Fillings and Emulsions, a new bakery that offers French pastries with a Latin twist, is co-owned by a national award winning pastry chef and is located less than a block west of the Salt Lake Community College South City Campus.
“It is the way we do it that makes the big difference,” says co-owner Adalberto Diaz, a former Utah Valley University associate professor who won the American Culinary Federation’s Pastry Chef of the Year award in 2012. Around Utah you can usually find either a Latin Bakery or a French Patisserie, but Fillings and Emulsions combines the two.
“We are bringing a set of desserts that you do not see here in the valley; it is what we call Petite Gateaux Tarts,” says Diaz.
These tarts have about five different components: a mousse, two fillings, a cake, a cookie and a decorative garnish.
“I am from Cuba. We are mixed of cultures, and I put that into the food I prepare,” says Diaz.
Diaz moved from Cuba to the United States in 2000. He began competing in the American Culinary Federation Pastry Chef competition in 2008. Competing became a passion for Diaz, and he worked tirelessly to perfect his recipes. He did not win every competition that he entered, but he continued to work to improve his baking.
The year Diaz won the Pastry Chef of the Year award; he had brought his brothers from Cuba to the competition in Orlando, FL. It was the first time he had seen them in over a decade.
Diaz sees the role of his bakery in the Salt Lake City as helping the community try special, new and high end pastries.
“It’s been a delight; they remodeled the whole place,” says Gina Curtis, owner of Farina’s, a costume shop next to Fillings and Emulsions. ”They have fabulous—I mean fabulous pastries and desserts. It’s been a treat for me; I have tasted things I have never tasted before.”
The bakery and costume shop are located on Kensington Avenue, which is the street on the northern border of South City Campus.
“I think I always saw the potential here; I love this area,” says Curtis, who has had a shop on the street for five years. “Now with Aldaberto and the Belly Dancing place, I think we are breathing new life into the area.”
Farina’s was one of the first shops on the street that has remained in business in the last several years.
Before the new food court opened, the Southside Express Grab and Go was the only food option offered at South City Campus with the exception of vending machines. Now there are a few more culinary options available to SLCC students and faculty. Yet for students and faculty that may be looking to explore local gastronomic offerings near campus, Fillings and Emulsions is only one crosswalk away.
In addition to pastries, Fillings and Emulsions offers freshly baked rolls, baguettes and other varieties of baked goods freshly baked on a daily basis.
Fillings and Emulsions is located at 25 Kensington Ave, Suite B, and less than a block west of the McDonald’s. For more information about the bakery and the history of its award winning pastry chef visit: www.fillingsandemulsions.com.
