Empanadas D.C. opening in Pioneer Plaza Nov. 15
Being recent empty-nesters, Luis Lasso and Liliana Velasco of Columbus had some extra time on their hands and some motivation to do something with it. Having owned a restaurant in South America years ago and wanting to do something to bring people to Downtown Columbus, an idea began to percolate.
"We've always toyed with the idea of having some sort of a snack place that would be not a restaurant, but a snack place that people would have an option to go and snack on something in between meals, or hang out and have some coffee," Velasco said.
Lasso likes to cook and is good at it, having Italian and Colombian heritage, so the couple decided on empanadas as a main feature.
"We've grown up with the empanadas and making empanadas," Velasco said. "Now we decided to just bring some more light into downtown as well."
They've done just that, both literally and figuratively, brightening the first space on the right inside Pioneer Plaza, 2402 13th St., making an indoor space in a historic building look and feel like an indoor/outdoor cafe, while respecting the building's history.
Velasco said that she comes up with ideas and Lasso makes them happen, while they both hold down day jobs as a teacher, Velasco, and in construction, Lasso.
The construction background helped Lasso take care of all the renovations himself.
"We tried to preserve some history from the building as well, because this is a building with a lot of history," Velasco said. "It was an opera house before, we know. The owner, whose husband had passed away, (they) had done some woodwork here so we wanted to preserve that woodwork and we also wanted to recover the wood floor and restored the floor."
Blank walls and shelves became a seating area with hanging lanterns and a live-edge countertop, made by Lasso. A countertop separates the main seating area from the prep area, which will have empanadas, South American candies and treats, coffee and fruit drinks, like passion fruit and a South American citrus fruit called lulo, or naranjilla outside of Colombia.
Inspired by the Latin eateries they knew growing up, Velasco and Lasso wanted to bring some of that warmth and hominess to their business and to the people of Columbus.
"Our idea was to combine all the things that made this building great, but have made our life here great as well, with an opportunity to interact with the community, have people come anytime they want, and still have some Latin flair in it," Velasco said.
Inspiration in the kitchen starts at home for Lasso, who brings what he learned from his family to others. Colombian recipes can do a lot with a lot of different flavors, he said.
"I always cooked," Lasso said. "My mom always taught us since we were little to cook and I have passion for that. Where we are from ... everything grows over there, so we have different flavors, and each one brings a little character or food and flavor."
They decided on empanadas because they're great for a quick bite for people to grab, and they can satisfy any palate.
"The beauty of empanadas is that in this, inside the empanada, you can pretty much put anything you want," Velasco said. "It's something for a sweet tooth, come here and get a sweet empanada or a snack, or you want to make it a light meal, come here and have a savory empanada or combine all of them."
Velasco said that the couple was also inspired by the idea of bringing more life to downtown Columbus. While there are a variety of businesses and activities, they want to see it have even more sound, people and fun.
"If there's something that we should, I would say, envy a little bit when we go to other towns in Nebraska, it's the life that downtown has," Velasco said. "That's why we have music outside."
Velasco and Lasso have drawn inspiration from all the places they've traveled for the look and feel of their shop. They wanted to emulate that locally, hence the feeling of being outdoors, ambient music and casual feeling.
"I think that's something that people only can experience when they travel, but coming here, they'll experience it without having to travel," Velasco said. "So that is something that I feel is going to be unique, that is going to be different from other people."
Empanadas D.C. is set for a grand opening on Nov. 15, but before they open, Lasso still has some fixing up to do. He's already added a sign he designed, a display in the front window of Pioneer Plaza, seating outside of their space in the main lobby of the building and he plans on fixing the large outdoor "Pioneer Plaza" sign on the building as well as the outer facade by the windows.
Having lived in Columbus for more than 20 years, Lasso and Velasco want to see life in their city.
"Our goal is to bring this place (Pioneer Plaza) to life as well," Velasco said. "Traffic is what it is in downtown, right? So we want to bring traffic and life and different people, that's what we hope."
