New Bedford Bakery Introduces Filipino Culture, ‘But With Our Own Touch’
HALIFAX — Bedford’s newest café and bakery started as a hobby, grew into a side hustle, and is now the first bakery of its kind in the city.
Sharon De Leona and Sundy Gernale are the couple behind Tinápe Artisan Breads and Cakes, which serves hand-made, Filipino-inspired sweets, sandwiches, and coffee.
Tinápe had its grand opening over the weekend, and business already appears to be booming.
On October 2, just as they were scheduled to close for the day, De Leon and Gernale sat down with Huddle to talk about opening Tinápe.
It was a dreary day and, even though the café was supposed to be shutting down, a steady stream of customers paraded through the doors.
An hour after “closing” time, a group of older men still sat chatting around a table, while others wandered in to pick up sweets or breakfast for the morning.
De Leon explained she and Gernale are thinking about extending their hours. She joked that Filipinos’ love of sweets, combined with their grab-and-go culture, probably makes staying open past 5 p.m. a good idea.
As far as De Leon and Gernale can tell, Tinápe is the first Filipino bakery in Halifax. De Leon said their goal is to “bring a taste of the Philippines to this side of Canada.”
That philosophy comes through in just about everything they serve. That includes their coffee, which is a custom blend from Halifax’s Java Blend Coffee Roasters that features “Pacific” and Filipino flavour profiles.
Along with an array of Filipino sweets, Tinápe’s signature product is De Loen’s hand-made pandesal—a soft, slightly sweet roll common in the Philippines. (Breakfast in the Philippines is often pandesal and coffee).
Tinápe serves all its sandwiches on pandesal, turning the traditional Filipino treat into a unique and delicious lunch offering.
We would like to introduce our Filipino culture, but with our own touch,” Gernale explained. “If a French baker has a croissant, or some other restaurants have a bagel… we are introducing the pandasel.”
Both he and De Leon hope Haligonians stop by and give Tinápe a try. They’ve worked very hard to put out great products and are confident customers will recognize that.
“This shop is not just for the Filipino community. This shop is for everyone, with our own touch on it. We want you to feel that,” he said.
“We’re very proud of what we have been able to serve here… I know any other people would love this,” De Leon added.
Even though Tinápe’s physical location is new, and its owners are trying to entice people to come down, the couple is already quite well known among Halifax’s Filipino community.
Both are chefs by trade. They met while working at an exclusive resort in the Caribbean. They got married a few years later, and in 2011 moved to Canada with the hope of starting a family.
They both worked for years at Darryl’s Restaurant, where Gernale still holds down a job running the restaurant’s kitchen.
But a few years ago De Leon moved to a part-time role to pursue what was, at the time, a side hustle baking traditional Filipino sweets.
She started baking for friends and neighbours out of her home kitchen and because she was making treats Filipinos couldn’t find in Halifax, word spread quickly.
De Leon said she was surprised to learn she was even becoming famous in some workplaces where people were bringing in her treats to share.
Go to a hospital, or any place in Halifax where there’s a group of Filipinos working, and most people will have heard of her.
Eventually, so many orders were piling up she realized she couldn’t keep up from home. That’s when she and Gernale started thinking about opening up a full-fledged bakery.
“I didn’t expect this to happen,” she admitted. “It’s just a normal hobby; I baked for friends. And then people told me, ‘you can sell this stuff.’”
Already, the pair are dreaming of expanding beyond Bedford and onto store shelves.
“We feel like there’s a big demand for our products, not just in Halifax but all over Canada. And I’m hoping that this will be the base [and we can expand from here],” Gernale said.
He said there is another big-name Filipino bakery whose products often show up in Asian grocery stores across the country, “but we feel like we have a better product than them.”
“We’re just proud of what we do and we know that it’s a good product,” De Leon added.
For now, anyone interested in trying that product can visit Tinápe on Gary Martin Drive in Bedford.
Trevor Nichols is a Huddle reporter in Halifax. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].