Meal prep venture in Chinatown reflects Fresno owner’s path of resilience
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Enedina Neves opened Fire Foods in Fresno’s Chinatown, offering protein-rich meal prep.
- Meals target 30+ grams protein, stay under 500 calories and cost about $13.
- After a regulatory shutdown, Neves secured permits, a storefront and staff.
Inside a newly opened business in Chinatown is a freshly painted mural that tells the story of a journey from living in a broken home to budding entrepreneur.
Enedina Neves is owner and operator of Fire Foods, a meal prep business that creates nutritionally balanced food for everyone from professional body builders to busy parents.
Neves and her family have transformed the space at 943 E St. in what used to be the Bamboo Chinese restaurant. Gone are the dingy vinyl bench seats and worn-out linoleum floor. The revamped space includes a commercial refrigerator stocked with meals, a comfortable sofa, and a brightly colored mural containing the image of a lioness, a pair of hands, a flame and the mythical phoenix.
To Neves, the mural symbolizes courage, resilience and rebirth.
“It’s my story,” she says proudly. “I never thought I could do something like this, but here I am.”
Growing up, Neves didn’t have a stable childhood. She says her mother, who is now sober, battled addiction when Neves was a child and the family moved often, sometimes into motels.
“I didn’t have friendships like other kids, or bonds, or a father,” she said. “I just felt broken all the time.”
Those memories and experiences stuck with Neves as she became an adult. She says that despite going to community college, she had no plans for a career. She had a few jobs, but nothing serious or long term. It wasn’t until she began going to the gym to get in shape did she begin to develop self-confidence.
“I was starting to feel better and to look better, and it was changing me,” she said. “When you work on yourself externally, you don’t always realize you are working on yourself internally.”
In 2022, her younger brother, then a two-sport high school athlete, asked her if she could help him eat healthier and cleaner. She enjoyed cooking, so she agreed to prepare his meals. Soon, she began thinking about turning her meal prep skills into a business.
Through her gym contacts, she struck a deal with a gym owner to buy her protein-rich meals at wholesale. He would then turn around and sell them to his members. She even installed a commercial refrigerator to store the meals. Everything seemed to be going fine until government regulators swept in, tossed her meals and shut her down.
She was devastated, and unsure of what to do next.
Neves admits that in her rush to get the business up and running she failed to get the proper permits and approvals. She learned that lesson the hard way: “So that was the moment that I sat down and asked myself: OK, so do I just let this go? Or do I pursue this; get my business license and do it correctly.”
After long talks with her husband, they decided to resurrect the business. Neves got the proper licenses and approvals. With the help of Chinatown property owner Alex Cervantes, she secured a retail space on E Street in a former Chinese restaurant.
She also wasn’t scared away from the lengthy construction in the area that has restricted access to the historic neighborhood.
“So, I really love Chinatown, and I love my neighbors. I love all of them,” she said. “They all take care of me. I’m like their little baby right here. So we’re all, like, a really tight community, and I feel like I want this place to grow.”
Inside her new space that she opened in early October, she has a full kitchen, a staff of four and a commercial refrigerator stocked with plenty of meals, including chile verde chicken enchiladas, creamy garlic pasta and turkey fajita bowl. Each meal is carefully prepared to provide 30 grams of protein or more, be under 500 calories and cost about $13.
Customers can go on her website Fire Foods Meal Prep to look at the menu and order. Delivery is available or you can pick up at her store.
Although she is still developing new recipes, she doesn’t have as much time to cook as she used to. She’s too busy running her business, a role that she never thought she would achieve and one that she is still becoming comfortable with.
“I was a stay-at-home mom for like 12 years and now I have to go out and network and talk with business people,” she said.
With the help of the Fresno Area Hispanic Foundation she developed some new skills and she began sharing her story with others.
“If you would have met me a few years ago, I wasn’t the person you see now,” she said. “I didn’t have any confidence, I didn’t think I was smart enough to run a business. And that’s where I feel like this business is much more than just meal prep. It’s like the rebuilding of myself.”
