Andrea Gonzmart Williams

She graduated from the University of South Florida in 2001 with a Bachelor of Science from the College of Business Administration.  While she was at USF, she was an active member of Alpha Delta Pi Sorority.

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Andrea joined the family business full time after graduating from USF. Upon graduation, she worked at the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City for six weeks of hands-on culinary training in the kitchen; she was the first female to ever work in the Ybor City kitchen. 

 

Andrea works at the corporate office in Ybor City and is actively involved in the operations of all of Columbia Restaurant Group’s restaurants, which include five Columbia Restaurant locations, the Columbia Café at the Tampa Bay History Center and Columbia Restaurant Cafe at Tampa International Airport, Ulele, Goody Goody and Casa Santo Stefano. She is also Director of Operations for Cha Cha Coconuts, a tropical bar and grill in Sarasota also owned by the Columbia Restaurant Group.

 

Andrea works with her father, President Richard Gonzmart, on new recipe development for all of their current and formative concepts, as well as maintaining and developing the Columbia’s award-winning wine lists. 

 

Andrea enjoys representing her family and her restaurants in any way she can.  She has appeared on Emeril Lagasse’s “Emeril’s Florida” on the Cooking Channel, Katie Lee’s “Beach Bites” on Food Network, and Zane Lamprey’s “Drinking Made Easy.”  She has also appeared on many local and national shows, preparing famous dishes from the Gonzmart family restaurants.

 

Gonzmart’s Current Community Service:

 

• Tourist and Development Council for Hillsborough County

• University of South Florida Foundation Board of Directors

• The Florida Aquarium Board of Directors.

• Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association Hillsborough County Chapter Board of Directors.

• Council for the Humane Society of Tampa Bay, where she enjoys volunteering with her daughter Amelia.  She and her husband also served as honorary chairs to HSTB’s 10th Annual Tuxes and Tails, their largest annual fundraiser.

 

Gonzmart’s Past Community Involvement: 

• Served in 2012 as Chairman of the Board for the Ybor City Chamber of Commerce's Board of Directors, following in the footsteps of five of her family members, including her grandparents Cesar and Adela Gonzmart, her father, Richard Gonzmart, and her uncles Casey and Cesar Gonzmart Jr.    

• Served on the Executive Committee of the Ybor City Chamber of Commerce as Vice-Chair of Marketing. 

• Served on the Board of Directors for the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota. 

• Served on a panel for the Tampa Bay Times dedicated to developing diversity and culture in the Tampa Bay community.

• Served on the Board of Directors for Arté 2007, a celebration of Latin American arts that included 22 major art organizations in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Polk counties. 

• Served on the Hillsborough Community College Foundation Board of Directors.

 

Gonzmart has received the following honors and professional memberships:

 

• Named one of “30 Under 30” by the Tampa Bay Business Journal

• Certified as a Spanish Wine Educator from The Wine Academy of Spain

• Named one of “40 Under 40” by the Gulf Coast Business Review

• The Confrérie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, an organization founded in 1248 for the great chefs of Europe. 

 

Family & Personal Interests

 

Andrea is following in her grandparents Cesar and Adela’s footsteps as an artist and musician, and like her grandmother Adela did, she enjoys playing the piano. 

 

She is active in her Father’s Run for Life and supports its goal to help find a cure for cancer – 100% of the proceeds are donated to Moffitt Cancer Center.  She is also very active in their Gonzmart Family Foundation.  Andrea works closely with her father in the over 31 scholarships that the family and company fund for the Latino Scholarship at the University of South Florida.  These scholarships allow academically talented, but financially challenged students, the chance for a college education.  Just like her father, Andrea is passionate about giving back to the community that has supported their family and business for over 117 years.

 

Andrea enjoys cooking and has helped her parents by acting as a celebrity chef at their home for charitable dinners.

 

She is an avid runner and has completed 10 full 26.2 mile marathons.  

 

Andrea is married to Beau Williams, and has a daughter, Amelia, who is a member of the sixth generation of the Hernandez/Gonzmart family.