At Kuya Ja’s Lechon Belly, Superlative Pork Persists Through the Pandemic | Eater DC

"Growing out of a basement operation, Gwenie’s Pastries began when Gwendolyn (“Gwenie”) Fernandez started packaging treats like torta de Cebu and delivering them to Filipino grocery shops; that July Fourth push about 15 years ago helped the home business take off and eventually become a storefront. I learned that Stella Fernandez—who left a job at the NIH to learn her mother’s baking—ran the expansion, and the bakery trades on passed-down family recipes (flan, biko) and Gwenie’s own perfected items (kutsinta, ube halaya), all developed through years of experimentation; Stella insists, “If it’s not good enough, she won’t sell it.” The shop has been working on ensaymada for a long time and says they recently landed on a version they all agree on, though large-scale production is still pending." - Pat Padua