Page 42 - the NOISE September 2012

sweetening the southside:
The SucceSSful BuSineSS of DecaDence
story by lisa aguiñaga photo by jon jensen
Frequently, I speak of things that “take me back.” Tales of yore. Yes, seems I am forever stuck on the road to nostalgia ... going nowhere ... but
— back. One of the things that most undoubtedly come to trigger the jour- neys I refer to, are — SMELLS. Certain aromas can take me to revisit a lovely, romantic or heartfelt memory. Where- as, other odors send me flailing for life, haunting me like the devil incarnate, demanding immediate and inescap- able payback. To be clear, smells play a role of extreme and utmost impor- tance. Needless to say, growing up in a Latino, kitchen smells dominated my happiness and my existence.
In my mother’s kitchen, Gloria made desserts, but in the 70s, women “ex- panded” on the pastry stylings Betty Crocker had to offer in that month’s issue of Family Circle. See, Ma is an incredible cook, una cocinera increible. A baker, she is not. She managed to deceive her family into thinking her pastry talents were unsurpassed. Her repertoire included banana pudding laced with Nilla Wafers, (one of Pop’s favorites), Bisquik inspired peach cob- bler and of course, Gloria could do a million and one things with a box of JELLO. What did we know? Desserts came few and far between at our house. It was an honor, a privilege to eat something sweet after dinner.
One year for my birthday, Ma made a Hershey’s cocoa cake with fluffy, white frosting and spelled out “Happy Birthday Lish” in tiny chocolate chips. I thought I had died and gone to heaven when my eyes feast upon her creation. It was inde- scribably beautiful. I had no words. The sheer genius of that woman. What I re- member most was the cocoa goodness that lingered in the air for hours the day she made it. Chocolate. My adoration — my nemesis.
I hate brownie day. Let me explain. I live behind Sugar Mamas Bakery on the Southside. In all honesty, I would like to strangle all three of the bakers for what they have put me through in the past year. The smells, the concoctions these women produce on a daily basis are no more than torture. I blame Lisa Born, Nancy Dorffi and Lexi Striker. Las hijas de la mala vida.
“Daughters of the bad life,” as my grand- mother would say. Bad life indeed. They should be jailed for their crimes against will power and resisting sugar highness. I frequent their establishment almost daily. Ours is a love/hate relationship and, admit- tedly, I say all this in jest. Their presence on the Southside is a healthy addition to the eclecticism and eccentricity of the neigh- borhood.
Although, only a little over a year in busi- ness, the girls were amazed at the over- whelming welcome the neighborhood
and the rest of the community have given them and how they have responded to their pastry talents. Ms. Striker says, “We got into this space at the right time, right place here on the Southside.” She adds that they were able to come in at the tail end of the new growth after construction in the neighborhood. “It’s been a great first year.”
Ms. Striker says even though they were wanting to focus on the wholesale of their pastries, the retail storefront at the bakery has been surprisingly successful. “I’d have to say going into the next year, our goals would be to maintain our commitment to excellence, continue our commitment in making everything by hand and from scratch. In a business sense, we’d like to develop better organization as more and more orders come in, create a better sys- tem to price handle our inventory so we can offer more wedding cakes and any other substantial orders as our volume goes up.”
In their first year, Sugar Mamas gave a substantial share of charitable dessert do- nations. Mr. Striker explains: “It’s pretty un- heard of in your first year of business. We gave out quite a bit, but rather than to say
‘no,’ we’ve decided that every year, we are going to focus on one area. We can choose an area that is close to our hearts and give to that charity. This past year our focus was on kids. We gave to several schools and even a children’s’ hospital. It’s a great
way to promote your business and it also gives people a taste of what we make. It allows us to give back to a community that supports us.”
Other plans on the Sugar Mamas agenda, beef up their wholesale ac- counts. Right now, they have several local distributors, including Rendez- vous, Stage Left, Wine Loft, and the Orion Bread Company. Mr. Striker is optimistic. “Since we opened we’ve been so busy that we haven’t actively pursued more wholesale clients, but hopefully in this next year we can work on establishing pars and expand what we offer, growing our pastry rep- ertoire.”
Be it a birthday, wedding, anniver- sary or — if you’re some poor schlep like me who can’t resist soft, chewy ginger cookies loaded with real gin- ger; fresh blueberry, strawberry or almond Danishes or chocolate chip- espresso scones — you’d be an ab- solute fool if you didn’t venture into the Sugar Mamas Bakery. Venture to the dark (chocolate) side, young sky- walker.
| Lisa Aguiñaga is known for her sweet sass. lisa_mansfield@live.com
42 • SEPTEMBER 2012 • the NOISE arts & news magazine • thenoise.us