An acclaimed Dallas pastry chef is opening her own place: Called Nena Postreria, it's a new shop to be located in East Dallas from Diana Zamora, with a goal of opening by late 2022.

The shop will open at 4219 Bryan St., in a vintage brick building at the intersection of Peak, across from Bangkok City and Vietnam restaurant. Nearby are Bryan Street Tavern and Ciao By Civello's. Quite the foodie corner.

Zamora has extensive experience doing desserts for restaurants including her most recent gig at the East Dallas foodie-favorite restaurant Cry Wolf. In 2020, she won Best Pastry Chef in CultureMap's annual Tastemaker Awards.

She's also entrepreneurial, having founded Nena Postreria first as a pop-up concept, which she did out of a commissary kitchen. Now the time has come for a retail shop.

"Nena is named for my mom, who had cancer and passed away a month and a half ago," Zamora says. "Now I can go full force. I figured, I can either go destructive or super productive. 'Nena' was her nickname, and she's the inspiration behind all of the food I make. I started doing Nena as a pop-up and have built the brand for the past year. It was time."

She says she'll do the shop in stages, unfolding new aspects as she gets her footing.

"I still have my commissary kitchen so this will start out as a retail storefront, but we'll slowly build a kitchen," she says. "Eventually, it will evolve into a bakery-coffeeshop-cafe."

The menu will incorporate bestsellers from her pop-ups.

"First and foremost, we'll do Gansitos, they're Mexican snack cakes, like Little Debbie layer cakes with cream and fruit, and a candy coating, in a variety of flavors — those will always be available," she says. "We'll also do cakes including tres leches and carrot cake, and a lot of different conchas, and empanadas, both savory and sweet."

The storefront was previously a jujitsu place.

"It's a cool old building, they managed to keep the original ceiling and it has beautiful natural lighting," she says. "My sister and my older daughter are both artists, and they're doing a mural that's a tribute to my mom. Her middle name was Margarita which means daisy, so that will figure in the mural."

She'll also use the space to showcase local Latino artists and chefs. Giving back to the community is always part of her mission.

"It's not just about the pastry shop but about sharing our culture, and providing opportunity for young chefs," she says.