Conchas and fair wages
Nostalgic Austin baker named among Food & Wine's Best New Chefs
Mariela Camacho is baking with her values and childhood memories at the forefront.
Monthly magazine Food & Wine has shared its picks for Best New Chefs in 2025, and one Austin baker has made the list. Mariela Camacho of Comadre Panaderia can be proud of repping Austin, and in fact, she's the only chef selected from all of Texas.
This is the 37th class of Best New Chefs selected by Food & Wine editors from their travels across the United States.
"In this new generation, chefs and bakers are drawing from their backgrounds, their upbringings, and their hometowns as a source of inspiration," says the introduction to the list. "And they’re busy crafting joyful, expressive, and often nostalgic dishes that are far richer and deeper than a haphazard fusion. It’s food that’s fully, bravely, and unapologetically personal."
The description certainly fits Camacho, who has quickly become known in Austin for her homey Mexican treats that embrace nostalgia. Camacho can pull off an artsy bake with the best of 'em, but some of her most charming pastries are simple and whimsical. In 2024, Comadre was also made a New York Times list of the 22 best bakeries in the country.
Each chef on the Food & Wine list gets their own article and a summary blurb for easier skimming. For Camacho, Austin-based restaurant editor Raphael Brion chooses some standouts:
"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 a 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."
The article goes on to detail Camacho's journey from being raised by restaurant workers in Los Angeles, to getting a job at a vague "busy restaurant in Austin" that caused her to swear off making others feel how she did working there. San Antonio claimed her for a while, but now she's back in Austin, prioritizing fairness over profit margins.
“We want to do the right thing around here,” she told Food & Wine. Brion shares some examples of sustainable ingredient choices and points out a commitment to paying fair wages. “If that means that I can’t ever have a beautiful build-out with the hot design team, that’s fine, because my margins will never be that good. It’s fine if that means that we can afford to stick to our ethics.”
Finally, Brion puts together "the perfect order at Comadre Panadería": the famous triangle of gluten-free pink cake that Comadre is best known for, a chocolate chunk concha, mesquite pecan polvorones, a masa sugar cookie, and a bean and cheese empanada.
Locals whose mouths are already watering will have to wait a couple more days before loading up on Comadre treats; the bakery has closed for a summer vacation. It'll return September 11.
A very saturated look at spicy chicken and sides.Photo courtesy of Angry Chickz
Cape Bottle Room is pairing ice creams and wines December 9.Photo by Jack Fanelli