Documentary highlights family’s philanthropy through servings of ‘Rock Soup’

Teresa and Leo Razo at their restaurant and market Villa Roma in Laguna Hills. (Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Full story is from Daily Pilot

By Matt Szabo Staff Writer

Oct. 18, 2024 1:52 PM PT

Leo and Teresa Razo have always tried to give back. 

In his early days of being a restaurant owner, Leo would go down to the Santa Ana River near Angel Stadium and give food to homeless people there. 

One night several years ago, he was returning from catering a wedding party in Yorba Linda. His truck broke down and he got off at the Katella Avenue exit, eventually getting stuck in the middle of the street. 

“Two homeless [people] come walking to the side, like, ‘What’s going on?’” Razo remembered. “I told them that the transition broke down. One of them is like, ‘Oh, you’re the guy who gives us food. Hold on.’” 

Empenadas made by hand at Leo and Teresa Razo’s Villa Roma restaurant and market in Laguna Hills.

 (Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Razo started to tear up with emotion as he continued the story. 

“They run down to the river, and they come back with a bunch of guys to push the truck,” he said. “They take care of me. You can’t forget those things. I give you something, and you give me something. That’s the way the world can grow.” 

The philanthropy of the Razo family is the subject of a new documentary, “Rock Soup.” The family held a viewing party Oct. 13 at Villa Roma market and restaurant in Laguna Hills, which they own along with Cambalache Grill in Fountain Valley. 

The event also had a meet-and-great and a panel discussion featuring Leo, Teresa and filmmaker Tony Marino, as well as the couple’s son, niece and a cook. 

“Rock Soup” is a 29-minute documentary that debuted earlier this month at the Awareness Film Festival in Los Angeles. 

Leo Razo stands in the dining room of Villa Roma restaurant and market in Laguna Hills.

 (Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Marino went the extra mile, actually thousands of them, traveling with the family to Leo Razo’s hometown in Jalisco, Mexico, to feed and help the people there. 

The name of the documentary refers to the old Stone Soup folktale, in which everyone chips in something to make a meal. 

Rocks are powerful in the life of the family, which lives in Laguna Hills. Teresa Razo said their sons Luis, 17, and Emiliano, 13, like to collect them. 

“We truly feel that rocks have energy, and they have meaning,” Teresa Razo said. “I go a little bit beyond. I always feel that life throws rocks at you, but it’s what you build with it.” 

The Razos started “Paella With a Purpose” in 2017 to support community and nonprofit organizations with the gift of food — namely paella, the popular rice dish that is one of the most famous in Spanish cuisine. 

Imported pastas and fine wine at Leo and Teresa Razo’s Villa Roma restaurant and market in Laguna Hills. 

 (Don Leach / Staff Photographer) 

To date, they have raised more than $1.5 million for nonprofits and helped feed more than 2.5 million people in need worldwide. 

They built a water well in Uganda to provide clean water to more than 1,000 people, also providing more than 200 food boxes a week to neighbors during the coronavirus pandemic along with other philanthropic endeavors. 

Leo sits on the board of directors of the Illumination Foundation, which seeks to disrupt the cycle of homelessness in Southern California by providing housing and healthcare. Teresa is a past board member. 

Illumination Foundation chief executive Pooja Bhalla said that both Teresa and Leo have made it their mission to serve the community at large. 

She saw this firsthand during the pandemic, when Illumination Foundation had to open sites and bring services online for COVID-19 patients countywide. 

Teresa Razo stands in the dining room of Villa Roma restaurant and market in Laguna Hills. 

 (Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“We needed someone to help us with delivering food, bringing the food in for people that were sick,” Bhalla said. “Without even being asked, Teresa and Leo stepped up and started to deliver meals to our clients at all our sites in Orange County. Not just us, they also brought these services to many others who needed them. I see them out in the community helping anybody and everybody who needs the help. They use their experience and their restaurants as a vehicle to make that happen.” 

A quote from civil rights activist Cesar Chavez begins the documentary: “If you really want to make a friend, go to someone’s house and eat with him. The people who give you their food give you their heart.” 

Leo and Teresa Razo, who first met at her quinceañera in Mexico and have been married for 25 years, have always found that to be true. 

Teresa said that things got tough for them during the pandemic, like many restaurant owners. They even considered closing one of their eateries. 

Then she remembered something. 

Fine wine at Leo and Teresa Razo’s Villa Roma restaurant and market in Laguna Hills. 

 (Don Leach / Staff Photographer ) 

“The reason why we opened up the restaurant was not to serve food,” she said. “The reason was to feed the soul. The pandemic just threw us to the floor and back to the beginning. I’m the type of person that when I’m in a situation that’s not very favorable, I go back to my roots. Why did I start this? 

“We just started giving and God took care of the rest.”