Meet Gabrielle Almeter of Gabrielle’s Vegan Delights in Midtown

Today we’d like to introduce you to Gabrielle Almeter.

Gabrielle, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was born in La Jolla, California, almost 18 years ago. Very little about my childhood was conventional—I attended the only Waldorf School in the valley, a school-based on a theory that learning should take a holistic approach. My mother is an immigrant from the Philippines, while my father was born and raised in Northern California. As a result, my childhood was a mesh of two very different cultures, melded together by the idea of the “American Dream”—economic and social mobility that both of my parents worked hard to achieve. I moved from California to Arizona because of my dad’s job, and I’ve attended a performing arts school for the past eight years with an emphasis on choral studies.

A lot of my interests stem from my mom—new age thinking, astrology, vegetarianism, and yoga were passed down to me in my formative years, philosophies of living that I still incorporate into my life today. She’s a big part of the reason that I love vegan and vegetarian food. Growing up in suburban America, I didn’t know a lot of kids who were like me. There are various idiosyncrasies to growing up in a mixed household, many of which are hard to understand unless you’ve experienced it. But that’s the beauty of living in America—there truly is no normal, and the more that you open your eyes to the people around you, the more you realize that. Moving to New York City next year for college, I’m excited to experience this idea of the “multiculturalism” on steroids.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
My junior year, I began interning for an NGO where I was constantly networking at fancy hotels and convention centers. I’ve realized that when you’re young and hustling, you have to become someone who is persistent, alert, charismatic. I had to push myself to become this person—I’m pretty quiet and introverted. I’ve gone through periods where I barely talk. I remember the level of discomfort I felt the first time I attended one of these events. It takes me years to warm up to most people, yet here I was, in a room of strangers, having to pretend to be their best friend to promote my product. It was terrifying.

I learned to find confidence through my image—when I walk in a room with stilettos and red lipstick, that confidence happens to come a lot more naturally. And as silly as networking may sound, it’s ridiculously important for getting jobs, references, and in general, establishing a professional community who can attest to your abilities and track record. Now that I’ll be looking for a job soon, these connections are especially vital. My internship taught me that there’s a way to be confident in an understated manner, and I’ve used that to the best of my advantage. I’ve realized that you have to have thick skin and be secure mentally before making decisions and pursuing your dreams. Trust me—I’ve learned this the hard way.

We’d love to hear more about your work.
It started as a passion that developed into an Instagram page for my friends and family to see. Traveling around the world as a child, I was always fascinated by different cuisines. Whenever we were traveling and my parents decided to eat at a seafood/meat specializing restaurant, I would ask for a vegetarian alternative. Nine out of ten times, I would end up with a plate of vegetables. Like, just vegetables. No sauce, no flavoring, nothing… Knowing that there were definitely more variations of vegetarian food than that, I took the initiative to make different recipes I found browsing through various blogs. Eventually, I began tweaking them to my preference.

All of my closest friends are vegan or vegetarian too, so whenever we hang out, we love to cook different recipes that we’re curious about trying and document it through social media. Seeing that I’ll be studying journalism at NYU next year, I’d love to work in food journalism and make a living traveling and trying food. That sounds fun, right? Maybe not 100% realistic, but a girl can dream.

Contact Info:

• Email: gabriellealmeter@gmail.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/gabriellesvegandelights

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