The Jacquelyn’s Prideful Member Meal brought queer voices from across Sacramento’s hospitality scene to the table. Food and Beverage Director Larrissa Liberko and Executive Chef Taylor Lovelace led the conversation, stepping out from behind their roles to talk openly about visibility, resilience, and what it means to build a career on your own terms.
The hospitality industry is one that is defined by making people feel welcome, yet sometimes the very people that bring the dream to life for others, struggle to have the same experience themselves. Sacramento has no shortage of people trying to change that.
Lovelace designed the four-course menu around her own path to authenticity. Stone fruit and heirloom tomatoes, lobster bucatini, beef tenderloin, and a lemon meringue tart, simple ingredients, handled in thoughtful, new ways. Between courses, Soul artist Erica Ambrin and DJ Dyops set the tone, as each speaker highlighted how the hospitality industry has both shaped them and tested them in equal measure.
The night widened with guest speaker Debbie Wu, Bar Manager at Mulvaney’s B&L and previous owner-operator of Kasbah, spoke about the industry’s harder truths. “I have always aimed to break down the stereotype that toxicity and abuse in restaurants is acceptable because it’s simply just the way it is.”
Frank Carney, Director of F&B at The Kimpton Sawyer Hotel, shared his love of Sacramento and a story of good people stepping in when it counted.
“To me, that’s what Pride is about. Not just celebrating who we are, but creating spaces where people feel like they belong exactly as they are.” When asked about why they care deeply about changing the industry, Liberko said, “We’ve made a commitment to build great teams and safer spaces.”
Executive Chef Taylor Lovelace
Neither of them waited for permission to lead. Both came up fast in the industry and earned authority young, learning that kindness carries just as much weight as strength. Sacramento’s hospitality scene shaped that, in the mentors who showed up and the moments that tested them.
For Liberko and Lovelace, The Jacquelyn was different from the start. Liberko explained, “It was one of the first places in my career where I didn’t have to translate myself before I walked through the door. I got to show up as exactly who I am.”
When staff feel that pride, guests do too. Every bite, every sip, every interaction carries it. Culture is the ingredient guests can’t name but always notice.
Change is not hand delivered. It arrives through hard truths and vulnerability, through people willing to do the work, and build environments where everyone can show up with pride. and approachable,” Testa said. Authenticity, it turns out, is the most sustainable foundation a city can build on.