Paleta Mia For Artisan Ice Pops, Waffle Sticks, Shakes & More! 


(Clockwise from top left photo) Genesis Bermudez, co-owners Olimar Cedeno & Luis Ledezma and manager Dannelys Zavala invite you to try the new Paleta Mia at the KRATEs.

Although co-owners Luis Ledezma and his wife Olimar Cedeno are from Venezuela, they say they were inspired by a trip to Guadalajara, Mexico, to open the first-ever Paleta Mia shop in Wesley Chapel in the KRATE Container Park at The Grove. 

Luis and Olimar already owned the successful Mojo Grill Latin Fusion restaurant at the KRATEs, but when they saw another KRATE directly across from Mojo Grill go out of business, they decided to expand what they already were doing in their Paleta Mia food truck into its own former shipping container. 

“We have been bringing the Paleta Mia truck to schools, local sporting events and even the monthly Market Elaine events at The grove for a while,” Luis said. 

“And everyone who’s tried them have told us how much they enjoy them,” added Olimar. “So, we figured, why not?” 

Luis and Olimar agreed that they loved the freshness of the Mexican paletas, but she has added gluten-free and vegan options to a huge variety of not only fruit flavors (like mango, kiwi and pineapple), but also paletas made with Oreo cookies, Nutella, bubble gum flavor and more. 

You can add tasty toppings to your favorite paletas, which come in a rotating variety of flavors.

Paleta Mia also offers a variety of delicious toppings, from marshmallows to sprinkles, fresh milk and white chocolate, M&Ms and more. The toppings also can be added to Paleta Mia’s amazing waffle sticks, which Luis said they first tried during a trip to London, although these light and delicious sticks originated in India. 

“But we added the toppings to make them more mouth-watering, too,” he says. 

“Our whole goal is to offer healthier options using tropical flavors,” Olimar adds. 

To become a master paletera herself, Olimar took classes at both the Pregel Institute in Miami and from Fany Gerson, aka “The Newyorkina,” a famous master paletera. 

Paleta Mia, which Luis and Olimar hope to expand into a franchise business in the future, also offers delicious hand-made shakes and organic aguas frescas using many of the tropical flavors. The shakes even include a whole paleta! 

“Paleta Mia is dedicated to our 14-year-old daughter Mia, to teach her the importance of hard work,” Luis says. 

Paleta Mia (5854 Goldview Pkwy) is open Mon.-Thur., 3 p.m.-9 p.m., 11 a.m.-10 p.m. on Fri. & Sat. & noon-7 p.m. on Sun. For more info, see the ad on pg. 37, call (813) 451-6142 or visit MyPaletaMia.com. 

Our editor’s favorites are the freshly made shakes & waffle sticks.
Photo provided by Luis Ledezma.

Introducing Astro Craft Ice Cream’s New Ice Cream Chef!

This is just a sampling f the delicious flavors at Astro Craft Ice Cream on S.R. 56. (All Photos by Charmaine George).

It was only six months or so ago when we first told you about the new Astro Craft Ice Cream, located in the same plaza on the north side of S.R. 56 as Mellow Mushroom.

Even so, there’s so much new happening at Astro that we knew we needed to update that story.

Still owned by Ferdian Jap and Gio Tran, the co-owners of Zukku-San Sushi (located about a 1/4-mile east of Astro) and Ato at the KRATE Container Park, Astro now has a new ice cream chef — Adrian Carter. Carter, who is proud of his love of ice cream, completed an online course through the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts based in Boulder, CO, and also completed the intensive one-week Penn State University Ice Cream Short Course in University Park, PA, now in its 128th year — where representatives of Ben & Jerry’s, Baskin-Robbins, Blue Bell, Haagen-Dazs and many others have learned the secrets of ice cream making.

New Astro ice cream chef Adrian Carter prepares the signature sundae for June (below, left).

“It’s super-competitive,” Carter says of the course. “But you really learn the best ways to make the best ice cream.”

Carter, who first met the Astro owners at their location at Armature Works near downtown Tampa, is proud of the changes he’s already made to Astro’s already delicious flavors and he promises to continue to add new varieties, starting with the unique new passion fruit-raspberry sorbet, which is made with oat milk, “so it still has a creamy, more ice cream-like texture and taste,” Carter says.

He also has made subtle changes to many of my already favorite flavors at Astro — including adding real bananas to the banana pudding peanut butter cookie flavor (which is still my #1 favorite).

Father’s Day-inspired June signature special.
Ube chocolate chunk ice cream cone.

Carter says that most months, Astro offers a new “signature” creation. For June (which still has a few days left), the Father’s Day-inspired special was the brown sugar whiskey cookie dough (made with a newly upgraded whiskey), with chocolate-covered pretzels, a caramel “flavor shot” and a sprinkle of brown sugar. Also new is the ube ice cream with dark chocolate chunks. Ube is a purple Fillipino yam (sweet potato) with a mellow flavor that blends well with the chocolate.

Astro’s exclusive Cuban ice cream sandwich.
The revamped brownie sundae.

And, despite my concerns, Carter also has begun baking Astro’s brownies and chocolate chip cookies in-house, rather than buying them from Mike’s Pies. I loved the Mike’s brownies, but the house-baked brownies are equally delicious, chewy and decadently dense — so good as the base for a brownie sundae with a chocolate, caramel or honey flavor shot.

One thing Carter didn’t mention changing was Astro’s exclusive Cuban ice cream sandwich (above, right), made with Cuban bread from Tampa’s La Segunda Bakery, pressed around Tampa guava cream cheese or creme brulée café con leché ice cream. So good.

Photographer Charmaine George and I both also raved about the cinnamon snickerdoodle marshmallow ice cream, made with marshmallow Fluff, graham crackers and lots of cinnamon. Charmaine said it “tastes like Christmas.” The seasonal flavor for July is red, white & blue vanilla ice cream, “for the kids,” Carter says, adding that Astro’s mobile ice cream van also is available for catered events. 

Astro Craft Ice Cream (25700 Sierra Center Blvd.) is open Mon.-Thur., noon-9:30 p.m.; 11 a.m.-10 p.m. on Fri. & Sat. & 11 a.m.-9 p.m. on Sun. For more info, visit AstroCraftIceCream.com, find the location on Facebook or Instagram.

A dish of the new passion fruit-raspberry sorbet with a honey flavor shot.