For First-Time Business Owners, KRATE Is Special By JOHN C. COTEY
john@NTNeighborhoodNews.com
Yummy Tablas
As a little girl in Costa Rica, Heidi Esquivel would make salads for her parents because it was all that was in the house. She would pour her heart and soul into each bowl of lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers, often cutting up red peppers to make them look fancy and shaping other simple vegetables to look like beautiful flowers. “I wanted to make my mom and dad proud,” Heidi says. “It was my way of saying ‘I love you,’ with food.” It took years for Heidi’s artistic skills to manifest themselves as a caterer specializing in elaborate and gorgeous charcuterie and cheese boards, but today, as the owner of Yummy Tablas at the KRATE at the Grove Container Park in Wesley Chapel, she has found her calling. Although she started her business online during the pandemic, and grew a large following thanks to Instagram — “my best friend” she calls the social media app — she now has fulfilled a dream by owning a store of her own. “To see the people come through the door, to see the faces, the reaction, it’s just wonderful,” Heidi says, pointing to a couple sitting outside, enjoying a glass of what she calls “the best wine at the KRATEs” on the outdoor patio. “It’s her birthday, so he brought her here for a little glass of wine. She is so happy. Those moments make me so happy.” Developer Mark Gold says he didn’t start the KRATE just to fulfill his own personal dreams — he did it in part to help make the dreams of others more accessible. When he announced his project in October 2019, offering converted shipping containers as business opportunities with monthly rents starting at around $1,500, he instantly received a flurry of emails and phone calls from small business owners. Or, in the case of Heidi, prospective first-time folks who couldn’t otherwise afford to rent a space for a business of their own. In fact, roughly 30 percent of the nearly 50 businesses that make up KRATE
18
at the Grove are run by first-timers. “I saw the price and the whole thing looked so cute, and I thought, ‘Oh my God, I can afford that!,’” Heidi says. “I came here right away and fell in love with the whole project. And now, I’m here.” Before that, Heidi had struggled for years waiting for her opportunity, cleaning homes and working in construction. When she went out with husband Ronnie, a physician she married five years ago, and people asked what she did, she was mortified. “It was so sad, it was embarrassing,” Heidi says. “I just didn’t want to continue saying that. I wanted to be somebody…I was almost 40 and I needed to find my passion.” While entertaining friends and family, Heidi always presented her food with flair. Her guests always raved about her displays, and Ronnie also encouraged her to start her business online. Her concept of “grazing boards,” where friends and family could gather around while nibbling on meats, crackers, cheeses, fresh fruit and honey and jam, struck a chord with people during the pandemic, when people were stuck at home. “My friends were right,” she says. “It just took off.” But, when she read the first story about the KRATEs in the Neighborhood
(Clockwise from top left) Heidi Esquivel of Yummy Tablas invites you to try her charcuterie boards & chill with her selection of fine wines. Try Tracy Dimillo’s amazing homemade cupcakes and other sweet treats at Urban Sweets. Monica Russo had an online-only business before opening her MaeBerry Co. at the KRATE Container Park. (Photos by Charmaine George & John C. Cotey)
News, she knew a “little shop” is what she really wanted. “Mark Gold was excited about it, and I’m so excited about it, too,” Heidi says. “To have people come and have some cheese and a glass of wine, share memories, laugh, tell stories, spend time with family….that’s what I’m really excited about.”
Urban Sweets
For Advertising Information Call 813-910-2575 • Volume 30, Issue 12 • June 14, 2022 • NeighborhoodNewsOnline.net
Heidi’s path is similar to Tracy Dimil-
lo’s, who had built a large local following — in two different states — with her decadent desserts. She, too, was entertaining a friend when it was suggested in October 2019 that she open her own place. “She asked me if I had read about this guy who just bought The Grove and was going to do containers,” Tracy says. “She sent me the link to the story, I read it on a Sunday, emailed them on Monday and was in their offices talking to them on Friday.”
Neighborhood News
@NTWCNews
