ABOUT DONA

Dona Savitsky’s love of cooking and restaurants began as a child, eating out with her Dad at the classic, old school restaurants of her native Los Angeles.  At 20 years old and pregnant with her first kid, she left college in LA and went to culinary school in Santa Barbara.  She then moved to San Francisco where she worked her way through the kitchens of Square One and Ernie’s, until she was hired as the sous chef of Cafe Marimba. It was there that she deepened her love and respect of Mexican cuisine and honed her skills with many trips to Mexico to study. She was promoted to chef and spent the next five years cooking, eating, learning, having two more babies and dreaming of her own place.

After moving to the East Bay, her dream became a reality when she opened Doña Tomás in 1999 in Oakland’s Temescal District. In 2003 she opened Tacubaya taqueria in Berkeley's Fourth Street shopping district.