Keep Austin Delicious by LASA Ezine

Keep Austin Delicious Spring Ezine 2022

Top Taco Abby Janes La Tralita Bakeshop LOCAL SLICES La Patisserie Hecho En Mexico Zucchini Kill

Table of Contents MEET THE EDITORS

An Opening to a Delicious World By: Luis Galvan

Mexican Foods Road to Prominence to Austin By: Luis Galvan

The Culture of Taco Trucks By: Salim Kapasi

The Best Food Trucks in Austin By: Salim Kapasi 4 | Keep Austin Delicious

Self-Made: To Each Their Definition By: Rue Nava

Local Slices By: Rue Nava

Bringing Back the Bakery By: Gracie Philips

Peachy Keen Cobbler By: Gracie Philips Keep Austin Delicious | 5

MEET THE EDITORS My name is Luis Galvan and some of my favorite hobbies are playing video games, hanging out with friends, and playing the cello. Playing the cello is a nice way for me to enjoy music because it allows me to express myself. When I graduate from high school, I want to either become a pychologist, video game designer, or a programmer that deals with any coding language. An interesting fact about me is that I have been to Disney World with my family every few years since I was born.

My name is Salim Kapasi. One of my favorite hobbies is playing ultimate frisbee with my friends and team, but when I feel like relaxing, my go to is video games. I don’t know where my life is going to go, but I’m just hoping that high school is a good chance to find out what I want to do later in life. One unexpected thing that people probably don’t know about me is that I’ve been in four different states at once.

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I am Rue Nava, a 15-year-old girl, who loves doing art and writing stories. Throughout my feature story, I want to explore the meaning of being self-made as well as restaurants and their origins. I hope to be a writer or go into a STEM related field after I graduate from the pristine academia, LASA. Although I have been academic perfection, in the beginning of the year, I accidentally snorted slushy on my friend.

My name is Gracie Philips! I want to be a veterinarian because of my love for animals, and my dogs Bear, Ty and Lola. Throughout my feature story I want to explore the way COVID has impacted various bakeries in Austin, inspired by my passion for baking. My passion is demonstrated by the array of pastries I’ve prepared. Despite my love for the sweetest aspects of life, the weirdest thing about me is that I occasionally enjoy cheese with hummus.

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The front of the Hecho en Mexico in Los Angelos. Courtesy of Four Square

AN opening to a deliciouS World Do you have what it takes to be a resturant owner?

By Luis Galvan

It’s the American dream to be able to settle down and open a business while generating lots of cash. There are many different paths one could take when opening a business, but the most common or well known businesses to open are food related ones like fast food, restaurants, or diners. Restaurants are almost never out of demand in times of normalcy due to everyone needing to eat and sometimes people are just too lazy to cook for themselves. This is where profit rests are being ready to be made for those who are willing. Just in the year of 2021 alone the restaurant industry had it’s sales reach up to a high number of almost $800 billion which is impressive in itself for being able to stay so high despite the trouble which the pandemic has thrown towards the industry throughout the years forcing people to change tricks and techniques which brings in new innovative ideas and reforms constantly ensuring that it doesn’t die out and lose business in this competitive world. In Austin currently in the year 2022 to fully dive into the world of restaurants you’ll need to purchase some land or preferably a commercial building to open a restaurant. The price may vary, but a person would want their future restaurant to be in an area with a lot of traffic of people incoming for access to customers. For a commercial building it would cost someone several hundreds of thousands of dollars like about $300,000+. Either purchasing a commercial building or you can take a much more chosen path of renting out a commercial space. Despite this high cost there are more things which pile up when starting up a restaurant. Hiring staff is one very important factor when it comes to being an owner since you cannot be a one man operation and doing all the work, you need waiters/waitresses, cooks, janitors, and managers. Hiring can be quite costly though since hiring even one waiter can

cost up to thousands of dollars in paying them and also spending time and money to train them. Then positions like managers could even go up to as high as $15,000 as an initial amount spent on top of the amount needed for their salaries which is typically $30,000 to $80,000. These may all seem like very overwhelming numbers and statistics coming your way, but these are all needed for only the initial step towards making your restaurant come to be.

For Lease sign for a retail place Courtesy of Dreamstime.

Bills like water and electricity, and others like furniture, furnishing of the interior of your restaurant, commercials for spreading the news or interesting people coming to your restaurant. All of these fees and costs rapidly build up so this goes to show that before you jump into the world of owning a restaurant a person will need to have a lot of money prepared along with maybe a few loans. This could be a daunting ordeal to have to deal with while considering opening a restaurant. Despite the large sums of money you need to enter the restaurant owning business once you pay the money you basically have just invested it into a steady form of cash income. Typically the average for restaurant owners in the state of Texas you can expect them to take home a salary of $30,000 on the very low end all the way up to $155,000. At a glance this might be seen as a low amount due to the fact that you quite literally own a business, but once you add in the factors such as once it kicks off you get a general steady and secure flow of cash it will stay

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that way (unless stuff like the pandemic happens, but hey that’s once every 100 years), they won’t be as labor intensive on the owner due to having already hired staff and managing staff for the restaurant, and there will always be more opportunities to open up even more restaurants of your own which can potentially build up a generally secure cash flow throughout a long term period of time if done correctly. Generally there are a lot of mistakes some one can make while starting up their business for restaurants. Cutting quality all for the ability to save a little bit of money is one of those mistakes. A restaurant should focus on the quality of the experience and food since that’s the main representation of the restaurant. Another mistake is allowing your staff team to shrink via not hiring enough staff. It is well known that restaurants require a lot of labor and attention to detail which over time build up on the low amount of staff there and in long term occasions drive them away from staff into eventually quitting. Lastly, one very crucial mistake that some restaurants make is not listening to the customers either in the form of complaints in person or online. Have you ever heard the line “the customer is always right?” Well this is for good reason sometimes due to being able to please the customer in a way that they come back or become a regular. With different restaurants comes different expectations of the customer. I asked the owner of Casa Chapala Guadalupe Barragan what he thought on the matter. “You want to ensure you have staff to provide the best customer service in the front of the house. This is not a fast food joint that spits out burgers that are

A image of Casa Chapalas interior design to entail what a resturant owner should go for in terms of look for their restaurtant. Courtesy of the Austin chronicals

prepared in advance. The full service restaurant is as much about the experience as it is about the great food. You want to ensure that the customer is taken care of. In the kitchen you gotta manage the food costs, keep an eye for consistency,so the enchiladas taste the same way every day, even if you own more than one location. So, there is more oversight in my opinion” Barragan said. Which if you break down the massive factors of a restaurant compared to some burger joint or fast food place he’s right. If you chose to build a fast food place as your restaurant your main focus would be to get food out as fast as possible, but with restaurants you have to focus on attention to details, decor of the restaurant, type of food, how much food you have on your menu, and more. There are many people who become restaurant owners in their lives. At times people don’t ever dream of owning a restaurant, but later on in life other roles take place which help them end up where they are in the present day. I asked the owner of Casa Chapala about if they ever aspired to become a restaurant owner when they were a kid. “Not really, when I was a kid, I helped my parents with work around the house. I did learn how to cook from my mother” Barragan said.

The look of Cheesecakes inside illustrating what a custom would see on their way inside the restaurant. Courtesy of Cheesecake factory

If you are interested in going to the restaurants mentioned like the Casa Chapala or Hecho en Mexico please do not hesitate to since they are great stories and representations of how hard work and determination helped create something for their respective communities.

Interior of a busy restaurant being the Oasis. This should be what restaurant owners strive for (basically to have a busy restaurant often). Courtesy of The Oasis Food from Hecho en Mexico being showcased on Quandoo. Courtesy of Quandoo.

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In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s industrialization and urbanization the U.S. would begin to start opening up to the world and start significantly receiving more immigrants from all parts of the world, from all walks of life, and all with different cultures and heritages. People can from far and wide to come to the U.S. in pursuit of a new life. Some people being from Germany, Britain, Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Russia. Although this is interesting today we’ll be talking about Our neighbors from the South with a culturally rich background spanning from the ancient Mayans and Aztecs to current times with a population of proud people. and they have an even greater group of cuisine

Life would go on for every one in the U.S. until the later half of the 1900’s where Mexican food through the immigrants from Mexico would grow mass popularity through out the country of the U.S. . Many popular restaurants would pop up all along the southern states) some to mention would be El Charro Cafe ( in Tucson Arizona) which opened in the 1922 cementing it’s place as a first step towards Mexican cuisine building it’’s foundation in the U..S.’s food industry.

Fast forward to today in the great 21st century where Mexican restaurants are a huge part of the food industry. In Austin places like Chuy’s (native to the southern states of the U.S.), Chipotle which attracts many people, Hecho En Mexico, and one more to name Veracruz All Natural no matter where you go in Austin Mexican food would be too far.

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Mexican foods road to prominence in Austin

By: Luis Galvan

Mexican Immigration didn’t start occurring until after the MexicanAmerican War,, but shortly after immigration from Mexico began to trickle and then grow significantly after quite a bit of time. . Around the timing of the 1930’s the U.S. was festered with unemployment, so the general U.S. grew more perceptions positive perceptions of immigrant so they asked immigrants to come over and basically fill in for the mass unemployment. One group of people who would come over to the U.S. would be Mexicans.

People who would come from Mexico would come and join the work force by getting temporary work Visas . Work employers loved having workers from Mexico because they were said to supposedly to be stronger. More willing to do work (labor) and more. While the people From Mexico spent their time in the U.S. many of the people would go on to stay for longer amounts of time being able to soak in the U.S. culture and joining the general populaces of the citizens. Which would then move onto people settling down with their families in the U.S.

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The Culture Of Taco Trucks A Detailed Analysis of the Culture of Taco Trucks In Austin By: Salim Kapasi

The food from veracruz all natural, a popular taco truck chain located in Austin Texas. Photo Credit of Veracruz All Natural

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Wouldn’t it be great if whenever you walk around, you smell delicious aromas of food, you hear the sizzling of meats being cooked on a grill, you could see many vendors selling their delicious creations? And when you order the food, you taste a culture that has been building up for many years? These sensations make up one of the most prominent cultures of Austin. As of 2022, food trucks in Austin make up 2% of all Austin food vendors, but they make up a large culture in Austin. Many of those food trucks are taco trucks, hence the fact that Austin has the best tacos in Texas, and Texas shares a border with Mexico, a country famous for their tacos, proving competition for austin vendors. The owners of these taco trucks either want to contribute to the culture, help their family, or to make ends meet. Jorge Humphrey, the owner of Top Taco, wanted to contribute to the culture. He knew the most about latin food, so he decided to open a taco truck. He has been in the food industry for 16 years, and decided to open a food truck in Austin to expand upon the culture. Tex Mex was out of the People eating at the taco truck Veracruz All Natural. This truck is question for him, it was not authentic located in Austin Texas, and is one of the most popuar taco trucks there. enough, and he wanted to make the Photo credit by Veracruz All Natural. cuisine that he knew the best, Mexican food. “I chose the thing that I had the most knowledge about, and I chose restaurant, etc. make ends meet. Her mom used tacos”, Jorge said. “I wanted to make “It was inspired by my mom”, said to run a business in Austin serving authentic foods, not tex mex. I wanted David. “She’s always working in the snow cones and fruit juices, barely to provide the best quality service of all industry for restaurants and stuff making enough money to pay for time.” like that. And it was just time for her rent. Eventually people started David Salinas, the owner of Mi to move on. We both got together. coming to her business, asking for Trailita, wanted to help his family out. I was the brains of the operation. more food, like tacos. After 3 years, He didn’t want his mom to be bossed She was the cook, the prepping the business expanded, they bought around in the kitchen all the time, so and everything in the food. So we a bigger truck, and the sisters he created his business with her. Many kind of make a good duo. And (Reyna and Maritza Vasquez) took family members work there too, like that’s how we got started” over from their mom, and started to his sister. His mom created the menu, Reyna Vazquez, the owner of make their dream come true. and makes the food, while David is Veracruz all Natural, wanted to “We started out very small, barely the brains of the operation, going make enough money to at least making ends meet,” Reyna said. around, advertising, getting stock for his

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One of the many taco trucks of Veracruz All Natural, located in Austin Texas. Photo Credit of Veracruz All Natural

16 | Inside the Kitchen

“We lived paycheck to paycheck. There were times when we had to decide between using the money we made to buy products for our truck or paying rent. Times were really hard and we had no one but each other. Our mother supported us the best she could. For three years we lived without a salary, working in the morning at a restaurant to provide for the food truck.” The COVID-19 pandemic struck. And businesses had many different outcomes. Some businesses stayed the same, some businesses grew even more and some tanked. Fortunately for taco truck owners, the accessibility and safeness of the space that people eat at boosted their businesses by a lot for the most part. Taco trucks are open air, COVID-19 is not able to transmit as easily if it were in an enclosed space. “Since we’re mostly to go at the food truck, it hasn’t really affected us a lot,” said David, whose business has not been affected by the pandemic much. ”In terms of customers, we still get the same or more customers in the future. The thing that has affected most from COVID is the stock. Basically, we’re having problems finding a lot of items. We have to switch to other items temporarily until the other products are available. Plus the cost of everything’s gone way higher.” Fortunately for many taco owners such as Reyna Vasquez, the pandemic increased their rate of business. Many people couldn’t eat at brick and mortar restaurants for safety reasons, thus boosting the food truck culture even further. Austin was known for its food trucks even before the pandemic, and because of the pandemic, the amount of food trucks popping up

around Austin have been going up drastically. “Luckily business has not only been steady throughout the pandemic, but we have opened 2 new locations during the last two years,” Said Reyna “We’ve had to pivot in specific ways to be successful, stay healthy, and keep our customers healthy, but it’s been worth it. We’ve emphasized online ordering which has helped.” Jorge Humphrey, had a rough go during the pandemic. He owns a food truck and a brick and mortar. The food truck was very slow on business during the pandemic, as were most businesses. He also owned a brick and mortar at the time, and surprisingly, even though it is an enclosed space and deemed unsafe to most people, his brick and mortar restaurant helped him stay in business. “It was pretty tough, I almost didn’t make it,” Said Jorge, “One thing that helped was that I opened a brick and mortar place in NW austin. Three years ago when COVID hit, I didn’t have too much business with his food truck and the store helped him keep his business. There were some days that I didn’t even get any money, right now, thankfully my business is getting better.” But even the pandemic didn’t stop the culture of taco trucks in Austin from progressing. Many taco truck owners want to expand their business, so they can contribute to the ever growing culture. “We have to wait, next year hopefully we can do that, and a south location, more of South Austin, and maybe more locations for other cities.” Said Jorge Humphrey, owner of Top Taco. The culture of taco trucks will never stop in Austin. Tacos are

so fundamental to our society and the people of Austin, and we can’t afford to lose something so precious and important to our culture. “Stay true to our heritage, true to ourselves, and true to our customers.” Said Reyna Vasquez, who shares the same mindset as many other owners of other taco truck owners. I am sure many people can agree that tacos and taco trucks are so fundamental in Austin culture. Everywhere you look, you can find a taco truck on every corner. For many people, it’s a great thing that we have taco trucks on every corner. Let’s just hope that we can continue the uprising of the taco culture.

Migas tacos, a Veracruz All Natural specialty, photo credit of Veracruz all Natural

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Best taco trucks in Austin By Salim Kapasi

WHY TACOS?

Taco trucks are very important to the culture of austin because anybody regardless of financial status can eat at taco trucks, and everybody can enjoy them. Every person with different tastes will always find something that they can enjoy, whether its tacos or tamales or even tostadas.

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A survey conducted around lasa shows which tacos are the most popular. Out of 31 people, 11 chose Veracruz all natural, making it one of the most popular taco trucks in austin. Veracruz being one of the first taco trucks in austin, deserves the right to be one of the top with their delicious tacos, amazing service, and traditional nature. Also Torchy’s tacos got 6 out of the 31 votes. Torchy’s tacos kicked off the popularity of taco trucks in austin, and even around the state and country.

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Taco Flats

Tacos El Huache

L Comal Tacos

Cuantos Tacos

Dos El Chilango Amigos Tacos Tacos

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Pueblo Viejo

Torchy’s Tacos

Veracruz All Natural

Wild Taco

d o

Did you know that Veracruz all Natural was one of the first taco trucks in Austin? Thats right! They started in 2008. Also, another popular taco truck that kickstarted the taco movement is Torchy’s Tacos. They started in 2006, kickstarting the major taco truck movement in Austin! Despite the fact that there arent many food trucks in Austin, taco trucks easily make up the vast majority of cuisines of food trucks.

Taco trucks are essential for the aid of introducing latin culture to new areas. They also can serve tamales, burritos, tostadas and more. Some are traditional food trucks, serving only authentic food, especially food from their specific state, or even city. Some serve a more modernized version of tacos and such. Some even do fusion with other cultures such as the peached Tortilla and Chilantro.

Vegan Nom

Fun fact! Austin is the taco capital of the US, with countless restaurants and food trucks that serve tacos! Because austin is on the border, many latino immigrants are able to easily get to texas, and establish their buisness easily, adding to the authentic nature of 1 the city.

Tacos La Libertad

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SELFRue Nava

Building A Resturant

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-MADE Person cooking in a resturant kitchen. Photo courtesy of Unsplash.

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Rue Nava

A resturant kitchen that respresents a typical work day in the industry. Photo courtesy of Unsplash.

Self-Made: To Each Their Defnition

It started, as so many successful businesses do these days, as a dream. The bittersweet rush you get on a heavy shift to the satisfaction you receive working alongside your family. From the idealists, innovators, and entrepreneurs there isn’t a lack of selfmade business owners on the rise in Austin. As the world rages on, it is necessary to reflect on the priceless insight and information people are willing to share. We often hear the term “self-made” applied incorrectly by the media. For years now, “selfmade” has been a buzzword to measure the price of your dollar, the arbitrary yardstick by which dominant commerce exercises power. Power in the United States has been the same 22 | Keep Austin Delicious

Building A Restaurant shade as well as the same gender since the birth of this country. There is an undeniable fact of inequality when it comes to the highly competitive foodservice industry. “I built what I built myself ” has become the mantra for billionaires, the picture of the American dream. If you’re like most, you have been exposed to countless articles challenging the status quo, encouraging a rise of power and recognition for the immigrants that built the foundation of this country. The same immigration that provides the United States with a competitive advantage in the global economy, contributes new ideas, and a spirit of entrepreneurship to the American economy.

Owners and sisters Reyna and Maritza Vazquez are best friends and sisters. Since their childhood, Veracruz All Natural has been preparing high-quality Mexican meals, and they are no strangers to the Austin culinary scene. Vasquez made it clear throughout the interview that while her ambition played a major role in her success, so did her family. Success isn’t solely determined by your selfdetermination but rather by being consistent, creative, and occasionally lucky. “I came to Austin, following my father,” Vasquez said, “Then my sister and my mother arrived as well.

With us, we brought hope for a better life. Growing up in Mexico we had a lot of limitations. It was an excellent decision because I can’t imagine what would have occurred if we hadn’t arrived here.” Luck. It’s a classic tale, even if your individual talent was lower than that of exceptionally gifted people, they were able to achieve enormous success due to a succession of fortunate events. The world does not lack genius; it lacks prosperity as well as opportunity. But while luck plays a role in any success story, it shouldn’t take away from the hard work that’s been done. Rio Grande Tex Mex, a family-run Mexican culinary destination is primed to be a contender for one of Central Texas’ Best Restaurants, Photo of street vendors in Veracruz with owners Mario that represents the food culture in Maldonado and wife the community Vasquez grew up in. Image courtesy of Roberto Carlos Raquel Cisneros at the Román Don on Unsplash. helm. “We came here like everybody else, we tried to have a better

life and income,” Cisneros said, “I started working in the restaurant business back in the 90s, and I always tried my best for everybody. I worked for several years until I had the opportunity to rise above. If these people could do it [Americans] why couldn’t we? And we sometimes do the harder part. The floor is harder than being in the office.” The unfair distribution of opportunity is present in both Vasquez’s and Cisneros’s stories. Their lives and experiences are tied to their job and the food they curate, it is an art form, and it is their identity. With a glimpse into their lives, you can begin to assess the road they carved with a new lens. The owner of Taqueria Arandinas, Juan Escobedo prides himself on their authenticity. Having experience in the industry sets him apart from other restaurants. “The quality of food you sell is very crucial but so is your image. You need a name, a concept, and it all affects your demographic,” Juan Escobedo said. Keep Austin Delicious | 23

affects your demographic,” Juan Escobedo said. Consumer perception is what your customers think about your brand, products, services, and quality. In other words, the customer’s perception of your company, and their feelings about your brand, are influenced by their direct or indirect experiences. The dimensions of call quality, price structure, mobile devices, valueadded services, procedure convenience, and customer support are used to assess customer perception of service quality. The quality of a restaurant can be determined by one’s own indirect biases. Small businesses struggle to thrive in a competitive market because of the perception of the workers, the owners, and their personal history. Gentrification is a prime example of service perception among customers. Vasquez’s business was widely influenced by the wave of gentrification in Austin. “In 2008 the gentrification in Austin wasn’t at the scale that it is now. And for our business, honestly, 24 | Keep Austin Delicious

I would say it helped us grow. Because the product we offer is a product for a specific audience,” Vasquez said, “But it’s very sad for us to lose our regular customers who’ve been forced out of their homes due to high prices. We’ve undoubtedly had to adapt to our clientele.” Adapting to a clientele and setting goals is an essential component of running a successful business. They can help you focus, inspire personnel, and set goals for your company to achieve. Setting goals can also offer you a set of criteria to use to determine whether or not your organization is succeeding in your set market. “It was always about a goal, but these goals weren’t big. Now we’re considering the possibility of a restaurant in the next few months. When I go to the kitchen it’s rush hour, all I see are tickets. I have to step back and understand they don’t need me anymore. The business is running mostly by itself. The liberty of time is the greatest goal I could have ever imagined,” Vasquez

said. Starting as a small business gives you a perspective typical enterprises don’t have. And being that small business helps boost local economies by keeping money close to home and supporting communities and neighborhoods. “We started small in Round Rock then we got the opportunity to move to Hutto. Back then we were only fifteen hundred people. We started very little, I spent a long time wondering how we were going to be able to make this new location work. We are very blessed.” Cisneros said. When it comes down to it there were a variety of factors that contributed to their success. “Being consistent,” Cisneros said, “You have to be consistent when you are reaching a goal, every day. Sometimes you get months where you don’t grow, but you have to do it every day. Every day whether or not you are busy.” Though, the rise of success that comes with being consistent doesn’t mean

challenges completely diminish. “Keeping myself grounded. When success comes you have to learn how to manage it. We have to remind ourselves every day where we came from, and where we started. For Veracruz, it’s important to us to stay a family business, even though it’s grown we are a family. The business doesn’t solely depend on me, it depends on Ryan’s [her husband’s] design, the kitchen, and being consistent with the quality

and freshness of our food.” Vasquez said. The narrative that comes with the word “self-made” creates an image of a glittering climb to success but the truth is that the road to success changes and becomes more turbulent depending on your history. Vasquez and Cisneros’ ascension in the Austin scene was started by their efforts and fueled by their loved ones. The male-dominated back of the house remains

to be a feature of the restaurant industry. While women make up more than half of culinary graduates, just about 20% of working chefs are women, according to the US Labor Department. Hispanic-owned firms account for 4.65 million in the United States, making them the fastest-growing component of the country’s small businesses. Without question, Vasquez, and Cisneros appear to meet the criteria for being truly self-made.

Photo of a street in Mexico to represent the inspiration both Vasquez and Cisneros treasure from their birthplace. Photo courtesy of Pyro Jenka on Unsplash.

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Rue Nava

locaL sliceS A taste of Austin.

Austin doesn’t lack a variety of options when it comes to cuisine. Featuring picks from the city’s best and their specials, I take the role of a resturant critic. Local Slices is a critique on appeal, dining experience, taste, and atmosphere. It becomes clear that ABGB, Homeslice, Dough Boys, 40th North, The Backspace, and Bufalina join the small growing cluster of resturants that add to Austin’s attraction.

Wagyu Ground Beef - Abgb At ABGB, the Wagyu Ground Beef pizza is especially unique. Adorned with a blend of Italian cheeses, homemade red sauce, and house-made dough it has become a favorite among locals. It goes far beyond your basic cheese pizza: heavy with meat, and the perfect seasoning to match. The innovations of this Austin pizzeria and brewery stand out in themselves.

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Margherita - Homeslice Homeslice has a mom & pop feel with their thin-crust pizzas while managing to be an Austin Staple. The New-York Style cuisine of their Margherita pizza is both consistent and dependable. After years of being a landmark, it is refreshing to see the company hasn’t toned down its style at the expense of the rise of its business.

Eastside Girl - Dough Boys In many ways, Dough Boys’ partner in crime is their 800lb Italian wood-burning oven that adds a whole new level to their Eastside Girl pizza. Dough Boys is undoubtedly on the road to joining one of the growing, yet small, clusters of food trucks that are known throughout Texas as they provide a modern view (as well as taste) of Italian cuisine.

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Hot Honey - 40th North 40th North meets easygoing neighborhood pizza. Their Hot Honey Pizza has captured all of our attention. Organic tomato sauce, ricotta, grana padano, salumeria biellese coppa, fresno, and Mike’s hot honey are the components necessary to make this genrebending culinary masterpiece.

Bianca - the Backspace The Backspace captures the atmosphere and ambiance necessary for a perfect dining experience. Complementing both a comfortable and polished dine-in area, the thin crust Bianca Pizza truly is the star.

Red Pie - Bufalina One of the most impressive local artisanal restaurants, Bufalina Due brings their handcrafted Red Pie to the table. Gaining their rightful spot in 25 Best Restaurants in Austin in none other than the Austin Magazine, we can all see them climbing up the ladder. Though, you won’t be surprised once you try a slice for yourself.

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An assortment of delicious pastries. Photo Courtesy of Molly Allen 28 | Keep Austin Delicious

Bringing Back

the Bakery Running a bakery is very challenging, but in the end, the success of the bakery is worth every bake, sweat and bite.

By: Gracie Philips

ou’re sitting at a bakery window, eating a spectacularly soft and buttery croissant. You start thinking about the history of this delicious pastry; the hands that kneaded and twisted the bread and then you think about how this bakery started. Starting and growing a bakery in a place like Austin, where the prices of rent and products are continually increasing, and in the midst of the pandemic, where everyone is stuck at home, is increasingly difficult, not even counting the fact that your customers might not like your pastries. Due to the hard work and dedication of three female bakery owners, they have been able to start, continue, and hopefully grow their bakeries during these crazy times in Austin. Each owner has had to face various challenges on the path of a successful bakery. Thankfully, however, they’ve worked as hard as they can to continue pushing forward.

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People not enjoying the pastries you work so hard to make is similar to the feeling you have in high school: Not everyone is going to like you, Nagree explained.

Owner of La Patisserie, Soraiya Nagree, holds a plate of homemade macarons. Picture provided by La Patisserie Bakery

La Patisserie, a classic French bakery, was started by Soraiya Nagree. The inspiration for her bakery came to her during her vacation in Paris, France when she was 10-years-old. After discovering that there were thriving bakeries on every corner in Paris, and realizing that there was only one bakery in her town, Nagree knew that she wanted to start her own French bakery. Before starting a bakery and finding a location, Nagree had to sell her products to make sure that people would actually want to buy them. “We started as a wholesaler first, which means we sold to coffee shops and small grocery stores,” Nagree said. As Nagree started to notice that the public really enjoyed her food, she chose to open her first store-front bakery. Nagree knew that she wouldn’t be able to open her first bakery all by herself, so she called upon her friends and family to help. “My friends were some of our first taste testers and everybody in my family were our entrepreneurs,” Nagree said. Although Nagree had a great experience creating and growing her bakery, she has also faced many challenges. She had to train her mind to overcome the feelings of failure when having a customer that didn’t like her pastries.

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Knowing how difficult it was to overcome her insecurities in high school, dealing with critical customers was a big challenge for Nagree. As her bakery started to grow though, she couldn’t put all her focus onto her critics because she had to focus on the more pressing issues. An example of a challenge she has to go through in the present day is staffing issues. Sometimes people say that they decided to move back home and are giving their two weeks notice, or that they have a better job opportunity so they have to quit, Nagree explained. Keeping the number of employees high enough for her business to continue running was and still is a pressing challenge. Even though the owner and her employees have had to overcome some obstacles, they still try to keep a positive attitude and a normal routine. Nagree talked about how the typical day for her bakers differed from a typical day for herself. “My bakers come in at around four o’clock in the morning,” Nagree said. “They start proofing, and then they pull all the croissants that have already been shaped and ready to go; they pull them, they proof them, they egg wash them, and put them into the oven.” As fun as getting up at 4 a.m. and proofing pastries sounds, Nagree has other tasks to complete during her work days. Her

typical day is going from store to store and making sure that the employees have everything they need. She has to respond to emails from various customers asking for special orders too. Although Nagree doesn’t have as much fun with the backend work as her bakers do, she strives to open more locations and continue to make delicious pastries for her customers to enjoy.

“Give it a go, if you fail, you fail, but if you don’t try, you’ll never know whether you will or won’t succeed.” -Nagree La Patisserie is one of the classic French bakeries in Austin but is not that popular. Another lesser known bakery is Abby Jane Bakeshop. The bakery was started by Abby Jane Love. She has been a professional baker and pastry chef for 12 years. Love was approached by a local grain mill in Dripping Springs and was asked to become the head pastry chef at the bakery they were creating. “I never really thought that I wanted a bakery. It just kind of grew naturally out of this partnership with Barton Springs mill. I was in the right place at the right time,” Love said.

Owner of Abby Jane Bakery, Abby Jane Love, kneads some delicious bread. Picture provided by the Austin Food and Wine Alliance

Even though owning a bakery wasn’t her dream job, Love still worked hard and pushed past many obstacles to create her business; one of which was COVID-19. Abby Jane Bakeshop was set to open in the fall of 2019, but since there were delays with the permitting, the opening was pushed to 2021. “I just held my breath for nine or ten months, and then things started slowly moving again in late 2021, which enabled us to open in August of 2021,” Love said. Due to the opening of her bakery being a year delayed, it was a much slower start to her business than she expected. Nevertheless, as COVID-19 started to calm down, her bakeshop received more and more business. Hoping to stay open for as long as possible, Love continues to work as hard as she can to make her customers happy. Another .woman-owned bakery, Zucchini Kill, is an all-vegan, gluten and soy-free bakeshop. As co-owner of Zucchini Kill, Jessica Freda had various inspirations for starting this bakery. “Once I went vegan, I just wanted to be able to eat sweets and back then it wasn’t like it is now where you can find a vegan substitute for everything…I had to teach myself how to cook, and then I had to teach myself how to bake,” Freda said.

“When I started baking, I just of fell in love with it.” -Freda A second inspiration to create this allvegan bakery was her best friend, and co-owner, Cece Loessin. One day, while they were sitting at Bouldin Creek Cafe, Loessin told Freda that she had an idea to start an all-vegan bakery and asked Freda if she wanted to join.

“I said, ‘Of course! Yes, I do.’ Then a couple years later, we started doing pop ups and got our bakery,” Freda said. While Freda and Loessin were determined to start their own bakery, they had no help from their family or friends monetarily. They did, however, help her design the store. “When we first got our bakery, we had some of our friends come and help us paint the inside. A lot of our merchandise has also been designed by a lot of our friends,” Freda said. Even though Zucchini Kill has turned out to be a great success, Freda acknowledged that she wouldn’t have been able to gain the confidence to go for it without Loessin. “I feel like I would not have done this alone. Cece is so motivating and she has so unabashedly believed in the both of us. Through that, I think it gave me the confidence to go for it, and we’ve been in business for four years now,” Freda said. Despite having all of the support and confidence boosters throughout the journey of opening a bakery, Freda has had to overcome the negative attitudes towards vegan food. “Getting over people’s stigma of, ‘Vegan food’s gross and doesn’t have any flavor,’ and then you throw gluten free on top of it, and people think, ‘It’s going to be dry and also gross,’” Freda said. Although some of her customers were skeptical about the style of food Zucchini Kill was offering, Freda and her employees always found a way to have fun with their bakery and work days.

Owners of Zucchini kill, Jessica Freda, MT Gibbs, and Cece Loessin, smile at the camera. Picture provided by Zucchini Kill Bakery

“Our baking days start in the afternoon. We go into the kitchen and listen to music or podcasts. Then at night, because it’s usually overnight baking, we’ll drop it off at the shop. The next morning, everything’s fresh and again, we put on some awesome music, and let people come in or order online,” Freda said. Knowing how well her business is going right now, Freda is hoping to open a second location. “I am really excited to continue to provide a safe and sweet spot for everyone to come and enjoy, to be able to eat no matter what kind of dietary restrictions you might have. A place where people are able to feel comfortable coming in and making new friends,” Freda said. These three bakeries are some of many locally founded in Austin. They have had to go through different challenges of opening and continuing the success of their businesses. However with the support and encouragement from their friends, families and customers, they have been able to stay alive and hope to continue growing. “We’re trying to make sure that we continue to do the best that we can and that our customers are always happy,” Nagree said.

Keep Austin Delicious | 31

Peachy Keen Cobbler

By: Gracie Philips

A Delicious, Texan, and Homemade Recipe For Peach Cobbler

Buttermilk

1/2 a Cup + 2 TBSP

Baking Soda

Unsalted Butter 1/2 A Cup

1/4 TSP

Baking Powder

Egg ONe Egg

Po wd

1 and 1/2 TSP

All-Purpose Flour 2 Cups

Salt

Flo

Ground Nutmeg 1/8 A TSP

granulated sugar 1/2 A Cup

lt Sa

1/2 A TSP

Ground Cinnamon

Nut

meg

1/2 A TSP

Vanilla Extract 1/2 A TSP

Lemon Juice 1 TBSP

Van i

lla

st ar

Cornstarch

1 TBSP

Light Brown Sugar

1/4 A Cup

Total Cooking Time: 45 minutes

32 | Keep Austin Delicious

Serves: 10-12 people

Medium Peaches 8-9 Peaches

a 9 by 13 inch pan.w

Preheat oven to 350°and grease a 9 by 13 inch pan

ADD the butter

PEEL and CUT 8 -9 medium peaches into 1-1.5 inch chunks (about 10 cups)

Using a pastry cutter or two forks, CUTthe butter into the mixture until it resembles pea

In a large bowl, COMBINE peach chunks, brown sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt

sized bits

MIX until evenly combined

10.

Take handfuls of dough and gently FLATTEN OUT

11.

PLACE dough all over the top of the peach filling (Doesn’t need to look perfect some peach filling can be showing)

12.

SPOON filling into prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes

13.

REMOVE from oven and set aside as you prepare the topping. KEEP OVEN ON

WHISK the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl

BAKE for 40-45 minutes or until lightly browned and biscuit topping is cooked through

15.

BRUSH the top of the biscuit dough with egg wash, then SPRINKLE with cinnamon sugar

14.

SERVE warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream and... ENJOY!

SET on a wire rack and COOL for 5 minutes before serving

16.ENJOY!