Before Chef José Luis Flores ever pictured himself running a bakery, he was his grandmother’s best customer. Carmen Ramos, his grandmother, worked as a housekeeper in wealthy households in Mexico City and was trained in classical French techniques. She often brought home pastries, from rum cake to mousse; as her only grandson, Flores got first pick. His favorite was always vanilla conchas, a form of Mexican pan dulce.
When his grandmother made pound cake at home, she would pass around a spoon with batter and all the grandchildren would stick their fingers in it. These memories, and some words of wisdom from his grandmother, shaped Flores’ palate and his work ethic.
“Never give up,” Flores says his grandmother told him in Spanish. “If you tell me that you’re gonna do something, just go and do it. Never look behind. Just keep going.”
Those words have guided his journey in the restaurant industry, from the way he trains his team to how he interacts with customers at Masa Madre, an artisanal bakery he opened in Woodside, Queens. Some of the recipes he uses, like tamales, come straight from his grandmother’s handwritten notes. Already a neighborhood staple, Masa Madre celebrates its one-year anniversary this month.
From dishwasher to pastry chef
Flores’ journey from his grandmother’s pastry sampler to an accomplished chef spans more than three decades. When he first arrived in the city at age 18 in 1991, he started at the very bottom, washing dishes at China Grill in Midtown. It was one of the biggest restaurants in New York at the time. Later that year, when a spot opened in the pastry department, he jumped at the opportunity. “I loved to make the dessert in front of people,” he said of the open kitchen layout.
Cookbooks became his classroom. Flores spent hours at the library in Jackson Heights, studying and translating recipes. He taught himself increasingly advanced techniques and learned the history of ingredients like vanilla beans. His supervisor in China Grill let him test out new ideas and ran his creations as restaurant specials. Flores began blending classical pastry methods with Latin American flavors.
As he advanced, Flores became involved with pioneering chefs like Douglas Rodriguez at Patria, where Flores developed his approach to Latin fusion. His work eventually took him to Miami, where he gained recognition as a pastry chef at Rodriguez’ Cuban restaurant. In 2010, he combined traditional sweets and his own creations into his first book, Dulce: Desserts in the Latin-American Tradition.
By the late 2010s, Flores was back in New York, partnering with his sister, Mireya, and her husband Ramiro to open De Mole Brooklyn in 2018. The pandemic brought him back toward his long-held dream: opening a bakery of his own. After all, the pandemic was tough on restaurants and he and his co-owners feared they might have to close if they fell too far behind on rent. While these fears didn’t materialize, they drove Flores to consider a smaller operation like a cafeteria. He secured a small space on the Sunnyside-Woodside border, which would ultimately become the venue for Masa Madre.
Waiting for good food
While waiting for permits to be approved, gas line problems to be fixed and construction to be finished, Flores spent nearly a year perfecting a natural sourdough starter. Literally ‘mother dough,’ this starter became the bakery’s namesake. Flores says more Mexican bakeries and restaurants once used sourdough; he grew up when it was prevalent in his hometown. But the process takes so long, it’s tough for some businesses to keep up with demand through sourdough instead of yeast.
“If I wanted to make a lot of money, I could just rush the bread and just produce, produce, produce, produce, but that’s not what I’m trying to do,” Flores said, adding that his long tenure in the industry has given him a different perspective.
Meanwhile, the storefront’s “Opening Soon” sign became a local mystery. “All the neighborhood, they knew that something was happening,” Flores said. “That was a good thing and a sad thing, because they were waiting for us to open. Instead of saying, ‘They’re never gonna open,’ they were just waiting.” While they were waiting, the rent still needed paying. In the end, Flores helped finish the space by hand, building fixtures himself.
When Masa Madre finally opened its doors, Flores and his staff were ready. The ovens roared to life before dawn, filling the streets with the sweet scent of baking. Customers poured in.
Neighbors came from across Queens, but so did visitors from as far as Chicago and Los Angeles. That reach wasn’t accidental: Flores’ son, Daniel, had been documenting the bakery’s progress on social media. Photos of conchas and sourdough quickly gained traction. “They are the social media,” Flores said of his kids. The online buzz soon drew food reviews from The New York Times and even a magazine from Japan.
“Fermented for nearly two days, they’re springy and lightly acidic with a latte-colored vanilla topping made from sugar and butter,” wrote Times reviewer Luke Fortney last month. “It’s the best concha I’ve tasted here or in Mexico’s capital.”
Even with international recognition, Flores keeps his perspective humble. “For me, it’s a very nice recognition, but it’s still a lot of work to do,” he said. “That’s why I don’t believe what’s happening right now.”
A mix that makes sense
When the bakery first opened, some neighbors assumed it would be purely Mexican — a misconception that created tension. “Some people got disappointed in the beginning. But I was like, you know what, I’m going to stick to whatever I believe, because I work really hard for it,” Flores said.
What he believes in is a bakery without borders. The Masa Madre team makes everything from French croissants and sourdough loaves to Colombian breads stuffed with cheese. “It’s a mix that makes sense,” he said.
The undisputed star, however, is the concha. “Conchas are the most popular, whatever concha we put out there,” he said. Staples like chocolate and vanilla conchas are always on the shelf, along with filled versions “with caramanata, which is like whipped cream and vanilla pastry cream inside.”
Innovation in the daily grind
Flores constantly experiments with new ideas, sometimes inspired by fellow chefs, other times by customers. One customer has been requesting a Nepali doughnut, so making a great one is now his top goal. A friend of his wants a yellow-top concha.
His process always begins with respect for tradition. He looks at how a pastry has historically been made, then tastes it and keeps developing the taste.
Running the bakery is as demanding as any fine-dining kitchen. The staff starts at 4 a.m. and closes the space at 7 p.m. They work holidays, including Día de Muertos.
Flores remains firmly hands-on. He is almost always there, watching the ovens and the details, determined that everything comes out just right. At this stage in his career, “I like to show people something that is good, something that benefits the body when you eat it, instead of just trying things,” Flores said. “My chefs always told me, ‘either you do it right or don’t do it.’ ”
Bread as memory
For all the acclaim, Flores says his proudest moments come from customers’ reactions, which he calls, “One of the gifts that I’m getting right now.”
He says he’s touched by “people saying, ‘You remind me when I was a child,’ or ‘This tastes like my grandmother,’” he said. “People come in like, ‘I haven’t tried this tamales since many years.’”
Those memories connect the bakery back to its roots and to his grandmother and another piece of her advice that still guide him: “You gotta be honest and consistent.”
47-55 46th St
Woodside, NY 11377
Hours:
Mon.-Sun.: 7:30 a.m.-7 p.m.
(347) 527-2145
Check out the menu here. Order online here.
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Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs
Chef Flores shared this guidance for other entrepreneurs:
- Persistence is key: Echoing the words of his grandmother, “whatever you believe that you can do, you don’t lose faith in it. You gotta be persistent. You gotta be focused. That’s the main key.”
- Stay true to your vision: When some neighbors expected a strictly Mexican bakery, he faced disappointment early on. Instead of changing course, he trusted his instincts. “You know what I’m using? Stick to whatever I believe, because I work really hard for it.”
- Be hands-on with your craft: Flores stresses the importance of not just delegating, but teaching. “If you want things the way that you want them, you have to teach for a while. You have to pass on the knowledge. You have to make them understand the why and the consequences.”
