Casiano started small, making batches of Spanish-style “beef” empanadas, fried buffalo cauliflower and mac ’n’ cheese balls per request. Credit: COURTESY OF GOOD MOOD FOOD CO.

Nearly three years ago, after being consistently disappointed with dining options for vegans at local restaurants, Adriana Casiano decided she wanted to supply her friends and family with plant-based junk-food options.

“All of my non-vegan friends would have the tastiest dishes to choose from, and I’m the lonely, weird vegan who had little options,” Casiano says.

With her experience of working at a vegetarian restaurant in the past coupled with her passion for cooking, Casiano figured she would create her own plant-based recipes.

Casiano started small, making batches of Spanish-style “beef” empanadas, fried buffalo cauliflower and mac ’n’ cheese balls per request.

As orders began piling up, the entrepreneur knew it was time to take the next step — license her new catering side hustle.

In July 2018, Casiano filed the paperwork to make Good Mood Food Co. legit.

Since then, Good Mood Food has arranged a popup five-course brunch last August and joined more than 50 fellow vegan vendors at Vegfest that following November, selling out of nearly every offering from empanadas to carrot cake shooters.

“We want to be able to provide delicious vegan munchies — which are easy to find in Cali and Oregon, but Florida is in desperate need of some,” Casiano says.

Being confident in her ability to make a tasty vegan dish and networking skills, the young entrepreneur decided she needed to outsource the talent for paperwork.

That’s where girlfriend, Tabitha Caudill, comes in.

“Tabi runs the numbers and keeps the paperwork in order,” Casiano laughs. “I’m more of a creative brain.”

The duo recently brought on Jose Rodriguez to assist in the kitchen creating the original recipes, which Casiano refers to as “fried naughty stuff.”

Operating out of Your Pro Kitchen in Pinellas Park, the same commissary that Armature Works resident Empamamas started out of, GMF has grown out of doing small custom requests into strictly filling business catering orders and working local events.

With big orders comes big responsibility — and that means being accountable for consistency in large orders. So naturally, the gang decided to invest in equipment to ensure consistency in their bites, purchasing an empanada press and a commercial deep fryer.

Late last month, Casiano decided it was time to take the leap and turn her side hustle into her full-time venture. “Good Mood Food needs me. I put in my two weeks at my full-time job so I can fully focus on the business,” she says.

You can find Good Mood Food slinging its signature fried mac ‘n’ cheese balls and empanadas on April 7th at the Spring Sol Fest hosted by Black Crow Coffee’s Grand Central location at 2157 1st Ave. S. in St. Pete.

By the end of the event, Casiano will be a free agent — and the official pastry vendor for Black Crow Coffee.

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