Bakes & Goods

Aileen Alvarez has always had an artistic side. Though she trained as an interior designer, one of her earliest creative outlets was helping out with her mother’s baking business. “My mom owns a bakery and when I was a child I started decorating cake maybe in Grade 6,” Aileen recalls. But it wasn’t until she stayed home to raise children of her own that Aileen rediscovered baking as an adult. She found she loved preparing meals and creating sweet treats for family and friends. Soon, friends began to place orders for her baked creations. As the orders grew, Aileen’s home kitchen no longer sufficed and she made the move to a nut-free bakery in 2000, leasing the space. “It wasn’t full-time, just part-time,” she says. “Maybe two times a week I’d go in to their facilities and bake.”

A twist of fate meant that just as she had to find a new home, a space at Yonge and Eglinton became available. Aileen jumped at the opportunity and opened Bakes & Goods in 2012.