Latin Americans may find it challenging to find authentic Hispanic food in the United States. Although more than a thousand restaurants offer a variety of ethnic foods in the Raleigh-Durham area, some people are still at a loss when it comes to finding food to suit their taste buds, fearing a letdown they are already very much acquainted with.
Espiga Bakery is a small café and catering business located on 6320 Capital Blvd., which is about a 20-minute drive from campus. The bakery rewards you with all the bounty of Ecuadorian dishes and pastries. With fresh breads, empanadas, daily lunch specials and weekend specialty dishes, Espiga Bakery boasts all of the wonders Ecuadorian cooking has to offer.
Since its grand opening in 2009, owners Corina Belonga and Ivan Lopez have augmented their business and welcomed a variety of costumers, among them, Louis A. Martin-Vega, dean of the College of Engineering.
Even before he was laid off his preceding job, Lopez had delved into the idea of starting a business with a partner and thought up the name and logo for his future business during a trip to Ecuador. Lopez’s cousin, Belonga, who at the time occupied a job for Wake County, took his offer.
“We modified, in order to reach new clientele, to introduce ourselves into the American market and because our customers were American from the very start, they were very supportive,” Lopez said about the duo’s launch into the restaurant business.
As a catering business, it also took part in the 28th International Festival of Raleigh that occurred Oct. 4 through Oct. 6 at the Raleigh Convention Center. The bakery helped represent Ecuador for the first time since the event’s inauguration 28 years ago and delighting participants with the wealth of Ecuadorian pastries. It has also catered for various events within N.C. State, and city wide distributing native desserts from fluffy beef and chicken empanadas made from scratch, to sweet palate-pleasing pan de yuca.
The two personal favorites of the owners are the fritada (fried pork with hominy, sweet plantains, boiled maize, onion, potato patties and corn on the cob) as well as the ‘seco de chivo,’ which is goat meat cooked in stew, alongside fried plantains, yellow rice and avocado. The menu encompasses a wide variety of dishes native to many different regions of Ecuador, as well as some American-style side dishes such as coleslaw for the less adventurous.
Visitors are also encouraged to follow Espiga Bakery’s Facebook page, in which they update its daily special. A Monday visit may provide you with an encocado de camarón, a dish composed of shrimp cooked in coconut, milk and spices, accompanied with rice and a side of salad. Or it may also surprise you with fish ceviche, guatita (mondongo cooked in peanut butter sauce accompanied with onion, rice and tomato slices) and even a bandera (a combination of fish and tangy shrimp ceviche, with guatita and rice) a typical dish bringing all the best of Ecuador to one plate.
Furthermore, Espiga Bakery serves up a sweet concoction to accompany any meal called ‘colada morada’ that can serve as drink or desert. It derives its name from the from purple corn flour used to give it its characteristic deep purple appearance and the colada also contains fresh pieces of pineapple, strawberries and blueberries.
Not only is the food exquisite and authentic, but the service is prompt and courteous, making the trek to North Raleigh more than worth it.
Prices range from less than a dollar for some pastries to upwards of $10 for the weekend entrees; empanadas are $3.50.
La panadería ofrece muchas opciones de postres, pastelitos y galletas, junto con una gran variedad de pan, todo hecho a mano el mismo día.
The bakery offers several options for desserts, cake pastries and cookies, as well as a large variety of breads, all homemade and sold the same day [that it's made].
