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Marissa and Mark Gencarelli are the husband-and-wife founders of Yoli Tortilleria, the Kansas City maker of stone-ground heirloom-corn tortillas that in 2023 became the first tortilleria recognized by the James Beard Foundation — winning the award for Outstanding Bakery.

Biography

Marissa Gencarelli grew up in Ciudad Obregón, in southern Sonora, Mexico, before moving to the United States for college; her husband Mark Gencarelli is from Leawood, Kansas.1 In 2017 the couple founded Yoli Tortilleria, starting as a home operation and quickly drawing wholesale orders from Kansas City Mexican restaurants; in 2020 they opened a Westside retail shop and café.2 The name “Yoli” comes from the Nahuatl word meaning “to live,” and honors Marissa’s late mother — an American who married a Mexican national and embraced the culture.3

Yoli makes its tortillas the traditional Mesoamerican way: whole heirloom, non-GMO corn kernels cooked with lime (the nixtamal process), steeped, and ground on volcanic stone, alongside Sonoran-style flour tortillas.3 In June 2023, Yoli won the James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Bakery — the first tortilleria ever nominated for a James Beard Award (a 2022 semifinalist before the 2023 win).4 The business has drawn national and international press, including Bon Appétit, BBC Travel, Travel + Leisure, Eater, and a full PBS tasteMAKERS episode.5

Legacy

The Gencarellis raised the national profile of the humble tortilla and of Kansas City’s Mexican food culture, demonstrating that a small, tradition-driven KC maker could earn the food world’s highest honor. Their James Beard win is among the most significant national culinary recognitions ever awarded to a Kansas City business.

See also

Sources

Footnotes

  1. “Mark & Marissa Gencarelli: The Art of the Authentic Tortilla,” HerLife Magazine Kansas City (June 2023) — Marissa from Ciudad Obregón, Sonora; Mark from Leawood, KS. ↩

  2. “Yoli Tortilleria,” Startland News (2020-07) — founded 2017; home operation to wholesale; 2020 Westside retail/café. ↩

  3. Yoli Tortilleria, “Our Story” (eatyoli.com/ourstory) — Nahuatl “to live”; honors Marissa’s mother; heirloom non-GMO corn, nixtamal process, volcanic-stone grinding. ↩ ↩2

  4. “Yoli Tortilleria wins prestigious James Beard Award for ‘Outstanding Bakery,’” KCUR (2023-06-05) — 2023 win; 2022 semifinalist; first tortilleria nominated for any James Beard Award. ↩

  5. Yoli Tortilleria press page (eatyoli.com/press); PBS tasteMAKERS ep. 402 — national/international coverage. ↩

See also

Categories
  • Concept
  • Person
  • Modern
  • Mexican