"Getting through Kimberly Camara’s sari-sari pastry box waitlist has become a sort of rite of passage, with its size quickly ballooning from dozens to 800 - 10,000 in just a few short months. Born during the pandemic and a continuation of Camara’s grandmother’s legacy, the pastries in the ever-changing boxes reimagine classic Filipino desserts and flavor combinations within brioches that swing more ensaymada than doughnut. There’s the leche flan ni lola, where rich flan that feels closer to tocino del cielo sits atop even more flan by way of cream before being enclosed by brioche. Traditional ingredients like kalamansi, a citrus native to the Philippines that tastes like an orange and a lemon’s firstborn, saba banana, and ube also make appearances. Set a timer for 3pm, head to their website, and hope the weeks you spent helping your family book vaccine appointments have paid off." - paolo espanola
