A Mexican American-Owned Bakery in Pilsen Gets Hit With Anti-Gentrification Graffiti

Over the weekend, Bittersweet Pastry Shop & Cafe became a target in an ongoing debate about gentrification in the predominantly Mexican community of Pilsen. On Sunday, March 3, owner Esther Griego posted a series of photos on Instagram showing her business’s windows covered with graffiti with commentary like “get out of Pilsen” and “gentrifier.”

Griego tells Eater Chicago that the incident happened around 2 a.m. on Friday, March 1, according to security camera footage that recorded a person painting her windows. The vandalism stings more as Griego and business partner Katsuji Tanabe are of Mexican descent. Bittersweet opened its Pilsen location, 2019 S. Laflin Street, in January. Griego’s aunt, founder Judy Contino, opened her first location 30 years ago in Lakeview.

“Our goal has always been to be part of the community,” Griego says. Griego mentions connecting with local schools and hosting local writers clubs: “We really want our shops to be community places,” she says.

Tanabe and Griego say their staff, including head baker and Mexico City native Karen Trejo, have proved their toughness demeanors since discovering the vandalism, but the incident has the owners worried about the safety of the employees. Since Friday, workers at Bittersweet have drawn the support of local Mexican chefs and a few notable members of the culinary community from across the country including former Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi who posted words of encouragement.

“We will not be intimidated — we as Mexicans,” Tanabe says. “We will keep doing what we are doing every day — that’s what we came to this country to be: hard workers.”

Knowing the fissure between Chicago neighborhoods and the city’s history of segregation, Griego understands how some in Pilsen could see a bakery with a North Side location as a threat. Bittersweet sells upscale French pastries. After Griego, who was a kid in New Mexico when Bittersweet opened in Lakeview, purchased the bakery from her aunt, she placed more emphasis on her family’s Latin roots. They’ve held Dia de los Muertos pop-ups and for Valentine’s Day sold heart-shaped conchas: “They sold out so fast; we just couldn’t keep up with that item,” Griego says.

Tanabe, who has worked with Dineamic Hospitality in Chicago and competed on cooking shows such as Chopped and Top Chef, took it further by introducing Griego to Marcos Carbajal, the second-generation owner of Carnitas Uruapan, the James Beard-nominated icon that’s been open for 49 years in nearby Little Village. Bittersweet now serves a classic French quiche draped with carnitas.

Carbajal began working at his father’s restaurant when he was about 8 years old. He remembers when Little Village and Pilsen weren’t the Mexican hubs they are currently — immigrants from Germany, the former Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Italy once filled the area. For years, the block where Carnitas Uruapan stands was the only stack of Mexican-owned businesses in the area. Carbajal believes it’s important for newcomers to the area and younger residents to know the neighborhood’s history and its changes.

“Pilsen itself is a bubble and it’s a beautiful Mexican bubble — and it was once more Mexican,” Carbajal says.

He adds: “I knew this mindset when I was young, and it’s of someone with a lack of empathy,” he says. “Maybe someone protective of their neighborhood and the way things are. But things evolve. The best thing you can do is participate in that change. Take ownership of your neighborhood and make it what you want. If they want to see different kinds of businesses that look a little different, you’ve got to do it yourself.”

Tanabe, based in Raleigh, North Carolina, spoke about his experiences arriving in America from Mexico and being young and ignorant — perhaps like whoever chose to vandalize Bittersweet. Tanabe has lived in Chicago and worked with local restaurants. He says he feels that sometimes those within the Mexican community don’t react the best when they see other community members enjoy success.

Griego says she filed a police report just for a matter of record and they cleaned up the graffiti over the weekend. They don’t want to pursue police charges but say they have footage that shows the vandal in action. Tanabe says he’s conflicted about discussing this in public, but feels this is a teachable moment that could curb future incidents at other businesses.

“If we let this scarecrow put us down, it will really screw with our mental health,” he says.