We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ana Aguilar a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ana, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Parents play a huge role in our development as youngsters and sometimes that impact follows us into adulthood and into our lives and careers. Looking back, what’s something you think you parents did right?

My mother showed me that it is always within my power to get something done, no matter the obstacles. She raised me on conversations about the importance of education, and she took it upon herself to teach me everything she knew. I did my first multiplications before I ever started kindergarten. It gave me a huge head start, and that gave me a great deal of intellectual confidence. She was my first teacher, and an incredibly dedicated one. When I had to move to a school without a gifted program, she demanded that the school district find one and had me bussed there every week. When that wasn’t enough, she asked the school to advance me to the next grade. When they told her that wasn’t something they offered, she had the principal implement testing to make it possible. She taught me to seize opportunities, and more importantly she showed me that I can create them.

Ana, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I think my life is about storytelling, with food and with acting. I think that’s why it’s easy for me to keep both in my life and still feel harmony. I moved to Nashville 10 years ago from central California, and at that time the film and Mexican food scenes here were both pretty dry. I feel really fortunate to be living and working here during this growth period. I feel like I have so much to contribute, and that’s a good feeling.

My business has given me a lot to be proud of. I get to honor my family by keeping their recipes alive. I get to contribute to sustainability efforts in the food industry. I get to help set the tone for the Mexican food scene in Nashville, and the late night food scene in East Nashville. I get to encourage and inspire other women in business, and my younger relatives. I get to provide work that people can be proud of. We support other local small businesses, and I feel especially proud that we support local farmers throughout our menus.

When we eventually open a brick and mortar, all of that will stay with us. I can’t wait to have a space that provides our community with cultural events, cooking classes, memorable food, and so much more. One day I’ll get to use my restaurant as a location for one of my film productions, and that’ll be a dream.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

I started Tantisimo during the pandemic. At that time it was called Tantito Pastelito (a little bit of cake), and it existed just so I could make a little cash while I waited for the world to reopen. I was making baked goods for my friends’ businesses, but I didn’t have plans to do much more than that. I’m a working actress, and I didn’t have any career goals outside of that at the time. I found myself so invested in each week’s bakes, challenging myself creatively and learning more and more about the Latin American pastries I had grown up on. My following was growing and people had genuine interest in the stories behind the food, and the thoughtfulness behind the ingredients. When I joined my first farmers’ market, I found myself wanting people to try more than just the sweets I loved, and started exploring savory food offerings. By the time I got into my first kitchen space for a pop up, I just went for it. I called up my dad and got my favorite of his recipes, I whipped up my grandmother’s enchiladas, and made it happen. I basically wrote the menu of what I would love to see at a Mexican food pop up, and found a way to cook it all the next day. My whole local family turned up and even brought some friends, my farmers’ market regulars enthusiastically showed up, and I was able to see that I could do it. There is something magical about watching someone appreciate and enjoy your food, and respect the story you’re telling with it. It’s now one of my favorite parts of my life.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

For the majority of the time I’ve been in business, the bulk of my sales have come from farmers’ markets. I built a strong following with farm to table street food that we prepare on a flat top grill. It’s the same set up anyone without a food truck would have for a special event, or a festival. Unfortunately one day the health department arrived and let us know that set up does not apply to farmers’ markets, as they were no longer going to be considered special events. Many vendors, including myself, were surprised -and devastated- to hear that we would no longer be allowed to provide samples, and that we would have to pre-package each food item at our commissary kitchen. That wiped out our entire existing menu in one fell swoop. Farm-fresh tacos are meant for immediate consumption, and the smells off the sizzling grill was a huge part of our appeal. I had to take some time off to re-do my menu, and disappointed customers were messaging me weekly wondering where we went. It was financially devastating. I’m no stranger to making seasonal menu changes, but this was a tough one. Now we are doing foods that hold well in a hot box, like burritos and tamales, but a huge portion of my sales now come from take home items like salsas and frozen tamales. I’ve found that our new set up is going to allow me to only have one person working instead of two, cutting labor costs, and getting customers used to our pantry staples will be a great way to introduce them to our brick and mortar concept in the future! I think having that brand loyalty has really paid off because our customers trust whatever we sell them and want to support, and it shows me that we have the ability to survive future unforeseen obstacles.

Contact Info:

• Website: tantisimo.com
• Instagram: @aytantisimo and @holaanaaguilar
• Facebook: @aytantisimo
• Twitter: @aytantisimo

Image Credits
Josh Kranich, Tim Scott