Hi There,
I’m Brooklynn & here’s my story
I’ll start with me falling for a guy in the military.
We got married, and with that came something I hadn’t fully planned for: my husband’s 14-year commitment of military service for his undergrad and medical training. Which means we go where the Army sends us.
I’ve always dreamed of owning my own restaurant. And as you can imagine, moving with the Army makes that quite difficult.
So I got creative.
The horse trailer.
I had just left my line cook position at ABC Kitchen in New York City — a James Beard Award-winning restaurant in the Jean-Georges group — when the Army took us somewhere new. I found myself scraping by as an assistant at Sur La Table cooking classes, surrounded by food every day and quietly planning something much bigger. Inspired by a Pinterest photo, I romanticized a horse trailer I could build into a mobile pizzeria and take with us wherever the Army sent us next.
When my dad heard my plan, he went and found an old rusted horse trailer and bought it for me. He believed I could do it and this pushed me to actually go for it. Then the whole family showed up. My dad and husband did a lot of the heavy labor themselves making something worn-out structurally sound and beautiful. We painted it my favorite shade of sage green with vintage VW white accents. My siblings and cousins were even recruited as some of my first employees. It was a full family affair.
We imported the pizza oven straight from Italy, fitted with Saputo stones handcrafted in Naples — delicate and irreplaceable. My very own mobile pizzeria. One I could take with us wherever the Army sent us next..
It worked.
Our horse trailer became one of the most sought-after wedding caterers in the area. We had regulars at the farmers market who came back every single week. One of our very first wedding clients wrote something I still think about: she said I had put my heart and soul into every aspect of the business — and that it showed.
Watching people take a bite and close their eyes never got old.
That feeling is the whole reason I cook.
Then orders came for Hawaii.
I was in my third trimester with our second baby.
The trailer wasn’t built for rain, and Hawaii gets a lot of it. Shipping a hand-crafted Neapolitan stone oven across the Pacific felt like gambling with something irreplaceable. Starting over in a brand-new market, with no existing customers, and a newborn arriving any day.
It didn’t feel doable.
So we sold it. To a family who loved it — and it’s still running today.
I’m proud of that. And I’m still grieving it a little. Both things are true.
What that taught me.
Running that little pizzeria showed me exactly what I love about this work. The food. The menu design. The atmosphere. The moment someone tastes something and their whole face changes.
I love building a table where people slow down, connect with the people they love, and feel something good.
The taxes, the bookkeeping, the business machinery? I hated every second of it.
So this time, I’m building differently. Starting with the part I love — the cooking, the recipes, the community — and growing toward the restaurant when the foundation is ready.
No rusted trailer required. Just a kitchen, whatever city we’re in, and the same dream I’ve always had.
Who I am.
I’m Brooklynn Mayolo — formally trained in the culinary arts, shaped by experiences across nearly 30 countries, and refined under Chef Jean-Georges in New York City. Today, I’m a mother of three, a military spouse, and still the same woman who hasn’t stopped romanticizing her restaurant dream for a single day. A Pleasant Palate is where I cook through the chaos, the moves, the dinners that have to happen regardless, and the dream I’m building back up one meal at a time.
And here’s where you come in.
I’m building this restaurant dream in public. The wins, the pivots, the lessons learned the hard way — I’m sharing it because the best things get built with people.
If you’ve ever had to put something you loved on hold — a career, a dream, a version of yourself — and you’re quietly figuring out how to pick it back up, you’re going to feel at home here. Because that’s what this place is. A table where you’re seen. Where the meal was made with you in mind. Where the chaos of the day gets to pause for a little while.
Come cook with me. Follow the dream. And when the restaurant finally opens, you’ll know you were part of how it happened.
Cooking should feel pleasant. Not a chore, not a performance, not one more decision in an already exhausting day. Warm. Grounding. Worth sitting down for.
That’s what a pleasant palate means to me. And that’s what I’m building one meal at a time, in whatever kitchen life hands me next.
Welcome to my table.
— Brooklynn