In a city that sometimes feels like it's doing everything it can to crush the entrepreneurial spirit — between permit nightmares, rising costs, and regulatory red tape — it's worth pausing to celebrate a story that reminds us what's actually possible when talent meets hustle.

Chef Bert Ortiz Sr. arrived in the United States with $100 to his name. Let that sink in. Not $100,000 in venture capital. Not a trust fund. Not a government grant. One hundred dollars and, presumably, a willingness to outwork everyone around him.

Fast forward, and his family's business is now feeding the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center. His son is carrying the torch, building on a legacy that started with virtually nothing. The Warriors organization recently honored Ortiz Sr. with the Dejan Milojević Brate Award — a recognition named after the beloved late assistant coach, making the honor all the more meaningful.

This is the kind of story San Francisco should be shouting from the rooftops. Not another billion-dollar tech unicorn. Not another city-subsidized "equity initiative" that burns through taxpayer money with nothing to show for it. Just a family that bet on themselves, built something real, and earned their place through the quality of their work.

There's a lesson here for City Hall, if anyone over there is paying attention: the best thing government can do for people like the Ortiz family is get out of the way. Every unnecessary regulation, every impossible-to-navigate licensing process, every punitive tax on small operators — that's a barrier between the next Bert Ortiz Sr. and his shot at the American Dream.

San Francisco's food scene is legendary precisely because of immigrant families who pour everything into their craft. The Ortiz family didn't need a city program. They needed opportunity and a fair shot.

Sometimes the best stories in sports aren't on the court. They're in the kitchen.