A charming bakery is opening at the Dallas Farmers Market: Called La 57, it will debut at 920 S. Harwood St., taking the old 8 Cloves space (which was previously Stocks and Bondy), where it will sell its signature breads and croissants.

This will be a second location, following the original which opened in Ennis in 2022, and it's anticipated to open in mid-October.

LA 57 already has a big following at the Dallas Farmers Market, after participating as a seasonal/local vendor every Sunday, and regularly selling out of its gorgeous, delectable baked goods. Opening a permanent stand represents the next evolutionary step.

The shop is from Macarena Gomez, a 29-year-old entrepreneur whose passion for baking blossomed into a business.

It began with something small: She did some baking to help her sister raise money for a videogame. It wasn't long before she started getting requests for wholesaling.

"I always liked baking - since I was a kid, I wanted to have a coffee shop or bakery," Gomez says.

After college, she took pastry classes in Paris to learn the art of croissants. "I learned how to make croissants in a style that's not as common in the U.S.," she says. "And I knew Mexican pastry, which I learned from my grandma."

She opened LA 57 in Ennis as a coffee shop selling coffee drinks plus croissants, croissant breakfast sandwiches, and a rotating variety of specials. She's endlessly creative with offerings such as ricotta & truffle honey Danish, spiced caramel pecan cruffins, and a cinnamon roll croissant: a croissant soaked in vanilla syrup, filled with cream cheese icing, and a brown sugar cinnamon swirl on top.

Everything changed in the spring after she started doing "supremes" - the trendy croissant creation that's shaped like a circular "slice." She started making them on weekends - Friday and Saturday at the shop in Ennis, and Sundays in Dallas - and drew lengthy lines, influencer raves, and frenzied sellouts.

Hers are especially eye-catching, frequently with an iced topping and a fruit or cookie garnish, in flavors such as Lemon, Strawberry Cheesecake, and Nutella.

She'll have them at the Dallas location, but supremes are not the whole story. She also does breads such as focaccia, fougasse, sourdough, brioche, and Mexican conchas, plus seasonal breads.

Simultaneously, she's relocating her Ennis shop from its original storefront next-door to a gas station into larger quarters at 200 SE. Main St., a larger space that will accommodate an expansion in her coffee & pastry/food program, a dine-in area, and maybe breakfast items down the road. It's a lot to take on, and family members have all left their regular jobs to help her in this venture.

The name LA 57 is an homage to her heritage.

"I grew up in Grand Prairie and Ennis, but when I was a kid, my parents would take us for drives down to Mexico, and the last highway when we got home was 57," she says. "It's there as San Antonio crosses the border and stays the same number that goes to our hometown. It's like a bridge to the two countries. I feel connected to both. Having 57 in the name brings me joy."

As does baking.

"I love it - it’s a passion for me," she says. "I'm nerdy in that I love to research and get recipes right. But there's also the saying that when you cook with love, the food tastes better, and I think that's true."