By admin 
Dennis Sydnor and Vanessa “Chana” Tapia, two Sacramento-based chefs, are joining forces to create Mesa de Fuego, an open-air, live-fire cooking concept in Fair Oaks, set to launch next spring.
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The two began working together when Sydnor signed up to be a part of the Heritage Fire event at Napa Valley’s Krug Winery 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) at the time.
“I 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,” he said.
Tapia is a 2020 graduate of the Alchemist Microenterprise Academy (AMA), 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 more high-touch support and coaching program to help small businesses grow and succeed.
She assisted Sydnor at the 2025 event, and when the team returned for 2026, Sydnor encouraged Tapia to spread her wings.
“I thought I was gonna be doing the same thing, just helping him out. He was like, ‘Yo, homie, why don’t you just do it yourself?’ And I was like, ‘You sure?’ He was like, ‘Yeah, do your carnitas.’ 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,” she said.
Fired up by the experience, Tapia conceived of an ongoing live-fire dinner series. She put together some material, and shared it with Sydnor.
“She sent me some new branding materials and menus, and I’m like, this is actually really dope. So I was like ‘Any way I can support you?’ And she’s like, ‘You want to partner with me on it?’ And I’m like, ‘Absolutely, I will absolutely do that.’” Sydnor said.
The two bring different cultures and perspectives to the table. Tapia is leaning into her Mexican family’s heritage.
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“A 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’d be in our backyard, eating tacos. I’m just trying to go back to my indigenous roots,” she said.
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.
“(I’ll 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’t been a foreground ingredient,” he said.
The experience is intended to be interactive to bring diners together.
“They’ll be welcomed with a cocktail and a bite, something from the fire. They’ll be escorted to a seating area, passing by our cooking apparatuses, they’ll be encouraged to gather and share their own stories with each other, hopefully make some new friends and new connections. Then they’ll definitely have the opportunity to interact with Chana and myself, and ask questions and share our stories,” Sydnor said.
For Tapia, it’s about bringing people into her family experience.
“Sunday 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’re just eating there, just enjoying each other’s company. That’s 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’ll leave like friends,” she said.
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.
“Right now, we’re working towards a March launch date. It’s truly going to be weather and site dependent,” Sydnor said.
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