You might not expect to find a fancy bistro when driving through the mountains in northern New Mexico, but that is exactly what you will find in the small mountain town of Peñasco. Sugar Nymphs Bistro shares building space with the town theater and is a place where people come from near and far to eat a meal and relax.

“We are a destination,” said Ki Holste, owner of Sugar Nymphs Bistro. “We have been written up in every major food magazine. People literally come and eat with us from all over the world. We are even in an Italian tourist manual.”

Holste, a pastry chef, started the business in 2001 with Kai Harper Leah, a former chef of Greens in San Francisco. They chose to open her restaurant in the Peñasco theater building to be close to community activities. The building is old though, and over time needed upgrades the small business could not afford.

The old septic system presented one major problem the restaurant faced. The large amount of water used by the Bistro overwhelmed the tank and cost Holste thousands of dollars every year to have it pumped out. Holste shared she considered looking for a new building, or even a new community, to move her business if she couldn’t figure out a more permanent solution.

Then, in 2020, Holste found out about possible help from a Rural Development Rural Business Development Grant. She worked with MAS Comunidad, a local nonprofit that supports Peñasco and the surrounding communities, to apply for the grant and received funds to update the septic to a mini sewer system that can handle the amount of water used by the restaurant.

“It helps not having to troubleshoot problems all the time with the septic, which is where we were at,” said Holste. “It is so much less stressful, and of course, when I don’t have to focus my energy there, I get to focus my energy more on having a restaurant and how to make that work better.”

Aside from fixing the septic issues, the grant funds also paid to upgrade the bathroom to make it accessible in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and added two extra stalls.

“Having an ADA compliant bathroom is so helpful,” said Holste. “It not only helps people with disabilities and older people, but also is larger for parents and children. Also, our building has a theater in it so when we have events it makes it much easier for my customers and the theater customers to coexist happily because there are enough restrooms.”

In addition, the restaurant could not afford to update the outdated galvanized kitchen hood to bring the restaurant in compliance with fire code. A second Rural Business Development Grant that MAS Comunidad applied for in 2022 came to the rescue for this expense as well.

“Now that we have the hood, we are going to get a fryer,” said Holste. “That means we can expand our menu. A fryer will expand the number of people that want to come and eat with us because french fries, they are king.”

The 2022 grant will pay for the fryer and replace a broken espresso machine. The new machine will mean that Holste can hire another employee.

“The grants have definitely increased my capacity for menu and sales and those sorts of things,” said Holste. “Beyond helping me stay in business, it has also helped me increase my business.”

Keeping businesses open is important for small communities. Not only for the services they provide, but also for the employment they offer. Sugar Nymphs Bistro is a large employer for the small town, employing up to 20 people during the busy summer months.

“I have employed everyone’s kids, grandkids, every family in this town has someone who has worked for me,” said Holste. “I have women that have worked for me for years because they don’t have to drive anywhere. They can run over to school if they have a problem with their kids and come back.”

Holste also shared she believes the restaurant adds value to the town by helping make it a place to stop at instead of just being a place to drive through.

“It’s not the smartest choice to have a restaurant in the middle of nowhere New Mexico. It’s just the loveliest place to have a restaurant,” said Holste. “I love my crew, I love where we live, and I love my customers, but profitability-wise it isn’t great. The type of projects we do with the USDA grants, they really do help. They increase my capacity for having more customers. It makes it so that I can actually do more. I can actually provide for more customers and make them happier.”

To learn more about how USDA Rural Development might be able to help you or your business, visit the programs page.

For more information on how MAS Comunidad helps their community with Rural Business Development Grants, read their story here.