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A crowd gathers Sunday to watch traditional Mexican performers at the Learning to Live in America Opportunity Fair in Southside Park. The fair included free workshops on topics including housing, education, immigration and how to start a business. No outdoor festival's complete without food, and vendors from Mexico, El Salvador and Colombia were dishing out tamales, pupusas and empanadas Sunday in Southside Park. They didn't reveal secret recipes, but they did share the secret of how to get started: If you've dreamed of opening your own restaurant or food cart, enroll in the five-month Kitchen Incubator course sponsored by Opening Doors, the nonprofit hosting Sunday's Learning to Live in America Opportunity Fair. The festival gave immigrants a full buffet of advice about living in America, including how to record your grandparents' immigrant saga, how to get out of an abusive relationship and how to buy a home for $2,500 down. Many wanted to know how to start their own food businesses. "I like to see the faces of the people after they eat my food ? they're really happy," said Incubator grad Maria Perez as she served up her signature tamales. Perez, 54, came from Mexicali, Mexico, 34 years ago and ran her own clothing factory in Los Angeles for 20 years. "But I loved to cook," she said, so she sold her clothing business and moved to Sacramento. She learned food preparation from a chef, bookkeeping and payroll from an accountant and how to plan a menu, advertise and obtain permits. It cost her $10,000 for her canopy, gas grill, pans, coolers and food warmers, and an additional $1,000 for her business license, county health department permit and insurance. "I make around $600 a week profit," said Perez, who cooks at church functions to drum up business. "My dream is to open a big restaurant called 'El Maná,' like manna from heaven," she said. Lucia Sabillon of El Salvador is another of the 42 graduates of the three Kitchen Incubator classes. She was doing land-office business with her pork and chicken-cheese pupusas. Sabillon spent 20 years as a housekeeper before she went through the Kitchen Incubator and opened her own business, Lucy's Pupuseria, a year ago. "Everybody who comes to my house says, 'I love your pupusas,' " said Sabillon, who still has her day job. "She loves the kitchen, and she's doing this more to get to know people in the community," explained her daughter Eunice Melara, assistant director of the Elk Grove Montessori School. Ana Rojas, who had her own restaurant in Woodland for five years, said 15 of the 42 graduates are in business. Two more 15-student classes are starting later this year ? one for Latinos, and the other for Hmong and Russians. (For information on upcoming classes, call 492-2591.) Tuition costs $525, but some scholarships and loans are available, Rojas said. "It takes a minimum of $5,000 to start your own business, and we teach them whether their business plan makes sense or not," Rojas said. "Some save money, do the research and start little by little." Even if they don't have the resources to start their own food businesses, "they will get the knowledge to work in a good restaurant and be a manager," Rojas said. "You cannot cook food to sell in your own kitchen at home." Rojas hopes to open a community kitchen for those who can't afford to buy their own commercial kitchen. U.S. Bank has made loans from $5,000 to $25,000, "but the problem is some people who want to start a business have no money or credit," said Rojas. "If I have $20,000 I can help four people get started." The federal government will back up to 80 percent of a bank loan, said Gilda Perez of the U.S. Small Business Administration. Glafira Cardenas, who dreams of opening her own Mexican American restaurant, learned from Perez that if she can put 25 or 30 percent cash down and find a location, she could open in six months. Nine-year-old Hector Ramirez of Sacramento waits to perform with the Rincones de Mi Tierra, a Mexican folkloric dance group, at Sunday's fair.