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Nancy Coupal had lived in Venezuela for 27 years before moving back to her home state of California to be closer to her three kids attending Stanford University. In 2004, she opened Coupa Cafe, a cafe serving classic coffee shop and Venezuelan specialties. Now, she owns nine locations.

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CalMatters is a Sacramento-based nonpartisan, nonprofit journalism venture committed to explaining how California's state Capitol works and why it matters. It works with more than 130 media partners throughout the state that have long, deep relationships with their local audiences, including Embarcadero Media.

Adrienne Mitchel is the Food Editor at Embarcadero Media. As the Peninsula Foodist, she's always on the hunt for the next food story (and the next bite to eat!). Adrienne received a BFA in Broadcast...