Meet André & Shonda Vierra | Chef Owners

We had the good fortune of connecting with André & Shonda Vierra and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi André & Shonda, how did you come up with the idea for your business?
The idea for our business evolved so much over time. My wife and I were inspired to cook both by watching our grandmothers. They cooked the best food, and not only that they put so much love in it. In us. We wanted to have a small café. A place where people could hang out with coffee, tea and small grab & go types of food. But after culinary school and going out and participating in local farmer’s markets with baked goods and a line of seasoning blends, we landed on a concept by total accident. While selling spice blends, we would make small quesadillas to sample the flavors of the spices. Before we knew it, our customers were requesting the sale of the quesadillas so we made a small menu. That menu grew so much that quesadilla sales overtook the sales of our spice blends. All the while, we had this great dessert item which is cake in a jar with a bunch of different flavors that people love! Organically people began to know us by those two items. Our business name is Nana’s House, but we are most certainly recognized also by “Cakes & Quesadillas”

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
We have an original concept, and it happened organically. We listened to what our customers wanted and delivered. Cakes and quesadillas sounds simple and delicious but we go even deeper. We’re not traditional. Our “cakes” are cute little hand held treats in jars that travel well and are easy to enjoy. Our quesadillas are fused with a long list of our own favorite cuisines that we are passionate about and I know our passion shows in our food because people come back for more! We’re proud of the fact that we weren’t afraid to take the leap of faith. The leap of moving to a big city to educate ourselves in our business. The leap it took to start a business while maintaining day jobs. The leap it took to quit those jobs and trust in the concept we created on our own. And no it want easy. We work harder today for ourselves than we ever did when we had to punch a clock for someone else, but the fulfillment doesn’t even compare. It feels amazing to be entrepreneurs! We overcame challenges by sticking together and communicating to each other and listening to each other and our customers. And what we’ve learned is we have power. Power to create and self motivate and move and do things on our own terms. We want people to see us and know that they can do it too!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
First things first we’d find so good food to eat! We love Vietnamese food, so a nice pho soup restaurant would be our first stop. We’d probably also go to a nice bakery for some desserts. We would go find a nice park to maybe hang out afterwards. We like to chill and relax, but if we wanted to experience something exciting we’d go to iFly Atlanta for some indoor skydiving!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Because we’re married, a duo, and partners, there has not been any outside motivation greater than what we are to each other. We had God giving visions in each of us that matched identically in our spirits. That is what propelled us forward. That bond we share helped us take the leap and move to Atlanta from Boston. It nudged us in the side to go to culinary school together and graduate with high honors. That kindred spirit build our concept mentally and realized it to the point where we were able to quit our day jobs inside of a few years and it keeps us determined to make it work day in and day out.

Website: https://nanashouse.co

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nanashouseco/

Facebook: https://facebook.com/nanashouseco