dig deep into the intersection of African-American and Indigenous cultures, reflecting on his ancestral roots in Virginia. When enslaved Africans combined their live-fire cooking techniques with Indigenous smoked food techniques, the roots of modern barbecue were born.<\/p>\n \u201c(I\u2019ll be) doing some like in-ground, whole animal cooking, different barbecue mop sauces, and then trying to incorporate things like different nut flours, acorn flour, and things like that. Cornmeal, sorghum, something I have worked with in the past, but just hasn\u2019t been a foreground ingredient,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The experience is intended to be interactive to bring diners together.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ll be welcomed with a cocktail and a bite, something from the fire. They\u2019ll be escorted to a seating area, passing by our cooking apparatuses, they\u2019ll be encouraged to gather and share their own stories with each other, hopefully make some new friends and new connections. Then they\u2019ll definitely have the opportunity to interact with Chana and myself, and ask questions and share our stories,\u201d Sydnor said.<\/p>\n For Tapia, it\u2019s about bringing people into her family experience.<\/p>\n \u201cSunday dinners were huge in my family. Every Sunday, my family would come over, and we would just sit down at the table, laughing, talking and joking around, and there would be a whole smorgasbord of food on the table. We\u2019re just eating there, just enjoying each other\u2019s company. That\u2019s what I want Mesa de Fuego to be like, family style food, everyone coming together, just laughing, having a good time, building a community. You come in as strangers, but at the end, hopefully, you\u2019ll leave like friends,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The two have scouted an as-yet undisclosed location for the concept, and expect to break ground shortly. Dinners will have capacity of up to 50 diners, and will happen monthly initially.<\/p>\n \u201cRight now, we\u2019re working towards a March launch date. It\u2019s truly going to be weather and site dependent,\u201d Sydnor said.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n
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