Only a few restaurants have yet to open at Phase 1 of the KRATE Container Park at The Grove at Wesley Chapel — and the word is definitely getting out that KRATE is a great destination for a wide variety of cuisine types from all over the world.
Bakery X croissantsPico Express Tallarin SaltadoCafe 365 desserts
Bakery X (pronounced “Eeks” en Français) Authentic French Bakery did finally open on Aug. 3, and if you love authentic French croissants, breads and pastries as much as I do, you have to check it out! In additional to traditional butter croissants and a few varieties of French bread (the brioche is unlike anything you’ve had at local restaurants), Bakery X also bakes its own pain Suisse (Swiss-style croissants with custard), pain du chocolat or almond (chocolate or almond croissants) and more. Merveilleux!
Also now open at the KRATEs is Pisco Express Peruvian Chinese Fusion, which capitalizes on the fact that Peru is directly across the Pacific Ocean from China and the cuisine combines the best of Latin American with Chinese fare, like the Tallarin Saltado (Chifa), which is lo mein-style egg noodles with fresh veggies and your choice of protein (Jannah and I devoured the chicken Tallarin in the picture above). The Peruvian-Chinese fried rice also looked amazing and the fish ceviche was spot-on.
Also now open is the second Wesley Chapel location of Cafe 365 (the other is in the Shops at Wiregrass), which has delicious gelato (I loved the marshmallow flavor), desserts, coffee drinks and more. The only eateries yet to open at the KRATEs are Boba Mac’s (mac & cheese and boba teas) and Café Zorba Greek Cuisine. — Gary Nager
Falabella Bistro Adds Liquor & New Menu Items!
Congratulations to my friend and one of Wesley Chapel’s favorite restaurateurs Steve Falabella!
By breaking through a wall between his Falabella Family Bistro (6027 Wesley Grove Blvd.) and adjacent 900º NY Pizza at The Grove, Steve has been able to add full liquor to his beer and wine license at Falabella Bistro (only).
Jannah and I already loved Steve’s delicious Italian cuisine, but since we prefer full-liquor drinks when we dine out, we probably haven’t been to the Bistro as often as we might have otherwise.
But now, Fuhgeddaboudit! While Jannah sipped her delicious Cosmopolitan (and I enjoyed a new rum punch drink), we both gobbled down our favorite fried zucchini appetizer, shared Steve’s new filet mignon (photo) entrée with Marsala mushroom sauce (which we ordered on the side) and his chicken, spinach and ricotta cannelloni, and followed all that up with a slab of dessert chef Evelyn Barreno’s awesome chocolate mousse cheesecake. Need more prodding? Check out the ad on pg. 12 of this issue, call (813) 428-6957 or visit FalabellaBistro.com. — GN
With rents sky-high & limited space available here, New Tampa entrepreneurs are finding success & happiness at the new container park in Wesley Chapel.
For entrepreneurs, finding a place to start a new business in New Tampa can be tricky. Space can be limited. Prices are high. New development is scarce.
At the new KRATE at The Grove container park in Wesley Chapel, however, the plan was to lure those entrepreneurs in with a flashy concept — a park filled with converted shipping containers with bright murals painted on the side — and a less expensive entry point, with some container rents beginning at roughly $1,500 a month.
After a wildly successful opening day, the container park continues to boom for many of its owners, including a group of current and former New Tampa residents.
Here are a few of them:
Nimesh & Felicia Desai, Blush Wine Room
The Blush Wine Room has been an idea the Desais have been planning for the last five years, but finding the perfect location had been a major chore.
The 14-year Live Oak Preserve residents scoured Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in the hopes of finding a launching pad for their hip and trendy concept.
It was a call from from Bernadette Blauvelt, the owner of B Creative Painting Studio at The Village at Grove in Wesley Chapel, that turned their attention to the container park.
“She said ‘You have to come take a look,’” Felicia says.
So they did. Although they had considered trying to get in a space at the The Village at Hunter’s Lake town center, the day after meeting with developer Mark Gold in late 2019, they signed a lease.
The timing couldn’t have been better. Covid-19 ended up wiping out her small business, two cafés in office buildings.
But now, nearly three years later, the Blush Wine Room is one of the KRATEs’ hottest spots. The weekends are non-stop packed, as the bar’s offering of wine, wine tastings, wine-based cocktails (many served in pouches for those walking around), and a menu that includes homemade meatballs, truffle fries, cheese boards and a variety of chips and dips are in high demand.
“It’s been crazy,” says Felicia, “But we love it. I have no complaints.”
Chris Ferraro & Brooke Wahlquist, Higher Flour
The tenant list at the KRATEs is filled with entrepreneurs who had been looking for a decent entry point into a physical location to sell their dreams.
Chris and Brooke, who are engaged and live in Richmond Place, came up with a concept that combined his passion for holistic medicine (Delta 8 THC, in this case) and her baking skills to make delicious gourmet edibles.
However, their efforts to find a landlord willing to rent out space for their Higher Flour store stalled, due to the stigma still associated with CBD, even though it’s legal in 30 states, including Florida.
“We were actually denied from 12 other locations,” Chris says. “I had pretty much given up all hope of opening this awesome idea that we had.”
The very last place on his list was KRATE at the Grove which, at the time, was only a concept. Chris says his initial inquiry was rejected, but he pleaded for a meeting with Gold, who liked the idea once Chris explained to him that it wasn’t going to be a smoke shop.
Since opening on June 4, Chris says Higher Flour has been “killing it.” The success has already inspired him to consider adding more locations.
The store sells five different flavors of cookies, from the traditional chocolate chip to Ube, which is a purple yam popular in Filipino deserts. Each cookie has 25 mg of Delta 8 THC, roughly the same as you’d get in a gummy, although everyone’s mileage varies, Chris says.
“Thank God for Mark Gold,” says Chris, whose previous business, LitFit, specialized in online sales of pashminas and was successful until Covid-19 hit. He added that Gold’s green light “changed the entire course of my family’s history.”
Luis & Olimar Ledezma, Mojo Grill Latin Infusion
Luis was the longtime general manager at the Wendy’s on BBD, and then managed the Inside The Box Café at Armature Works from 2018-20 until they raised the rent and forced him to look elsewhere.
Luis says at that moment, Olimar, a senior manager for a car insurance company, “challenged me” to start something. With his management skills, her talent as a chef (learned from culinary classes she took in Spain) and their experiences eating different cuisines while traveling around the world, it was time to take the plunge and “stop working for somebody else.”
So after reading about the container concept in the Neighborhood News in 2019, Luis wasted little time signing up for the chance to run his own business.
“It was a no-brainer deal,” he said. “The KRATE was a great concept.”
Olimar designed the menu at Mojo Grill. The result has been dishes like the Argentinian-inspired Chimichurri steak, the Uruguayan-inspired Choripan sandwich, Cuban-inspired nachos and a variety of other tasty Latin dishes. Drinks, too — Olimar makes a killer homemade sangria.
Like almost every restaurant container at KRATE, business has been hopping. The container is almost never empty and the weekends are a madhouse.
“When you work hard and put your concept out there and deliver good flavors, people will come back,” Luis said.
This is “definitely” something Luis says he could not have pulled off in New Tampa. While living in Live oak Preserve for 10 years, he saw enough small restaurants turn over to discourage him.
“It would be much harder to become known without spending much more money,” he says. “I wouldn’t take that risk in an expensive brick-and-mortar. This is perfect.”
Sheila & Osman Haque, Life Essentials Refillery
Sheila’s career in the zero-waste and better living business started on a boat, where she and her three daughters noticed trash floating in the water. That inspired her to start EmbraceLessWasteUSA.com, a website devoted to zero-waste, American-made products.
Haque, who lives in Cory Lake Isles, completed the Pasco Economic Development Council (EDC) business incubator program, and although she could use the EDC container on occasion to sell her products, she wanted her own store.
She put herself on the waiting list at the KRATEs while pursuing other opportunities. After passing on a few overpriced, high-rent options, Sheila says Life Essentials Refillery was ready to commit to a Trinity location.
Luckily, KRATE called and said there was an opening. “We were getting build-out pricing (in Trinity),” Sheila says. While she may be paying more per square foot at the smaller KRATE, she says, “the foot traffic is worth it.”
At Life Essentials Refillery, the Haques sell eco-friendly, healthy and locally-sourced items. In fact, Sheila says everything in the store is sourced from small American businesses.
Items like spices, herbs, teas and coffee are popular, as well as less toxic versions of things like detergent, soap and sunblock. But, because they also have a full kitchen, they are also able to sell food. You can bring in your own container and fill it with pasta, beans and candies, and there’s a gluten-free section to choose from as well.
And if you want to make your own nutbutter, Sheila can help you do that, too.
“The interest so far is better than I expected,” Sheila says. “We’ve met people that come from Sarasota and Gainesville because there’s nothing like this close by.”
All of these KRATE businesses have their own websites and social media presences, as well as their own open hours, but for a complete listing of and more information about all of the KRATE businesses, visit KrateatTheGrove.com.
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 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 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.”
Tracy DiMillo
Urban Sweets
Heidi’s path is similar to Tracy DiMillo’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.”
On Dec. 6, 2019, Tracy and her husband John signed a lease for Urban Sweets, a KRATE container specializing in cupcakes and layered desserts.
It was a long journey for Tracy, a stay-at-home mom of three (now grown) children looking for an outlet.
It started in 1999 with a cake decorating class at Jo-Ann’s Fabrics in Brandon, but soon, Tracy was teaching the classes. A Tampa Palms resident at the time, she sold her desserts locally and online as Creative Cakes. When John, a salesman for a major alcohol distributor, was transferred to Fairfield, CT, she jumped on the just-taking-off cake pops craze with The Pop Shop, making and selling the treats out of a commercial kitchen.
The Dimillos moved back to Florida in 2015, with Tracy unsure what to do next. She baked for neighbors and parties and thought often of opening her own shop. She even had business cards made for Urban Sweets in 2018, “just to put it out into the universe and keep my dream moving forward.”
The Dimillos were fans of Sparkman Wharf, a smaller container park on Channelside Dr. in downtown Tampa that opened in late 2018. While strolling around the container park that year, she fell in love: “I told John I see myself in a container at Sparkman.”
A year later, however, Gold rolled into town. Like Heidi, Tracy also read the article in the Neighborhood News and was gobsmacked.
“If you have a dream, let’s make it happen,” Gold said at the time. “This is your mom-and-pop opportunity, your dream….I want to help people come to us. Let me help you.”
Those words hit Tracy like one of her cookie butter cake parfaits hitting your taste buds.
“I read it and I could swear he was talking to me,” Tracy said. “He said things like he was appealing to new business owners, appealing to smaller business owners….after wanting to open a store for 15 years, I just thought, this is it. I felt like it was a lightning bolt.”
In fact, that’s the exact phrase — “lightning bolt” — she used in her email to Gold to describe her interest. She didn’t even have her sugary concoctions thought out yet. But, she had a name, that box of business cards and she was ready.
“I just knew, after 23 years, I felt like I knew what people liked.”
Urban Sweets opened in late May to positive reviews. With a few thousand people to please for the KRATES’ opening day on June 4 (see page 20), Tracy was eager for her official debut as a business owner.
“It’s a dream come true,” Tracy says. “I know that sounds super cheesy, but that’s how I feel.”
Monica Russo
Maeberry Co.
Monica Russo has shared a similar dream for just as long, imagining herself as a clothing buyer since she was a little girl.
For years, she envisioned being a children’s clothing buyer for a big department store like Nordstrom or Dillard’s (and she worked at both for a time).
Pregnant and bed-ridden during Covid-19, Russo decided to become a buyer…for herself. In 2021, she started a website, MaeBerry Co., that sold children’s clothing and accessories.
Later that year, a friend told her about the KRATE at The Grove, and thought she should go all the way and open her own shop. So, she contacted the KRATE’s management, was put on a waiting list, and after twice declining because she wasn’t sure she was ready, she took the keys to her KRATE in January.
“I knew when they asked a third time, I had to do it,” Monica says. “I just went with what my heart was telling me.”
The decision has been the right one. With help from dad George Leach, who assisted getting the business going and chips in with babysitting, husband George Rocek and daughter Alyssa, who is 17 and works in the shop, business has been bustling.
Monica says business at MaeBerry Co. has been so good, in fact, she wishes she had chosen a larger container. Her eco-friendly infant and children’s clothing, many made with soft, breathable and chemical-free bamboo, and by high-end companies like Posh Peanut and Itzy Ritzy, have been popular among shoppers.
“This is what I’ve always wanted to do,” Monica says. “So far it’s been everything I have dreamed of.”
That’s how Wesley Chapel’s Jon Kramer described the KRATE at the Grove’s Grand Opening on June 4, while sitting in the shade holding a beer as his wife Faith sipped on a sangria. Their dogs, Marley, a 5-year-old Golden Doodle, and Maverick, a 6-year-old Labradoodle, also enjoyed the shade.
Developer Mark Gold promised KRATE would be cool. And on June 4, that’s what he delivered.Thousands — maybe 8,000 or so, according to one estimate, but no matter your guess, the number was many more than expected — swept up and down the rows of converted shipping containers. Some sat and listened to music, children got their faces painted and frolicked on the playground, and slowly but surely the large crowd completely drained many of the 18 open restaurants of their tasty contents. leaving the owners and their employees with no time to catch their breath.
Miguel Calvo, who owns Chamo Bites, lives five minutes from the KRATE at the Grove, and had to run home four times to get more food to restock his container. At the end of the day, he was moved, maybe even a little shaken, by the outpouring of support. He called it “life-changing” and showed off an arm full of goosebumps.
It was the kind of festive event that Chappies have been yearning for.
“This is the best thing to ever happen to this place,” said Jon, who has lived just a few footsteps away from The Grove for 22 years. He has watched what was once nothing but a strip mall sprout from the ground, then wither and nearly die, until Gold showed up and promised to save it.
When Gold and Co. crossed the finish line at the Grand Opening, Jon and Faith were there to celebrate with them.Twice, in fact. The Kramers came in the morning, and then returned again in the evening.
And, get this — in between, they drove to downtown Tampa to have a drink at Sparkman Wharf, the trendy, smaller container park that opened along Channelside Dr. in 2018.
And, while Wesley Chapel may still not be quite as hip as downtown Tampa, it’s clear to Jon that Sparkman Wharf is now officially Tampa Bay’s “other” container park.
“KRATE blows it away,” he says. “They have a few bars and food and nothing else. Here, there is that and local artisans and local shops. It’s just better.”
That will be music to Gold’s ears. On numerous occasions, due to the delays and hurdles, the developer has referred to the nearly three-year KRATE project as “Mission Impossible.” But, he never doubted that once it was completed, it would be a big hit.
KRATE tenants celebrate a successful night at the Friends & Family event June 1. (Photo: John C. Cotey)
The KRATE Container Park at The Grove has opened in bits and pieces over the past few months, but this Saturday, June 4, the park will finally celebrate its Grand Opening.
More than 70 percent of the 94 repurposed shipping containers will be “officially” open for business — although many have been open for months — and the celebration will be marked by live music at a new bandshell, family events and plenty of food and shopping.
The Grand Opening celebration on the 4th is scheduled from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., with nighttime entertainment from 6 p.m.-9 p.m.
A Friends & Family event was held June 1, drawing a sizable crowd that included social media influencers with a total following of roughly four million.
“Opening KRATE was mission impossible,” Grove developer Mark Gold of Mishorim-Gold Properties says. “We did not expect a pandemic, supply chain shortages, and a backlog in permitting. But, we did it and everything we promised we would do has become reality. We are proud of the sense of community we have built here at the Grove at Wesley Chapel and our KRATE park and look forward to providing even more opportunities to bring together friends, families, and neighbors.”
KRATE is just one part, but perhaps the crown jewel, of The Grove’s transformation, which began when Mishorim-Gold Properties, a partnership between Gold and Mishorim Real Estate, bought the 200+ acres for $62.7 million in 2019. Gold has since poured more than $100 million into renovations, including $20 million or so for a container park he promised would be one-of-a-kind.
KRATE faced a number of obstacles to opening, primarily due to Covid-19 and permitting snags. But little by little, the containers were transformed inside and outside — thanks in large part to artist Whitney Holbourn, whose hand-painted, business-themed murals adorn the exterior of each shop — into an attractive, outdoor shopping park featuring 70% restaurants and 30% retail businesses.
Nickole Davis, who opened All Good Things Gifts in February, says she is excited to see KRATE take another step toward reality. Davis sells a variety of personalized items, like her popular Wesley Chapel-branded home decorations, and says local consumers will be pleased by the variety of different kinds of shops in the KRATE, which include a children’s boutique, a Budget Blinds showroom and a huge variety of different cuisines from around the world, including Puerto Rican, French, Hawaiian, Mediterranean, Venezuelan and Japanese influences and so many more.
“The park is still in its infancy and there’s a lot of room for growth, so I think as more people know that it’s open, it can become something special,” says Davis, who added that her business has been hitting sales goals and doing very well since opening.
She is not alone. Some of the restaurants, like the Bacon Boss HQ, TJ’s Hot Dogs and Mojo Grill Latin Fusion, have been regularly selling out and running out of inventory, a sign that the public is eager for the KRATE.
Portions of the parking area between the various KRATEs have opened, including by the Bacon Boss HQ (nearest the stage at the north end of the park) and other interior parking areas around the other KRATEs, but that parking will be closed for the Grand Opening event on June 4, due to the amount of foot traffic expected in the area.
There will be plenty of KRATE parking in the lot in front of the big box stores at The Grove, including World Market and Dick’s Sporting Goods. Gold also promises that a separate KRATE parking lot is coming to the south end of the container park (north of the Outback Steak House) that should be done “soon.”
Also Coming Soon…
In addition to KRATE, Gold continues to fill the rest of The Grove property. New businesses slated to open in the near future include: Woodie’s Wash Shack, Five Below, Bealls Outlet/Home Centric, Starbucks, a national rental car chain, a national grocery store and a miniature golf course.
“We are the ultimate shopping and entertainment destination, not just for Wesley Chapel, but for the region and around the world,” Gold says.
Which KRATEs Are Already Open & Which Ones Are Still To Come?
Please note that we will have full reviews of each of the following open & planned eateries in future issues. But, where else but the KRATE Container Park can you find all of these cuisine types?: • Tasty Ramen • El Prince Mediterranean • Shake-A-Salad • The Fryroom • La Creacion Express • Mojo Grill Latin Fusion • Provisions Coffee & Kitchen • The Bacon Boss HQ • TJ’s Hot Dogs • Tacos El Patron • Chamo Bites Venezuelan Cuisine • Subzero Nitrogen Ice Cream • Blush Wine Room • Urban Sweets • Palani’s Hawai’i Noodles • Brew Bar • Yummy Tablas • Rhythm Pon Jamaican Grill
OPEN KRATE RETAIL SHOPS: • The Rebellious Hippie • Maeberry Co. • Katie Beth’s Boutique • Pasco EDC’s Smart Start • All Good Things Gifts • We Rock Rocks • Gadgets Emergency Room • Tonella’s Flower Shop • Budget Blinds • Center Ed
RESTAURANTS STILL TO COME: • Boba Mac’s Tea & Eats • Falafel Factory • Pisco Peruvian Chinese • Ato Japanese • 365 Café • Bakery X • Bebo’s Cheesesteaks • Sugar Pop! • Flipn’ Fries • Higher Flour • Café Zorba
KRATE RETAILERS STILL TO COME: • Insane Vape & Smoke Shop • The Toy Jungle • Grove Cigars • 2 Extreme Tattoos • Valiart Jewelry Designs • Life Essentials Refillery
