Brittany Gonsalves was looking to get her creative juices flowing last year after the pandemic halted her business operations.
“I was trying to find something to keep occupied, be creative, and have an outlet to stay hopeful and keep going,” she said.
She and her husband, Rigoberto Guzman, had started the Central Coast Tacos Catering Company in 2018. Aside from providing customers with savory carne asada or soyrizo tacos, the pair also offers bartending, busing, setup, and cleanup services—an added bonus that Gonsalves said not many small catering companies provide.
The venture, which she now solely owns, was the career change that Gonsalves was looking for after giving birth to her second child in 2018. At the time, she worked for the San Luis Obispo County Public Defender’s Office and was simultaneously trying to balance her home life. A mix of the high cost of child care, a full-time workload, and the duties of caring for an infant were enough for Gonsalves to reconsider her career choice.
With her new business on hold two years later, she searched for a passion project, and she found it in a junkyard. Gonsalves stumbled upon an old ice cream pushcart that needed a lot of care but was full of potential—just the project she was looking for.
She describes the cart as a vintage 1980s retrofitted ice cream pushcart that reminded her of the paletero man, or a street vendor of paletas and helados (which translate to popsicles and ice cream), visiting neighborhoods or setting up on street corners in the city of Santa Maria.
Nostalgia and the potential for turning the pushcart into a business moved Gonsalves to put life back into it. The cart came with all of the bells and whistles—it just needed a tune-up, which Gonsalves said became a family effort.
“We had to replace everything, from the wheels and really everything. It was pretty much an Igloo box on wheels,” she said.
Once they revived the cart, Gonsalves decided to create a second arm of her catering business that included popsicles and ice cream. She called it Paleta & Co. and slapped a bright pink neon sign on the side of the pushcart.
The cart made its debut alongside those tacos in March of this year at Hammer Sky Vineyards in Paso Robles. Ever since their March return, Gonsalves has also provided her savory and sweet services once a month at There Does Not Exist brewery in San Luis Obispo.
Gonsalves said she’s grateful and ready to bring tacos and paletas to Santa Maria and SLO County cities alike. Wherever the cart goes, she said, people’s responses are positive.
“It’s so much fun to take it to events, parties, weddings. You know, everyone enjoys ice cream, so it’s just a nice special treat to add to a party,” she said.
This is a unique time to launch the Paleta & Co. because people are ready to gather with their families, attend events, and visit pop-up vendors at their favorite brewery.
“We’re getting like 22 phone calls a day from people asking us to cater. Unfortunately we don’t have the availability, we’re booked all the way up to October, but it’s great because we can refer them to someone else,” she said.
Highlights
• Ahead of Fourth of July weekend, Santa Barbara Humane is offering free microchipping for cats and dogs at both its Santa Barbara and Santa Maria campuses. According to a statement announcing the promotion, more animals go missing on Fourth of July than any other day of the year, as fireworks and festivities increase stress in animals and lead to escape attempts. Pet owners can book a chipping appointment at sbhumane.org/clinic or by calling (805) 964-4777. While microchips are not a tracking device, they contain an identification number. Should a lost pet be turned in, the number is used to reunite the pet with its owner. “Our pets’ ears are incredibly sensitive, and anxiety from fireworks can set in quickly,” Dr. Katie Marrie, chief veterinary officer at Santa Barbara Humane, said in the statement. “The last thing anyone wants is to lose a pet. Microchips are a great tool to help make sure that lost animals can be returned to their families.”
• The Santa Barbara Foundation is seeking nominations from the Santa Maria Valley for the annual Celebrate Philanthropy event, open now through Aug. 9. “The Santa Maria Valley community is invited to submit a nomination for any individual, couples, or family who, through direct service or financial support, have demonstrated outstanding civic and charitable work to make the Santa Maria Valley a better place,” according to the foundation. Nominations can be submitted at sbfoundation.org/cpawards.
Staff Writer Karen Garcia wrote this week’s Spotlight. Send tidbits to spotlight@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jun 24 – Jul 1, 2021.
