Twenty-one-year-old culinary artist Leslie Tejada has come a long way from the Dominican Republic, where she spent her first ten years. Briarwood Mall was impressed enough with her cupcakes—and her Instagram presence—to lease her space for The Plates of Joyy, which opened September 20.
The Lincoln High grad found mentorship and professional passion working at a vegan food station in the U-M’s South Quad dining hall. Now she’s bootstrapping a cottage kitchen side hustle into a walk-up storefront in the mall’s food pavilion.
The one-woman shop offers “clean and elegant” cupcakes starting at $2.50, cheesecake cups, and cake, accepting custom orders as well. She plans to offer coffee and complimentary flavored waters for the mall’s fitness walkers.
Her only hands-on help comes from her mother, who ran a restaurant out of her garage before they immigrated to join Tejada’s stepfather in Michigan.
Tejada says she prefers whipped topping to buttercream to create cupcakes that are airy and not cloyingly sweet, and gold flakes are her “signature move” in decorating them. The business name is a continuation of her Instagram page (with an extra “y” because “joy” was already taken).
“I’ve been living on my own since I was eighteen,” she smiles. “So I’ve been doing everything possible to make this happen, and it’s literally made every day just feel better, because I have a purpose.
“I just feel like once people give me a chance, they won’t ever give up on me.”
The Plates of Joyy, Briarwood Mall (food pavilion). Mon.–Sat. 10 a.m.–9 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.–6 p.m. instagram.com/theplatesofjoyy
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