The Black Entrepreneur's Journal - Vol 2

Photo by NiLo

The Black Entrepreneur's Journal Vol. 2

ENTREPRENEURIAL SPOTLIGHT

SPOTLIGHT ON SEBLE ISAAC OF TIRAMISU BISTRO

By Ni Lo

A Note on Longevity

As the door closes and the cold is locked out, the air fills with talking, laughter, and low conversations. The hand drawn chalkboard menu wraps the top of the restaurant, with the lime green ceiling bringing out the plants that are thoughtfully placed at each table. The atmosphere in Tiramisu Bistro is warm and welcoming, and it doesn’t take very long before a bright beaming face welcomes you. Seble Isaac is floating from table to table - but that doesn’t stop her from enthusiastically welcoming anyone who ventures in. Today she asks “You’ll eat? Breakfast”, when I hesitate she answers for me “Yes! Why not?” She brings me to the table where we’ll be conducting the interview, points to the menu - and then she’s off - welcoming a new guest, checking on the kitchen, easing through the market. Tiramisu Bistro is bright, colorful, with creativity oozing from the details in the space. There is no place that your eyes can land that isn’t strategically utilized and beautiful. It mixes small intimate booths with long thick wood tables- for larger groups and celebrations.

When breakfast arrives, so does Seble - and we move quickly into a conversation about her incredible space and business. Seble, an Ethiopian woman, has a very successful Italian restaurant that uses the freshest ingredients and dishes that are authentically created with care. We immediately wanted to know why she decided to think creatively about the business and open an Italian restaurant, when so many immigrants open spaces that align with their own culture. Seble went through her time growing up in Ethiopia, and watching her family cook their cultural food. “When I was young I moved to Italy, and grew up cooking Italian food. As a young woman I started working in Italian restaurants, so I know how to cook Italian food well.” Seble was clear though, it wasn’t as much about the Italian food, as the opportunity to have a neighborhood place. “In Italy - whether it’s a market or a restaurant, there’s a neighborhood place at the end of the street. ‘Lift me up’, that’s the meaning of the word Tiramisu, I wanted to create a lift me up place.”

It wasn’t Seble’s initial plan to open a restaurant, a polyglot (she speaks five languages) she had worked for the Government and thought that was what she was going to be doing here in Canada; that is until she got pregnant. After being a stay at home Mom for 10 years, she decided that she wanted to work but didn’t want to put her children in daycare. She remembered opening just a year and a half after Duchess Bakery. “I used to have a little room in the back for my kids, and as the business progressed, we had a children’s area where you could come and leave your kids to play while having a glass of wine or breakfast.” As her children grew - so did the business. Tiramisu initially blossomed into a private event space, and now, it is an enchanting specialty market with everything from fresh-baked items to locally handcrafted ware.

It was clear that creativity played an ever present part of Seble’s business model, so we wanted to pin down exactly what role creativity played in developing the business. “When I think of my business, I don’t think - what am I selling [customers], I’m thinking - what kind of experience are people having?” She goes on to say, “These are all things that I like, this is what I like to eat, and when I like something - I want to share it with people. I love to entertain, and with Tiramisu - I always want people to feel fresh, and lifted up.” She gets a lot of inspiration from travel, and doesn’t stop when people say it’s not possible. “Everything is possible.” She says.

Bob Marley's voice lifts out of the speakers and a few people get Seble’s attention as they leave, she smiles and acknowledges them and then turns back to the questions. It was time to find out how exactly that same creativity came into play in the current Pandemic. “Covid is a time of fear for a lot of people, but I got a lot of time to journal and go within myself and pray, and a lot of my ideas came from that.” She recalls waking up early and taking the time to focus and think about how she can take advantage of this time. That is when the “Lift Me Up Market” came to her mind. She had always thought that someone on the block should open a European style Market - she just never thought that it would be her. “It was so needed at that time, people used to come in and just cry because they needed it, and they felt lifted up” - and that is Seble’s favorite thing about her business. “I like when people come through the door and I can see them just lift up. I like to see people’s reactions when they come in.”

Seble has a loving supportive partner who was there for her even though he has his own projects. “I was so lucky,” she says. Even though she did have that support, Seble’s message is about balance. “There’s really no way to do that, and you end up tipping the scales too much in one direction, and it’s usually work, instead,” she says “I think integrating family and business has been more successful for me.” Making space in the business for the family, and making sure she has a business that works with her family.

It’s impossible to go to Tiramisu, Lift Me Up Market, or meet Seble and not feel the passion that she has for food and entertaining. She stopped a number of times to make sure I was eating - and checked out how I liked it before she would continue on to the next question. When we were sure we were finished, she whisked away to the kitchen before emerging and welcoming some guests that she hadn’t seen enter. She smiled and waved, and gave them the same familiar welcoming greeting that surely lifted up everyone who came through the front door.

Tiramisu Bistro; Located on 124 Street, Edmonton