Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1365748
BLUE SKIES OR GRAY, Rikki Waite found people lining up for the empanadas she made and sold at her simple, canopy-covered table at Warner Robins' International City Farmers Market. It was the summer of 2015 and her menu was short, but people clamored for the beef or cheese empanadas she made using her Panamanian grandmother's recipe. And for her stuffed avocados and free fruit water. Waite's mother, Sharon Crookshanks, helped man the camp-stove they cooked over at what they appropriately named My Grandma's Empanadas. From that successful farmers market launch pad, Waite risked opening a storefront restaurant in late 2016 at 120 S. Armed Forces Blvd., just across Ga. 247 from Robins Air Force Base. "I came to Warner Robins as a 'military brat,'" Waite said. "My mom was an Air Force master sergeant, retired now, and is still our best quality assurance person, not shy, telling me, 'too salty,' 'too spicy,' 'too mild' or 'not enough culantro.'" To Southerners, an empanada might look like a good ole' fried fruit pie, but at Waite's Panamanian-Latin American themed restaurant they're filled with beef, spicy chicken, lamb and occasionally other meats like buffalo or llama. My Grandma's also has fresh market vegetarian choices, unique carimañolas, rice dishes and other entrees, sides and desserts. Waite graduated from Warner Robins High School in 2000 but maintains she's been a businesswoman since she was 10 years old and cut up Christmas cards to sell door-to-door. "My mom was my role model," she said. "She was a single mom, and I got my work ethic seeing her not miss a day's work and taking extra jobs when needed. But as a restaurant owner now, I was never actually the great cook of the family – that was my mom and sister, Shurré Hampton." Waite said it was her sister who spent time with their grandmother, Evelia Mills, learning to cook. "And thankfully, she wrote down her recipes," Waite said. "Shurré taught me to cook." Hampton is now general manager of an insurance software company called Silvervine and prior to My Grandma's, Waite worked in software herself and was support manager for GameOfficials.net, a provider of referee scheduling software used nationwide. "I loved it but wanted out of an office," she said. "I wanted to see the sky, hear birds, be around people. And I wanted to create something of my own, see it succeed and benefit others. I wasn't the greatest cook, but I had one of the greatest recipes around." Waite said she gained insights from farmers market vendors who helped shape her restaurant's commitment to using locally grown goods and products to feed local people "the best food in the healthiest way." What some might consider drawbacks, she's happy about. "We don't have a freezer, a microwave or a deep fryer," she said. "We don't need them." Empanadas are fried in a cast-iron skillet using cold-pressed, unrefined, non-GMO sunflower oil from Oliver Farm in Pitts, Georgia. PBS featured My Grandma's on its "tasteMAKERS" program for Waite's use of the light, more healthful, fresh- tasting local sunflower oil. Waite said she started her business as economically as possible, spending B I WASN'T THE GREATEST COOK, BUT I HAD ONE OF THE GREATEST RECIPES AROUND." - RIKKI WAITE " APRIL/MAY 2021 | maconmagazine.com 89