About me...
Hello! My name is Maria Rotella and I am the owner and operator of Maria Eliana’s Cakes!
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I’ve been making custom cakes and desserts for families and loved ones in Syracuse for over 10 years. Thanks to my many repeat customers I’ve been able to build up my portfolio, make new connections and have flexible time to spend with my two kids. I have always been known as a worker. From retail to waitressing, working for big corporations to small businesses I’ve truly done it all. My passion has always been desserts and the food industry. I studied and received a degree in Baking and Pastry Arts. After many long years of practicing and perfecting my skills and learning from others, I am finally able to take the leap and open a storefront. I want my space to be welcoming and inviting for all who come in to grab a quick bite with friends or family.
I have grown up here in Syracuse NY. I have loved to bake since I was eight. As elementary school kids, my friends and I would go to College For Kids at O.C.C and each pick a class we wanted to take, from book writing to tie-dyeing classes we tried it all. I remember one friend picked a baking class and that’s when it began for me. We learned how to do the basic frosting of cupcakes, how to make cookies and some of the science of baking. That was it, I was in love. After camp was over, I would lock my entire family out of our kitchen to bake and make a floury mess of my mother's very tidy kitchen. When my mother had enough of that, she would send me to my aunt's house down the street where together we would bake new creations while keeping to our roots of boxed brownies and ‘Trading Spaces’ Wednesdays. We would sit on her porch tasting our creations and talk about the future. I knew I wanted to make desserts for a living, I would tell her I wanted to move to the most glamorous place I knew of at the time, NYC, and never get married or have children and open in a bakery. I told her when I made it big she would have to come to visit me and paint a picture on my wall. Well I never made it to NYC, and I have two amazing kids who are my world. My amazing rock, my helper, and biggest fan my Aunt Missy has been gone for 3 years and I’m not sure I’ll ever be the same. I want to make her proud of me and I want to finally get out there and stop working 3 jobs at a time and do what I really love.
2018 My Year of Change
I met and fell hard for my partner one very unexpected day. She has opened my eyes to a whole world of acceptance love and understanding but most importantly sustainability. My Nessie is very much an environmentalist who has taught me so much about how to help save our planet more than I knew. I have followed in her footsteps to try to be as zero waste as I can be. I strive to not use single-use plastic products such as cups, straws, forks, spoons, knives and plates. We shop at the farmers market instead of the store where we can pick our produce and not wrapped in plastic. I honestly never realized how much plastic I use on a day to day basis and I knew it was bad, but never understood to the degree how serious the issue is in regards to our planet.
One of the biggest goal for my business is to be as eco- friendly and as plastic free as possible. I want to mainly recycle and compost any waste over throwing things into the trash that will end up in a landfill. I also want to give back to the town I love by donating leftover food to the many people in our community who go without food. Cafe Pastel will be a safe space for anyone who may need it. I want to make a positive change to Syracuse in any way that I can.
I am looking into Indiegogo as a way to offset the already growing expense. I hope to have things up and running by October 2019. With a location that is perfect for me and construction already underway the expenses of opening a coffee shop are a lot more than I thought!
My Vision
My hope for Cafe Pastel is to be a welcoming and safe environment for all individuals. I have spent time on my menu and I am looking forward to working with vendors around Syracuse to provide you the best options to start your day. I have a few vendors in mind but am waiting to announce them all so you definitely want to stay tuned! I want to use all my time and energy on the desserts side of the business so using trusted Syracuse favorites for breakfast allows me to do that! I already use the freshest ingredients in my baking and that won't be changing.
I really want to be more involved with is our local community. One way I hope to contribute will be by donating my leftover food. There are several places in our town to drop off food to those who may need it most. Hunger in our area is a huge issue that needs to be resolved. While it may not be resolved this week or next I want to help.
I will be going plastic free. What good is getting rid of the straws if we still have the plastic cups, cutlery and containers? I will be using alternative products that are better for our earth. Bamboo cutlery, to-go cardboard boxes instead of plastic, and paper bags.
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What we need:
New Oven $4,200- Now that I’m in a bigger space I need a bigger oven! A convection oven is more efficient than a regular home oven. Things cook faster so they don’t have to be in the oven as long. They also heat more evenly than a regular oven so there are no “hot spots”
Espresso Machine $8,000 - Did you know that espresso machines can cost anywhere from $7000 - 20,000, I definitely didn't when I decided to expand my bakery idea to a cafe. I’m really happy to have met and befriend Maria Metthe of Salt City Coffee. She has helped me get together the costs of the coffee side of this business. I am going into this smart and getting a really awesome machine without breaking the bank. This price doesn’t include the cost of a grinder, brewer, decaf equipment, nitro equipment, pour over, kettles for hot water, honestly it goes on. Thanks girl for opening my eyes to the coffee world and steering me in the right direction.
Commercial Mixer $1,700 - For the past 10 years my 5-quart little red mixer has been a champ. I’ve used it for everything! With a growing business I need something much bigger. For example; making one small tiered cake to feed 30 people from start to finish required me to make batter 2 times. It required me to make frosting anywhere from 3 or 4 times. That’s 6 times starting over from scratch (kinda like this indiegogo campaign) to get a final product. Not only was it a long process but it hasn't been the best use of my time and energy. A commercial mixer will allow me to get everything done faster and more efficiently.
Custom Wooden Bar $2,300 - Craig Donnelly is a rock star. (Definitely look up his work on IG- @donnellydesigns315) I will be working with him to make a wooden bar for patrons to sit at and hang out. I love to support all the local talent that Syracuse has to offer. I am really happy I got to know him and his family through the “fruit lady” as my children referred to her I can’t wait to see what he has in store for the cafe.
Furniture $3,700 - Along with many soon to be patrons donating tables and chairs to re-purpose we need some basic staple furniture for out guests. We have been looking all over the Greater Syracuse area for tables and chairs to flip and reuse. This really helps our budget immensely.
Grease Trap $1,500 - Gross I know. In brief, this little plumbing device helps trap most greases and solids before they enter the waste water disposal system. We’ve spent many years and a LOT of money to clean up Onondaga Lake. Now the county doesn’t mess around with business that could potentially ruin that hard work, and I get it. I am really fortunate that I am not a full fledged restaurant and don’t need a huge box that can cost up to $9,000. But with cooking breakfast sandwiches *cough cough dat bacon* I need a small one to keep our environment free of the gross grease and crap.
If by any chance I happen to go over my proposed capital I would not only be so grateful, thankful, blessed, shocked, happy, on cloud 9 I would also be able to take my dream a bit farther. I would use the money wisely. I have so many big ticket items I need to purchase to get this dream started. I would love to get a storefront sign you can see from the highway to get more people to see I am here. I would get more of the equipment I need to get started like freezers, and a fridge. It would help me start to pay off the hefty loan I am taking to start my dream. Any monetary contributions 100% go to all the things I need to getting this going!
Total Amount Needed $21,400
5% Indiegogo fees + 2% CC fees $1,498
Full total $22,898
The Impact
This project is really important to me. Not only on a “Hey look mom I made it” level but for the environment contribution I hope to make. I really want to change the way people think about single use plastic. Curbing peoples mindset away from always getting the iced coffee in the plastic cup with a straw. Or the plastic clamshell container for the salad that you throw out. I hope to show people that small changes in habits around the way we consume plastic can greatly impact the environment in a positive way. Moss Cass is believed to have said: "We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children". I want to start a positive change on a local scale and hope that you'll join me. I'd like to measure my success by focusing on the triple bottom line: people, profit, and planet.
Risks & Challenges
This is the part I get worried about if I’m being totally honest. I have been actively working on this dream since April and I have my location secure. I will be opening in Township 5 with an opening date tentatively for the middle of October. Not only is this a prime location for what I want but I know what it’s like to work there. I love knowing I'll be 10 steps away from friends who have been supportive from the get-go. From the Movie Tavern where people can stop in for dessert or before a date. From apartments and Medical offices where people may need a pick me up in the afternoon. All these things make me confident in my decision that this is a perfect location. The only setbacks I am nervous about is the time it takes to build out. I don’t want to miss out on every bakers busy season. The Holidays. I really hope to stick to this timeline and open in the fall.
I know it’s a lot to ask, but with your monetary help this dream can and will become my life. If money is tight and trust me I get it, and you still want to help you can help me so much by sharing this link! Share it on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, with your friends and family, with your work friends. Maybe someone will take interest in my project and be able to contribute. Sharing is caring and the more people see this the more I am closer to my dream. If you know someone who wants to contribute but doesn't have social media or are not computer savvy they can contact me directly and make a donation! Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking the time to read this and learn a little bit about me and what I'm trying to do.
If you have other ideas you think might be helpful or may contribute to my mission please let me know I am here and willing to try whatever you got!
Thank You For Being A Friend
I am truly blown away by the out pour of love and support I have received by so many during this journey thus far. I owe a HUGE thank you but not limited to these few individuals who have been here since the start of everything in April.
Aubry Panek- I have loved working with you and learning from you the past few years, I remember my first time meeting you at your store opening in the village for Witty Wicks what feels like forever ago! Through the years making desserts for the store and selling LuLaRoe we became friends. After feeling so defeated, not only did you help make me feel better with your words of encouragement but you really propelled me to where I am today. You gave me the Township 5 property managers personal number and here we are months later! Thank you so much for all your help these past few months. I can't wait to be your neighbor!
Danielle Rafte- The most patient listener to my wants and needs for how I want the logo, menu. and website to look. Thanks for sitting in my hot sauna of a kitchen after a long work day to work with me while I was baking. I seriously couldn't have done this without you! I'm so glad we've grown closer outside of high school!
Sara Felice- An amazing friend and photographer! Thank you for taking some incredible shots of me to start this campaign and use for my business! Now the Managing Director at Point of Contact Gallery in Armory Square she runs the show and is amazing at it!
Dan Fetter- Another Westill Alum, thank you for working with me getting my LLC up and running. Looking out for my best interest with lease signing and just overall being an awesome business lawyer. I wanted to make sure I did everything by the book and he was so easy to work with for someone who gets most of their law information from Olivia Benson and her friends.
Katrina Tulloch- Thank you for taking the time to come over and shoot a video for me! You were fabulous to work with. Thanks for understanding I am horrible in front of the camera w my Chander Bing smile and Dory brain always forgetting what I needed to say!
Sue Lepak- This kick- ass architect not only did what I needed she gave me 3 design ideas to work off of! She was patient and understood my needs. I'm so happy to have met you and have you along for my journey!
Maria Metthe- This mompreneur is so awesome I came right home and proclaimed "I want to be her friend!!!" Owner at Salt City Roaster with her husband she will be our main coffee supplier. They are creating a new blend to use just for the cafe, how cool is that? She has really taught me so much about roasting styles and equipment I'll need. I cannot wait to work with their team!
Craig Donnelly- I know we haven’t officially met yet but thank you! When I reached out for this project I was really thinking you would not want to be involved. We didn’t know each other, it’s a lot of work, you have a growing business as well! Well I’m really pumped you are on board! I think this is going to be the beginning of a great friendship!
Becca Gonnella- This dream I have wanted for forever, you knew that. You always know what I'm thinking and how anxious I get about things. You always pushed me to do my dream. Thank you for helping get this started. For being there for meetings and brainstorming. I can't wait to see this dream unfold into my life. For the past 12 years you have watched me grow as a crazy teen to a crazy adult and have always been there no matter what. Thank you for not only believing in me and my vision but telling me too. Sometimes you need to hear it and you my friend, have always given me the confidence to go for it!
Marines Piney- My Nessie. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being such an amazing rock. This has been a crazy few months of stress, tears, tantrums (this computer part was a true test!) Thank you for taking everything in stride, talking me off the ledge many times and just believing in me. You made me keep going when I wanted to quit and held my hand on the days when I couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel and get excited. I can't wait for you to see my journey and be there the day I open the doors.
