At Chiqui Bakery, Ottawa's only Mexican bakery, the not-too-sweet cornbread is the opening bite before conchas, chocoflan and cinnamon-laced horchata. Owner Jessica Pérez never imagined her hobby would become a full-time career.
From Side Hustle to Brick-and-Mortar
When Jessica Pérez lived in Mexico, baking was something she did to make friends and family happy. “I really never imagined this becoming my job,” says Pérez, who worked as an auditor for a multinational company before she came to Canada. After leaving Mexico, she could not find work in her field. “I started looking for a job. But as an immigrant, it’s not very easy to find a job,” she says. Baking, her hobby, became a way to earn some money after she began selling cakes to Mexican restaurants in Ottawa.
“It was just like a side hustle,” says Pérez. “That’s how the journey began.” A little more than three years ago, the side hustle led to Pérez opening her bricks-and-mortar bakery in Vanier, not far from where Pérez lives. “My living room was more like a storage room,” she recalls. “That’s when we found this place and we moved here.” Chiqui Bakery opened in March 2023, and Pérez is all in. “Even though I used to love my corporate job, I feel baking is my passion. I love it,” says Perez, 33. “It is not only my job. It’s my life.”
Signature Cornbread and Pan Dulce
She proudly says that Chiqui is Ottawa’s only Mexican bakery. It sells mostly cakes to order and a variety of the sweet Mexican breads known as pan dulce in Pérez’s homeland. At Chiqui, the top-seller is Pérez’s cornbread, which is not too sweet and boasts a supremely moist crumb. But lesser-known sweet breads are also worth trying. There are massive conchas (“shells” in Spanish), which are soft, brioche-like rolls whose craggy, sugary crusts make them look like seashells. There are just-as-large tri-coloured cookies that taste of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry, which, because of the World Cup, are temporarily red, white and green — the colours of the Mexican flag.
Chilindrinas, a traditional pan dulce from Mexico City, is soft and fluffy inside but crusted with a crunchy, sugary topping. Elote, a corn-shaped pan dulce from the north of Mexico, stars the flavours of cinnamon and vanilla. Pan de feria (“fairground bread”) tastes like the skin of boiled milk and has vanilla cream on top, says Pérez. In Chiqui’s fridge, there are single servings of dulce de leche and chocoflan cakes. A slice of the former made me swoon. In addition to coffees, Chiqui offers the traditional refreshing drinks found at Ottawa’s taquerias — hibiscus, flavoured with sorrel, and horchata, the sweet, milky, cinnamon-y, rice-based drink that I like even more.
A United Nations of Baked Goods
To my surprise, Pérez told me that a customer told her that there’s a cornbread similar to hers. Then she mentions that conchas are like the so-called pineapple buns — “bolo bao” — of Hong Kong, while another of her sweet breads has an Italian counterpart. “We share all the good stuff,” Pérez says. Chiqui Bakery is located at 29 Marier Ave., 819-734-7512, chiquibakery.com. Open: Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 8 a.m., Wednesday to Friday 9 a.m. to 8 a.m., closed Monday. Prices: $3.50 to $5 for baked goods. Access: Steps to front door.
