Fourth-Generation Mexican Baker Sets Up Shop Near Spenard Road and 36th Avenue

Estefanía Roldán will open Fanniak Bakery to the public Sunday at 12 p.m.

The bakery sits near the intersection of Spenard Road and 36th Avenue. Roldán's husband, Josh Hubbard, opened the door to the unit on a recent October afternoon while the couple was still finishing the space. The unit has been gutted and fitted with cafe tables, plants, and counters awaiting breads and desserts. Roldán is a fourth-generation panadera. Her family bakery tradition traces to her great-grandfather, Joaquín Roldán Casco, a former municipal president of Cholula, Puebla, who opened La Blanca, which the family says was the city's first panadería. La Blanca has operated in Cholula for more than 100 years and still sells rosca de reyes, a spiced sweet bread ring with a plastic baby Jesus baked inside, plus an almond cream version her great-grandfather popularized in Mexico.

Roldán arrived in Alaska nearly 13 years ago with a communications degree from Mexico that did not translate into work here. Her father told her she knew how to make bread. She began selling flans and gelatinas, visiting Mexican restaurants and knocking on trailer doors where she knew Mexican neighbors lived. She had no car and did not drive. Those sales built a clientele, and she spent about five years baking out of her home. She later sold at the Peña Market in East Anchorage among other immigrant vendors. There, she said, customers talked with her about horses, charrería, and Mexico. "We would talk about horses, about charrería [Mexican horse culture], about Mexico," she said. "Because that's what people were looking for, a little space to be able to talk about things."

At pop-up markets, Roldán said, people would sit and chat for hours. "That's what I'm really looking to generate in this space," she said. "That people can come, that you can sit, that you can chat, be comfortable, and eat a piece of bread." Hubbard encouraged her to turn her kitchen setup into a store. Roldán pushed him to sell his grandmother Evangelina's tri-tip carne asada tacos at her stand, and those will be on the menu as "Abuela's Tacos." Her father will bake the breads, including dozens of varieties from the family. The shop will also serve full-sized cakes and rich desserts. The menu includes Argentine alfajores, Basque cheesecake, churro cheesecake, a Mexican lemon cake, and ricotta cheesecake. A wall in one corner displays images of charros, including actor Pedro Infante and a photo of Joaquín Roldán Casco with his horse and sombrero.

Roldán's father will supply the pan de muerto for Anchorage's annual community Día de Muertos celebration, set for Nov. 1 and 2 at the Akela Space gallery downtown. The bakery's own ofrenda is set with marigolds, photos of loved ones, and tequila. On Saturday afternoon, Roldán and helpers prepared breads and pastries after working until 1 a.m. the previous night. Fanniak Bakery combines Roldán's nickname, Fanni, with the letters AK. The grand opening is Sunday, Nov. 1, at 12 p.m.

The bakery's opening follows the Día de Muertos celebration at Akela Space on Nov. 1 and 2. Roldán is preparing both the bakery opening and the holiday observance. She said she thinks her great-grandfather would be thrilled to see how what he did continues to have an impact.