Published January 28, 2025
BY TULLAH McCOLL
Although Petrina Pinto, Class of 2016, and Nile Estep, Class of 2009, did not cross paths at Carmel High School, while returning home during the pandemic, the two passionate and driven entrepreneurs found their future business and life partner. As they both grew a love for the community, good food and sustainability in different ways throughout their upbringing, Pinto and Estep now work collaboratively to achieve their dreams in life together.
Petrina Pinto and Nile Estep work with other local farmers in providing the local community with organic produce year round. (courtesy of PETRINA PINTO)
At the end of their backpacking trip in September 2024, the two got engaged in Sicily, Italy, Pinto’s family’s original home country, at the Temple of Concordia, known as the goddess of marriage and balance.
As Pinto and Estep engineered their own small-businesses, Parsley + Fig and Good Roots, they have also grown together through their shared business endeavor, Hacienda Hay & Feed, a Carmel Valley community hub and marketplace. This experience teaches them valuable life lessons: the importance of clear and constant communication, trust in one another’s visions, boundaries, honesty and an open mind in both their work and relationship.
“I always knew I wanted to create my own business,” Pinto explains, “but I didn’t think it would be directly out of college.”
After graduating from CHS and finishing her studies at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obisbo, Pinto went on to start her own salad dressing and sauce company, Parsley + Fig.
With the purpose of bringing locals back to their roots of quality food, Petrina Pinto and Nile Estep established Radici Market. (courtesy of PETRINA PINTO)
“[Growing up] we made our own salad dressing,” the health enthusiast says. “I would always make this one balsamic vinaigrette for family dinners and in college with my group of friends, and people would ask for the recipe.”
Pinto feels fortunate to have come from an Italian family that is health forward, enjoys going to the farmers markets, grows many of their own ingredients and raised her around high quality food where she could see and understand where it had been sourced.
Salad dressing may seem simple to some people, but Pinto had a different take on it. Eco-friendly practices like the absence of additives and preservatives and the use of reusable glass containers, compostable packaging and utensils are important to the business. Pinto also makes a conscious effort to keep every aspect of her business local.
“We use Big Paws olive oil out of Hollister,” Pinto says. “We [also] use Amen Bee’s Honey out of San Martin. We also grow the majority of the herbs that we use in our ingredients, like our basil and parsley.”
One of the shared passions between Pinto and Estep is bringing local businesses together to help the greater community.
“I was raised with delicious local dishes being a cornerstone of my upbringing,” shares Estep, a Carmel Valley Native.
Hacienda Hay & Feed occupies land that was once one of Californias first certified organic farms, managed by Russel Wolter in 1947 to 2000. (courtesy of PETRINA PINTO)
Estep owns Good Roots, a company focused on building relationships between small businesses and community members throughout the Bay Area. Managing events, such as the Carmel-by-the-Sea Farmers Market, allows nearby farmers, food purveyors and artisans to be showcased at a larger scale.
In 2021, Estep found another way to help the community and do what he enjoys most when he and his fiancé purchased and personalized Hacienda, a piece of land that has held importance to those living, and farming, in Carmel Valley since 1940.
“I envisioned it as a multigenerational space that celebrates culture, music, art and creativity while embracing a sustainable, rural way of life,” Estep says.
To truly create this space, Estep explains that a market component was necessary. Soon after he took ownership, Radici Market was added to Hacienda in order to help Carmel-by-the-Sea Farmers Market vendors who struggled with the temporary shutdown of the event due to intense storm conditions.
“A big part of Radici Market is radici, which means roots in Italian…bringing people back to real food,” Pinto describes.
The farm at Hacienda uses regenerative agricultural practices, a method that strives to work with the land’s natural processes and care for the ecosystem as a whole. However, the young couple agree that, within their business, sustainability means various things outside of environmental impacts: maintaining a reliable workforce, being accessible and finding joy and passion in their work for long term success.
Estep, expressing gratitude towards the Carmel community, says, “In many ways, I see the Farmers’ Market and our community space, Hacienda, as my way of giving back and showing appreciation to those who supported and believed in me during my youth.”
