Kinoko: Yuko’s Japanese Home Cooking at the Farmers Market
AIM’s Racial Equity Fund Spotlight – Yuko Kineko, Founder, Kinoko
Thursday, May 15, 2025
Yuko’s small business journey started in 2017 while she was working at Brickmaiden Bread in Point Reyes. A coworker who began selling waffles at the local farmers market sparked the idea.
“I thought that was so cool—I had been thinking about doing rice bowls,” Yuko recalls. “When I told my coworker, she said, ‘You have to do it!’ and gave me the market manager’s number. After that, I couldn’t back out.”
Soon after, she connected with the manager of the Point Reyes Farmers Market and was invited to join. This small but lively market—popular with both locals and tourists in the summer—turned out to be the perfect place for her food to take root. Customers were eager to try her warm, flavorful donburi and mochi muffins.
“I didn’t really have to explain anything about my food… there are so many tourists, they just came and got it.”
And they’ve kept coming. May 3 of this year marked Yuko’s eighth season at the Point Reyes Farmers Market. Since that first day, her business has grown steadily. She’s expanded her menu with new variations of onigiri, donburi, and mochi muffins, and introduced drinks like barley tea and ume-flavored soy milk. She now sells year-round at AIM’s Marin markets on Thursdays and Sundays.
“I love the access to fresh vegetables, the other vendors, seeing their creations—it’s inspiring. If you’re just in your own shop, you don’t get that.”
But markets have given Yuko more than ingredients and inspiration. They’ve given her a sense of belonging.
“Because of the market, I know many more people of different ages. I mostly knew kids and their parents before, but now it’s beyond that. I know more people in San Rafael and in the Valley… I’m part of this community now, and I’ve never felt like that before. I’ve lived many places, but this is just amazing.”
Last year, after a market day, Yuko was in a car accident. She was okay, but her market vehicle wasn’t. It was farmers market friends—vendors and customers—who stepped in to help her get back on the road.
“I trade with farmers, and they are so generous. Sometimes, I don’t even have to pay. Farmers are so important—without them, we don’t even exist.”
In 2024, Yuko received support from AIM’s Racial Equity Fund—a program that helps BIPOC farmers, food producers, and artisan entrepreneurs build sustainable businesses. The fund waives stall fees for six months and includes a stipend to ease the costs of market operations.
“It made me happy that you guys recognized me,” she says. “Permits are expensive, so it was super helpful to hang on to that chunk of money.”
With that cushion, she had more freedom to invest in her business—or as she puts it, “get the big jar instead of the small jar.” She was also able to try new recipes and take a bit of time off.
Yuko is joyful, energetic, and passionate about sharing her food with the community.
“I have so many ideas,” she says. “More flavors of onigiri, maybe seasonal ones every week. I have a shaved ice machine now…”
Right now, Kinoko is balancing three markets and pop ups throughout the Bay Area. Last year, I was lucky enough to enjoy one of her onigiri while attending a vibrant outdoor puppet performance. This coming week she’ll be selling at the 2025 Matsuri! Japanese Arts Festival in Santa Rosa.
“My goal for Kinoko is to have more people have Japanese cooking as one of their choices for an everyday meal – maybe even to cook it on their own.”
Yuko’s determination to navigate the very complicated permits and processes required to start a small food business paid off for her, and she encourages other folks to try if selling food is their dream.
“If I can do it, you can do it,” she says to future recipients of the Racial Equity Fund. “The beginning is the hardest part. People get scared—they don’t know where to go or what to do with all the permits and applications. But if you really want to do it, you’ll figure it out. And we’re here to help.”