When she and her business partner, Racene Nguyen, opened Reverie Bakeshop in 2013, her lifestyle choices played a big role when planning their menus.
“I really care about the environment, so I got into environmentalism and how ingredients are made,” Castillo said. “I got into the structure of how food is made, and I wanted to bring that to the community. That’s why we opened a vegan bakery.”
Castillo earned a degree in patisserie and baking in 2007 from Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Austin. She moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth area for a pastry internship and met Nguyen through coworkers.
She worked in several local bakeries as a head pastry chef, and her skills rose exponentially, which “came in handy when we opened here,” she said.
Because of multiple customer requests, the business partners added another nutritional element to their menu.
“Since we already specialized in egg-free and dairy-free [items], we thought, ‘Why not mess around with gluten-free [as well]?’” she said. “So, we decided to make almost half of our menu gluten-free.”
Castillo said they started out using her recipes, but over time, Reverie Bakeshop’s employees have added to the mix.
“The menu is made up of everyone’s childhood favorites,” she said.
That menu includes classic bakery goods, such as doughnuts, kolaches, brownies, red velvet cake, chocolate cake, cheesecake, pumpkin pie, apple pie and more.
The bakery also offers cookies in a number of classic flavors such as Snickerdoodle, chocolate chip, white chocolate macadamia and peanut butter. Seasonal baked goods for fall are also available.
Castillo said on a regular basis parents bring their children, who are allergic to eggs, dairy or both, into Reverie Bakeshop to have their first taste of a cupcake.
“A child who tries a cupcake for the first time, they literally start crying in the store and say, ‘This is so good,’” she said. “[It] is crazy to me that there aren’t more vegan options where people can just go in and buy their kid a cupcake. But, we’re happy to be that place.”
Reverie Bakeshop
980 N. Coit Road, Ste. 2850, Richardson
972-238-7511
www.reveriebakeshop.com
Hours: Tue.-Fri. 7 a.m.-4 p.m., Sat. 7 a.m.-3 p.m., Sun.-Mon. closed
