Of love and arepas: What happens when you fall in love a second time
Julio Poletti/ The Palm Beach Post
Published Feb. 2, 2017
If you frequent the local green markets in South Florida, you’re bound to come across a vibrant orange tent with a long line. From Miami to West Palm Beach to Pembroke Pines, the TocToc Arepas stand is hard to miss.
As you peek at the food, you see a bright yellow sandwich holding sliced red tomatoes, delicate avocado, spinach, spicy Chorizo and more.
TocToc sells arepas, a cornmeal pocket stuffed with tasty ingredients like cilantro, egg, pulled pork and cheese. But these aren’t your typical Venezuelan arepas. They’re made with sweet corn like Colombian arepas-de-choclo but stuffed inside like a Venezuelan arepa.
Why the flavor fusion? Well, opposites attract, much like the owners themselves — Gabriela Carillo and Luis Sosa.
She’s the super-friendly woman greeting customers in the front and Sosa is the super-focused chef working hard behind the grill.
They’re in sync, selling arepas by the minute. But once upon a time, these Venezuelans were just school kids in puppy love.
In an Eastern Caracas suburb lived 11 year olds Gaby and Luis. They had the same friends, played on the same block and went to the same birthday parties. But Sosa always had a different game in mind.
“I wanted to play boyfriend and girlfriend,” Sosa said on a cool Saturday afternoon while in West Palm Beach, packing up his stand.
Carillo was the sassy, popular girl who didn’t give him much attention — but then they turned 17. They dated.
“I always called him papa frita (French fry) because when we were young, McDonalds had a logo that said ‘French Fries, they’re irresistible’, and Luis was irresistible,” Carillo said, cracking up with contagious laughter. “He was athletic, with blonde hair and pretty blue eyes.”
But it didn’t last. As most teenage flings, it was strictly superficial. Not to mention, it takes time and effort to get in sync.
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Time went by — decades. They both married other people and started families. But in 2000, Sosa and Carillo crossed paths again in Caracas. This time, they were both divorced, and with nothing to lose, the irresistible Sosa turned his swag on for the second time.
“When I signed my divorce, I asked myself why not do what I want to do now? And I knew what I wanted was Gaby,” said the confident Sosa. “I was always trying to score, and she always got my attention.”
At first, it was a game of cat and mouse: running into each other at parties, grocery stores, the bank.
It wasn’t easy being so forward and starting a new relationship, Carillo remembered. After all, they both had kids now, so starting a new romance wouldn’t be so easy. Eventually, she gave in.
“It was fun because we were dating as old people this time,” she said.
Four years later, they said “I do.”
Sosa and Carillo married 13 years ago, moved to the United States and started a new life as the owners of TocToc Arepas since 2013.
The next time you’re at a South Florida green market and see those fluorescent orange flags waving in the wind, you should stop by, say hello to Gaby and Luis, and enjoy one their fusion arepas. You may even be able to taste a bit of each of them in the flavors.
How to reach them:
Twitter: @Toctocarepas
Original story here: https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/entertainment/local/2017/02/03/of-love-arepas-what-happens/7533739007/
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