MARIELA CAMACHO

With a focus on local, nutritious ingredients and a commitment to ethical practices, this pastry chef is redefining pan dulce.

- RAPHAEL BRION,CEDRIC ANGELES

COMADRE PANADERÍA
Austin

NOSTALGIA RUNS DEEP at Comadre Panadería, Mariela Camacho’s Mexican American bakery in East Austin. The pastry case is an ode to the pan dulce of her childhood, reimagined and modernized: There are pillowy conchas with a crackly raspberry-chile topping; delicate, heirloom corn–infused pink cakes topped with prickly pear buttercream; tender, crumbly mesquite pecan polvorones (Mexican wedding cookies); airy sourdough focaccia drizzled with salsa macha; and showstopping viennoiserie, like shatteringly crisp croissants stuffed with confit oyster mushrooms and her mother’s mole rojo.

Originally from Los Angeles, Camacho is the oldest daughter of Mexican immigrant parents. Her entire family worked in restaurants, something that helped instill her serious work ethic. She got her first restaurant job at the age of 15. But it was working at a bakery that sparked her interest in a culinary career. “I was like, ‘This is it,’” she says. “It allowed me to have control of something. It allowed me to work fast, and be intense, and be rewarded, and be intuitive, and be creative.”

Eventually, Camacho took a pastry position at a busy restaurant in Austin, working the line, doing plated desserts. But she found the culture and power dynamics a challenge. “I never want to put anyone through this,” she thought. “