Yoli Tortilleria, a Mexican tortilla bakery located in Kansas City’s Westside neighborhood, won the James Beard Award for Outstanding Bakery this year—a new category recognizing a bakery that demonstrates consistent excellence while contributing positively to the broader community.
Yoli’s founders, Mark and Marissa Gencarelli, were honored as semifinalists in the Outstanding Baker category last year and are the first tortilla bakery to be nominated for a James Beard Award.
In her acceptance speech, Marissa Gencarelli spoke about how baking became a form of therapy for her family while grieving the loss of her parents. “It was a way to connect and honor my ancestors in the middle of North America,” she told the crowd.
Yoli Tortilleria is inspired by Marissa Gencarelli’s upbringing in Sonora, Mexico. The bakery uses traditional, Mexican processes with local Midwestern ingredients, and they are known for their stone-ground corn and Sonoran-style flour tortillas.
