This article was originally published in Boro Magazine in March 2020.
Four women in Astoria are turning their passions into new businesses with support from the local community and often the online community as well. All of these entrepreneurs found a way to tie their roots and personalities into their thoughtful and beautiful products, from pastries to candles.
They've all loved launching their businesses in the close-knit western Queens community, and they have big ambitions for their projects' next steps. Find out more about these up-and-comers, and make sure to follow them on social media so you can watch them grow.
Simply Sunday Candles
Demetra Metropoulos, an Astoria native, grew up spending cozy Sundays with her family, making dinner and relaxing. She’s (hand) pouring that feeling into a product – Simply Sunday Candles.
The graphic design student at Queens College has also always loved candles – the way they look, their fragrance and the feelings they invoke.
She realized even the most high-end candles are not that healthy for consumers or for the environment. They often have added chemicals, and when a candle burns to the end and turns black, that soot is unhealthy to inhale.
“I’ve always wanted to start something of my own and make it different,” she says.
She spent January doing research, testing and mixing candles and scents in her kitchen to create the five variations she offers now.
These include “awaken,” “cozy nights,” “relaxation,” “comfort” and “endless love,” featuring combinations of fragrances like amber and mandarin and sea salt, jasmine and orchid flowers.
Natural candles are hard to find, Metropoulos says. Her candles stand out because they are hand-poured and are vegan, made with soy wax and no added chemicals or dyes. They also have a wooden wick, as opposed to a cotton wick, which make the candles burn longer and cleaner than traditional ones, and make a subtle crackling sound. Simply Sunday Candles also don’t smoke when they’re done burning.
She launched her website in February, where she sells the candles for $19 each and ships them out herself. Another personal touch – the labels she designed feature the candles’ name, Simply Sunday Candles, in her own handwriting, and a warm description of the scent. The candles have a rose gold lid and are designed for a homey feel to enhance room decor.
For now, she is mostly selling to friends and family and sharing the product with influencers on Instagram, many of whom have reached out.
She looks forward to growing the brand with popups in local Astoria shops and expanding her product, especially for the holidays.
“There are so many scents,” she says.
Find Simple Sunday Candles at simplysundaycandles.com or on Instagram @SimpleSundayCandles
Kouklet Bakehouse
Mardhory Cepeda is offering Astorians a slice of sweetness from Brazil. The culinary-school-trained baker worked in restaurants and fine dining for 10 years in NYC and Brazil. Kouklet, which means “to share love through food,” is her way of starting something of her own while staying true to her roots.
“I just felt it was time to share things that truly came from the heart,” Cepeda said.
Kouklet offers cake rolls, inspired by a Brazilian pastry called “Bolo de Rolo.” Traditionally, they are filled with guava and served with sharp cheese on top, but she has expanded to include a large variety including matcha, strawberry, passion fruit and chai spiced chocolate. The fruity flavors fill layers of thin cake, and customers say they enjoy the tasty balance, she said.
Cepeda studied at culinary school in Brazil, where she also had her own cake shop. From her experience at farm-to-table restaurants, she has learned to procure the “freshest local ingredients possible.” Recently, she added a vegan and gluten free “Everyday Cake” to her menu, based on customer demand.
“People comment on how spongey and comforting it tastes,” she said. “They are surprised at the depth of chocolate in the chocolate cake, and the bright orange taste of the orange cake.”
Although Cepeda is from Brazil, her new community of Astoria inspires and embraces her business. The neighborhood, which she calls a melting pot, welcomes new types of food because it’s so open-minded, she says. Her husband and family, including her parents and younger sisters, help with the business, and she bakes out the communal kitchen space in Long Island City, Entrepreneur Space.
You can order the cakes online and find them in seasonal popups. She hopes to open her own cafe in the future with “Brazilian-style pastries, delicious coffee and communal vibes.”
You can find them at www.kouklet.com, on Instagram, @koukletlsl or Facebook, @kouklet.
Cathouse Invitations
As a soon-to-be-bride, Caitlin Wunsch will only design wedding invitations she could see herself using.
“My one true rule is to design and share only the things I would purchase myself,” Wunsch said. “Cathouse Invitations is my passion project and I, selfishly, want to be proud of the products I create.”
Wunsch, who has a background in environmental science and geographic information systems environmental scientist, is a self-self-taught graphic designer. She has worked on freelance marketing projects and runs an Etsy shop selling family portrait illustrations and vector art during the holiday season.
A few years ago, she created a logo for a fake brewery called Cathouse just for her portfolio. When she had the urge to create something new, it led to starting the custom stationery company, and luckily, she already had a name and logo ready.
Wunsch creates custom and semi-custom wedding invitation packages and other wedding stationery items such as menus, table numbers, itineraries, ceremony programs, location maps and couple illustration portraits.
Her process starts by listening to the customers’ needs and expectations, which she says is her strength, to create their dream invitation. She sketches out her designs, then transposes them into digital form using Adobe Illustrator. She also uses a die cutting machine to shape her designs, and adds paper embossing to add text or an image mold.
Her plan is to build the brand into a product line of invitations that would be marketed to friends and locals on Instagram. She said through social media, she has found a group of people who act as a source of ideas and support. The creative and ambitious people in Astoria have also inspired Wunsch.
“That diversity has inspired a sense of self-love and self-confidence to really be what I want to be,” she said.
She is working her “butt off” to launch her online shop featuring custom and semi-custom invitations suites and stationery add-ons. As demand rises and new products are added, she plans to open up a local office space in Astoria where customers can visit and watch the design and product development process unfold.
For now, you can find her on Instagram @cathouseinvitations or cathouseinvitations@gmail.com.
Bench Flour Bakers
Bench Flour is a nod to Christine Yen’s professional pastry background and her dedication to making everything from scratch — the expression refers to gently-tossed flour on a work surface, also known as a bench.
She has worked at top New York City bakeries, most recently at Balthazar Bakery. She was head baker at Baked when she started her own business on the side in 2017. She publicly debuted her products at the LIC flea market that year.
Her philosophy is to “create honest, fresh, and just really good food.” The menu changes frequently based on the season and inspiration she gets from ingredients she finds locally and at the farmers market.
“This allows for the need for constant creativity, which is a cornerstone of this industry and it’s honestly where all the fun lies,” she says.
The cream pie is one dessert that works every season, she says. It has a flaky pie dough base, vanilla bean pastry cream and seasonal fruit preserves topped with whipped cream. Another favorite is the Chinese sweet red bean cream pie. Chen grew up cooking with Chinese food with her grandmother.
Yen has a partnership with The Breakfast Shack, providing pastries that complement owner Joe DeMato’s savory offerings.
“We inspire and bounce ideas off each other, which is incredibly fun and part of why we do what we do," she said. "We are so in sync with the way we think and create, a partnership allows us to constantly make new and delicious meals as a collaboration."
Aside from the 30th Avenue food truck, you can find Bench Flour pastries at Dawa’s in Sunnyside and local markets like the monthly Queens Craft Brigade. Chen also does cake and pastry custom orders.
The business currently operates out of a commercial kitchen in LIC, but a storefront in Astoria is underway and expected to open mid-year. She wasn’t ready to disclose the location just yet, so stay tuned.
You can find her on Instagram @benchflourbakers or www.benchflournyc.com.
Comments