Empanadas bring her joy. Now you can find them at Hub Hall.
Stephanie Carteiro, 31, loved empanadas growing up in Medford. She sold them to co-workers as a teenager working at the Somerville Market Basket, and she made them with college friends at Clark University, where she majored in psychology. “We would go into the cafeteria with Tupperware, go to the salad bar, and take ingredients for empanadas,” she says.
Those days are over: Now she has her own Hub Hall empanada business, The Nada Cart, with chef Keneddy Lavour. The two met while Carteiro was working at Portuguese restaurant Atasca in Kendall Square. The stall opened in January and will run through March. They plan to roll an empanada cart into Faneuil Hall this summer.
For those who are unfamiliar with The Nada Cart: Tell me about it!
The Nada Cart was started in 2020 — essentially right at the beginning of the pandemic. My business partner, Keneddy, and I met up randomly at an event after having been out of touch. I gave him this idea of starting an empanada cart with fillings from all over: Latin American fillings that I was familiar with [but also] more American and Indian flavors. And he was like: “I love empanadas!” He’s Dominican. He was like: “Let’s do it!”
The Nada Cart, at this point, is essentially a popup business. Obviously, we’re still pretty small. We’re growing. Our focus is to make and perfect the craft of empanadas. We want our customers to enjoy empanadas as something fresh and made to order. A lot of times, empanadas that I’ve had here in the States are pretty empty. They’ll have a filling, but there won’t be a lot of it, and you always are kind of left wanting more. We wanted something that’s delicious, filling, and fresh — and to share our heritage with Boston, which is where we got started.
How did you get your start, especially during a pandemic?
I was born here to immigrant parents. My mom is from Ecuador, and my dad is Portuguese. They met here and essentially stayed here and left their families behind. I grew up with family friends whom we essentially adopted. They became my family, and they were from Argentina. At every holiday, birthday, or any event, they always made Argentinean empanadas. That’s the recipe that I essentially borrowed and started making when I was 16 working at Market Basket, trying to sell them to my coworkers.
Out of college, I started working at a nonprofit, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and then eventually transitioned into a marketing role for Didriks. I had an entrepreneurial spirit and was always writing down ideas for products.
During the pandemic, I pitched it to Keneddy, and he was all in from the beginning. Then we got started in his kitchen in Boston. We played around with his grandma’s dough recipe, and we just started selling to family and friends, sending out e-mails.
Our first pop-up was at Idle Hands in Malden, a brewery. I think my marketing background has really helped me build this business. I love food, and I love cooking. But I really leave a lot of that up to Keneddy, who’s the main chef. But I’ve been able to connect with businesses through social media and email. From there, our visibility has grown.
Our location at Hub Hall came about from a holiday market at the Seaport, which was huge. It was an awesome event. It went really well. From there, the general manager of Hub Hall tried our empanadas, loved them, and said, “Hey, we have a spot open. We’re looking to do pop-ups. Would you like to do one?” And we said: “Of course!”
Did you always know you wanted to work in the food business? Take me back.
When I was growing up, I honestly wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I wanted to become a dentist. I wanted to become an artist. I’m a very creative person. But I think my main interest has always been food. I love people and the reaction that you get when you offer things to people that make them happy and make them want to come back to you and say, “Hey, that was amazing. I had a great experience.” Through food, and specifically through empanadas, I was able to do that.
Have to ask: What’s your favorite Market Basket product?
Oh my gosh, there are so many. Just the number of international foods that they offer is awesome. There’s a cheese called queso de freir, frying cheese, which is delicious. You can slice it up and pan-fry it with a little bit of oil and serve it for breakfast or on arepas. I love that cheese!
What’s your favorite restaurant when you’re not working?
That’s a tricky one. There are so many good ones. I love Lucca. I love Italian food. I’ve gone to the North End a lot and tried a bunch of those restaurants. In East Boston, there are a lot of authentic Colombian restaurants, which I also love, like El Peñol.
Which restaurants do you really miss that no longer exist?
A lot of Portuguese places. They weren’t necessarily restaurants but small markets where you could go and get fresh fish. They used to have a hot bar, and you could get fresh fish and these little codfish fritters. I just remember going with my dad, and he would buy cheese. He would buy bread. He would buy all that good stuff. A lot of those stores have closed. There’s not really much left in Cambridge to that effect. Now, we have to go all the way to Fall River and New Bedford.
On that note: Tell me what you think the Boston food scene might be missing. What do you wish there were more of?
I think there’s a lot of diversity in the Boston food scene. I love seeing so many different cuisines. I’ve seen Polish restaurants. Anything. You name it. What’s missing? That’s a tough question.
I don’t know if Boston does a good enough job of promoting smaller restaurants and connecting them with customers. There are so many up-and-coming chefs at the commercial kitchen we’re at. We’re at Clovers Kitchen in Woburn. There’s a bunch of them: There’s Clovers; there’s Commonwealth Kitchen. There are so many smaller chefs who are trying to get their products out there.
But it’s been tough for a lot of the people who we work with to find a place to sell their products, especially in Boston, where we know there’s that demand and that people love to eat and love food. I think [we need to] bridge that gap between getting to the idea and then creating a space where you can actually serve it. Which is why I think Hub Hall is great: It’s basically a little place where people can go and try different restaurants. I feel like more of that, with maybe a little bit of transition, would be really good for Boston.
Do you think places like Hub Hall are the wave of the future? Do you see yourself wanting a brick-and-mortar? Or are pop-ups and food halls what people will want?
I think it’s definitely evolving. I think large-scale restaurants are tough for small entrepreneurs. I think, for us specifically, we definitely want our own place, but it has to be a hybrid model. It can’t just be a restaurant. We would need to have almost a small empanada factory where we make our empanadas there and sell wholesale but also offer the more personal experience, serving empanadas as we’ve always served them, ready to eat hot and fresh out of the fryer.
I think definitely having Hub Hall concepts where it’s a few different flavors together is going to be the new wave. You’ve seen them pop up all over the city — but then also a more hybrid model of dining and food production; maybe even classes and education.
What’s your favorite snack?
Veggies. Carrots.
You’re making me feel bad.
No, no, I also have an addiction to Hot Fries, which I tried to calm down with the veggies.
What makes a good empanada?
Flaky dough that’s not too thick and not too oily. A filling that’s flavorful. The right amount of salt, and then a good amount of filling.
Where can we find you after March?
We actually have a physical empanada cart, which we acquired a few months ago. We’re hoping to have that in Faneuil Hall. We haven’t finalized anything yet, but hopefully we’ll be there this summer.