Just as the Loren Hotel Austin is renowned for bringing visitors to Texas, it also brings bakes from faraway cities for Austinites to enjoy for a month at a time. Joining famed bakeries like San Francisco's Midnite Bagel and New York's Milk Bar on the roster is Dallas hotspot La Casita Bakeshop, starting August 1.
La Casita (technically from Richardson, Texas) is known for a huge range of baked goods, from delicate pastries like croissants and pavlovas, to rustic breads and breakfast sandwiches. Although the name implies a connection to baker Maricsa Trejo's Hispanic heritage, the bakery's treats are cherry picked from traditions all over the world.
From August 1-31, the Cafe at the Loren will offer two cakes — dulce de leche with honey, and a dacquoise, a layered meringue cake — strawberry guava and cream cheese quesitos (something like a cannoli-turned-Danish); saffron cardamom knots; and sesame brown butter chocolate chip cookies.
La Casita's strawberry guava quesitos.Photo courtesy of La Casita Bakeshop
Since La Casita was founded in 2017, Trejo and her bakes (with help from her husband, Alex Henderson) have earned many accolades, including one from CultureMap for Pastry Chef of the Year in 2023. In addition to winning awards from D Magazine and the Dallas Morning News, the bakery has been nominated three years in a row for James Beard Awards.
“We are so excited to feature La Casita Bakeshop for the ninth iteration of our Cafe Collaboration Series,” said The Loren's executive chef, Christian Grindrod, in a press release. “Their reputation for exceptional pastries makes them a perfect fit for the Cafe, and we can’t wait to share their unique flavors with Austin.”
Left, Maricsa Trejo and right, Alex Henderson.Photo courtesy of La Casita Bakeshop
The bakery already supplies treats to more than 175 local restaurants and coffee shops across the Dallas-Fort Worth area, so they should be executed to perfection despite the slightly increased distance. If there's a treat Austinites particularly like, they should get their fill of it now; Even if they visit the shop in Dallas after the pop-up ends, La Casita has a rotating menu.
Profits from the rotating bakeries go to the Loren Roots Imperative, a nonprofit that works to offset the hotel's carbon footprint.
The pop-up at the Cafe at the Loren (1211 W. Riverside Dr.) is open from 7 am to 7 pm while supplies last. More information about the cafe is available at thelorenhotels.com; More information about La Casita is available at lacasitabakeshop.com. Visitors still have a few days left to try bites by Daffodil Culinary, an Austin catering company serving as July's bakery-in-residence.
