La Frontera opens Mexican bakery

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, July 13, 2016

La Frontera Bakery opened in April at 1604 S. Highway 97, Suite 4. The bakery is a mile away from the original restaurant, La Frontera, and supplies the restaurant with some of its baked goods.

Redmond’s La Frontera restaurant branched out and opened a bakery in April, at 1604 S. Highway 97, Suite 4. The bakery specializes in Mexican pastries and baked goods.

La Frontera Bakery, across the highway from Safeway, occupies the old Luv’s Donuts location. Before it moved in, the space was renovated with the addition of mixers, ovens and additional rack space at the front of the store.

“We want to be successful and keep selling our bread,” said Vanessa Villicana, who helps her family at La Frontera and acted as translator for the story. “We want to continue to get better and better so people will enjoy it and be happy when they are eating.”

Eduardo and Rosalba Villicana and their daughter Vanessa have been serving up Mexican delicacies at La Frontera for more than 15 years. Eduardo and Luis Luna, who is now the head baker, decided to open a bakery in Redmond after Luna moved here, and because there wasn’t a Mexican bakery in town. Luna comes from McMinnville, where he also worked at a bakery.

“I like having a bakery in Redmond,” Luna said. “People come in and appreciate the variety of bread and pastries we have — and because of how good it is.”

Four people work at the bakery, which Vanessa said has seen good business since opening. She said they mainly focus on pastries and sweets but can make sandwich bread as well and can also cater. A popular item they have that isn’t a pastry is bread filled with cream cheese and jalapenos.

Some of the pastries they make are conchas, a round bread with sweet powder on the top; cuernos, a crescent roll with sweet powder and sugar; and empanadas, a pastry filled with vanilla cream. They can also make cakes on request including a tres leches cake, or three milk bread, and a milhojas cake, or thousand layer cake.

“The bread is a little part of the culture of Mexico,” said Christina Solano, an assistant baker. “It’s sweet but not too sweet, and it’s made to taste different.”

Pastries and sweets are made three times a day, normally coming out of the oven around 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. They try to sell all the baked goods on the same day to keep product fresh.

The bakery also supplies La Frontera restaurant, located a half mile to the south at 2330 S. Highway 97, with cheesecakes and other sweets on occasion.

Everything they sell is made on-site by Luna and his team.

Luna has made bread and pastries since he was a boy, having worked at a bakery in Mexico. He said he grew up loving working in a bakery and has continued his work since.

“I like what I do because I like the bread,” Luna said. “When a customer likes what I’ve made I feel satisfied and happy, and I want to do an even better job.”

La Frontera Bakery is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day.

— Reporter, 541-548-2185, cbrown@redmondspokesman.com

Marketplace