Meet Aeriel Villanueva | Pastry Chef & Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Aeriel Villanueva and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Aeriel, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I’ve been baking since I was twelve years old. When I would come home from Saturday Chinese school, I would watch cooking shows for hours. From Lidia Bastianich to Julia child. I’d sit there for hours absorbing basic techniques until one day my mom asked me to help her in the kitchen. It first started out chopping garlic and shallots to cooking a meal for 20 people for the holidays. Growing up, I knew I wanted to work in the kitchen and one day open my own cafe. I didn’t know how I would get there but I knew it would be long hours and a great deal of commitment of hard work.

After finishing my college degree, I worked at some of the best restaurants in LA. I started out in the savory side of the kitchen when I began my cooking experience. But I was still intrigued in the pastry side. I knew my next step I wanted to work at one of the best restaurant with the pastries I love, Republique. I was so curious of how to make French pastries and bread. I would watch my coworkers of what they were doing in the middle of my tasks and ask questions. I was filled with joy that I decided I wanted to do pastry and bread in my career.

Year 2020, I had lost my job from Covid. One day, I was baking bread from my apartment and Edgar, my boyfriend, suggested to me I should start selling them. I told him, ” You’re crazy. Who would want to buy these from me?! No one is.” Next thing I knew, our friends were messaging us asking to buy some of my baked goods. It first started out with one, then it became three and so forth. Although, there was a great interest in my baked goods, I was still afraid to take on financial risk. I ended up going back into the work field. I hopped at multiple jobs for about a year continuing to feel lost and unfulfilled.

At some point, I hit a wall. I made the decision to sell my pastries one more time and be my own boss. I knew if I didn’t try again and take on the risk, I would always wonder of the what ifs. However, this time, I wanted to establish a business name and do things my way where I felt comfortable being able to express myself. I wanted to show people the combination of Chinese Filipino flavors can be just as good in French style pastries.

The idea of the business was to pop-up at different locations. wether it was markets, out in the street or even a park. I knew I wanted to be a family affair where it was easy for every to go to and somewhere in the middle of my clientele. I grew up in Alhambra, and I started searching around in the area. I had thought to myself why not pop-up at Alhambra Park. It had a great amount of parking, foot traffic, space, benches and a nice area to walk around in. I didn’t have anything to lose so we did. Each week the community was noticing us and continued to share it with their friends and family.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I got where I am today by hard work, listening to my intuition, and curiosity. I started in the industry since I was 17 working at a high volume restaurant called Newport Seafood Restaurant in San Gabriel. A lot of my skill experiences came from this job, especially having to handle pressure in a fast pace restaurant that was dominantly male. As the first women working closely with the men in the restaurant, I had so much to prove.

As I worked throughout the years such as Union in Pasadena and Republique, it came with opportunities of growth that I couldn’t refuse to pass up. I had personally and physically sacrificed a lot. I gave up my holidays, birthdays, and gatherings to support the team. A lot of the times my body was exhausted, but once I got into the kitchen, the exhaustion wares away and I do my job all over again to see the smiles on people’s faces.

In year 2020, I had lost my job and started selling baked goods from my one bedroom apartment in Korea town. This experience was a learning lesson because it taught me how to be creative outside of my comfort zone. Getting into the farmers market and ingredient shortages was difficult because I constantly had to adjust on the spot of how I can replace a component when something was not available. I got a little taste of being my own boss. Unfortunately, I wasn’t ready to take on such a big risk and decided to go back into the work field. I hopped around multiple jobs for a while but felt unfulfilled and lost.

After a year of uncertainty, my intuition was telling me to go back running my own business which is when Crumbs and Flakes Bakery was born. Since I was going to take a huge risk that I was mentally prepared for, I knew I had to fully immerse myself into the business and give it everything I had. Like many businesses, we had struggled through a few challenges along the way wether it was electrical issues, equipment failure, or retrieving permits. With each challenged we faced, it can get overwhelming on top of everything else that had to get done. I’ve learned that sometimes we have to let go what we can’t control, only control what you can and everything will eventually work it’s way out.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
You can’t come to LA and not stop by at the beach. My favorite beach to go to is Manhattan Beach. It’s not as crowded as Santa Monica and has a small town charm that I love. Tapanga State Park near Santa Monica has great hiking trails if we are feeling adventurous. There are many trails you can take that will give you a great view. Meanwhile in the west side, I’d go to Gjusta to grab something to eat. Their menu ranges from breakfast to dinner. Sawtelle is also a great small Japanese Town in the westside I love going to. There’s a variety of restaurants that are all walking distance from each other. There’s also a classic French patisserie in Sawtelle called Artelice serving pastries and small desserts.

I live in Koreatown, there’s so many great authentic Korean restaurants in this little neighborhood. You can’t go wrong with any of them. Korean BBQ, tteokbokki, bossam, fried chicken and more! The great thing about living in Koreatown, there are so many little cultural towns next to each other. If you go up north, there’s Thai town with amazing restaurant and street food. On the east side, there’s Little Bangladesh, Filipino town and Little Tokyo. With a little drive, the Griffith Observatory and Hollywood sign are great places to get a nice view or LA (even a hike would be great too.)

Lastly, to get a better sense of different kind of Asian food, I’d go to the San Gabriel Valley. If you go anywhere on the street of Valley Blvd or Garvey Avenue, there’s many different kind of Asian food you can pick from whether it is Shanghainese, Taiwanese, Singaporean, Cantonese and more! I would stop by in old town Pasadena for some shopping or even South Pasadena and visit the local farmers market on Thursdays.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d like to thank my friends and family for supporting me on my decisions and their honest feedback. My parents who help me bring tables and chairs to every pop-up. My brothers who helps me with their own profession expertise from logo design to photography. My boyfriend who fill up the gaps where I need help in wether its washing the dishes, frying the churros, or admin work. My boyfriend’s parents who opened their kitchen to us to use when my kitchen is in full capacity. My friends who is constantly uplifting me. I also have to thank Danielle Zecca, chef and owner of Amiga Amore, who has been such a great friend but also a mentor who help guid me in my career. Most importantly, thank you to our followers for their constant support. Without them we wouldn’t be able to do what we love.

Website: crumbsandflakesbakery.com

Instagram: instagram.com/crumbsandflakesla

Other: Preorders available at hotplate.com/crumbsandflakesla

Inquiry: c.fbakeryla@gmail.com