Laid off by the pandemic, she returned home to New Jersey and launched a sweet new career in cocktail syrups
The pandemic shut down Isabella Abbate's promising hospitality career in Manhattan. But not long after she returned home to South Jersey, Abbate, 23, launched a new business.
Isabella Abbate had just been promoted to a dream hospitality job in Manhattan when the pandemic erupted. Laid off at 23, she packed up her Brooklyn apartment, went home to South Jersey, and got back to work doing takeout orders at Villari’s Lakeside, her family’s Gloucester Township restaurant.
Talking about “cool cocktails” with friends a few weeks later, Abbate had an idea.
“I wanted to start my own simple syrup business,” she said. “So I went straight into it, without expecting it to blow up this big.”
The origin story of Simply Bella’s (simplybellas.com) may sound simple enough. But the early success of this handcrafted, locally sourced brand of liquid sweeteners arises from a complex blend of hard work, entrepreneurial chops, and social media/marketing savvy.
Abbate’s discriminating palate and skillful saleswomanship add to a winning mix. She recognized that the pandemic disrupting her career and the lives of billions of others worldwide was enlarging the market for at-home cooking, including cocktails.
“During quarantine, everyone was sitting at home,” she said. “People wanted to do something fun and creative with their drinks. They wanted to switch it up.”
Abbate makes her syrups in the commercial kitchen at Villari’s, often using basil from her own garden as well as strawberries, peaches, and other local produce. The brand’s logo, packaging, and promotional materials are her work as well. And the syrup maker sells her products — an ever-evolving array of more than 20 flavors — at South Jersey farmers markets such as in Westmont, Wenonah, and Haddon Heights.
Keith Guenther first encountered Abbate at her Haddon Heights Farmers Market booth and invited her to join the lineup in Westmont, where he’s market director. “Bella has a positive, outgoing personality that just kind of draws you in,” Guenther said. “You can feel the energy of the love she has for her products.”
Said marketing professional Devon Perry, who promotes Westmont: “Bella’s branding is beautiful. She’s a vibrant addition to the market.”
“Vibrant addition” also could apply to the syrups, some of which feature unusual primary ingredients or blends for a variety of cocktail or cooking occasions. Flavors include mango/chile — Abbate recommends using it in margaritas, or as a glaze for salmon — hibiscus el diablo (vodka martinis), maple bacon (old-fashioneds), and coffee (homemade ice cream or espresso martinis).
Simply Bella’s coconut flavor is a favorite of Boston-area bartender Kayla Walazek, who found Abbate’s products on Etsy.
“I appreciate good bar tools, and her coconut simple syrup knocked it out of the park,” Walazek said from her Massachusetts home. “So I texted my best friend and said, ‘We should order a bunch of different syrups.‘”
Walazek said the syrups and the craft cocktails in which they can be used “look nice and photograph well. So people are posting photos of them. It’s free marketing.” Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok are helping put the brand on the map.
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Abbate feeds these social media platforms when not making, packaging, selling, and shipping syrup. She also tends the outdoor Tiki Bay Bar at Villari’s on weekends.
“She’s always had a knack for the business, and an entrepreneurial thing as well. It’s in the blood,” her father, Nick Abbate, said.
“My daughter is very dedicated. I see her in here early in the morning,” he added. “She’s completely involved and has full belief in what she is doing. She has my total admiration for taking on this role and what she’s accomplished in such a short space of time. It comes from her upbringing, and her education.”
Isabella Abbate is a graduate of Johnson & Wales University. It was on the Providence, R.I., campus that she met Marriott executive David Salcfas, who had brought one of his college-age children to take a look at the university. Abbate was their volunteer tour guide; Salcfas was so impressed with her knowledge and enthusiasm for the hospitality industry that he suggested she get in touch after graduation.
Abbate did, and after being completing a Marriott training program she was hired by the company to work at one of its Manhattan properties. Salcfas had just promoted her to concierge manager at the Marriott East Side, where he is general manager, when word came down that the pandemic meant layoffs for 500 employees. And for Abbate.
“She’s taken lemons and turned them into lemonade,” he said.
“That’s a pretty good explanation,” Abbate agreed.
While making syrup in South Jersey is different from being on the management track at a busy Manhattan hotel, she’s jazzed by what she calls the business of “bringing hospitality to the comfort of your own home.”
“I want to take my business bigger,” said Abbate. “I want to take it wholesale.”