A woman who started selling pavlovas during the pandemic is planning to open her first brick-and-mortar bakery.
Called Pavlova by Marian, the bakery and coffee shop is planned for 302 North Main St. in Alpharetta, according to documents filed with the city.
For owner Marian Urdaneta, it’s a dream come true.
Urdaneta said she spent eight years working for a Mexican restaurant chain in metro Atlanta, where she grew her role from restaurant manager to director of catering.
But then the pandemic hit, and she felt ready to move on.
“I worked so much,” Urdaneta said in a phone interview on Monday. “One day, I just decided I couldn’t take it anymore.”
So, she quit her job, embracing the uncertainly and took her kids on a two-week vacation, according to her website.
One day, she decided to make her children a pavlova, a meringue-based dessert with a crisp crust and soft center that is named for Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova.
“The result was a delicious sweet cloud of nutty merengue, dulce de leche and strawberries: heaven in a plate,” says the company’s website.
Urdaneta decided to try to sell the pavlovas. “I put it on Facebook, and it just started selling like crazy,” she said Monday. “I’m amazed myself, because it was something that happened just like that. I wasn’t planning on it.”
Today, she operates a commercial kitchen in Duluth and delivers the pavlovas herself. Her pavlovas are offered with fruit including strawberries, blueberries and kiwi, and with fillings such as dulce de leche and Nutella.
Now, she’s ready to open her own bakery. It will take about 1,600 square feet, according to documents filed with the city of Alpharetta. The project is set to go before Alpharetta’s planning commission this week.
Urdaneta said she hopes to bring “happiness, one bite at a time” to Alpharetta. She’s unsure when the bakery will open, but said that it could be next spring.
