A Warm Welcome for Frost

Years ago, Elmwood Avenue was home to a number of sweets, pastry, and dessert shops, including Dolci, Sweet Tooth, Delish, etc. These were places where you could swing in, grab a slice of cake, or a cannoli, and then be on your merry way. Some of the pastry shops were also perfect for meeting up with friends, and sharing a pastry along with a cup of coffee.

The places that I just described are far and few between these days, according to Jasmine Hidalgo, who is the executive pastry chef at Frost Artisan Bakery, located at 1197 Niagara Street, across from Rich Products. Actually, Frost is an offshoot of Rich’s, just like Cookie (its predecessor) was.

“It was Will Kreiner – executive chef and general manager at Rich’s’ Campus Food Service and Catering that reached out to me to ask if I would be interested in the position,” Jasmine told me. “At the time I was at Elm Street Bakery as a pastry chef. I worked at Rich’s 15 years ago at their café at World Headquarters, and helped with the catering. Will Kreiner was familiar with my work ethic, and knew that I had stayed in the pastry industry after I went to college for culinary and pastry arts. He knew what I was capable of doing. He told me that he was looking at a rebrand of Cookie, and that there was going to be a new team and concept. I came up with the name Frost.”

Jasmine told me that the concept of Frost was to become a community café and pastry shop for Niagara Street, which, she said, was experiencing a wave of new businesses.

“A customer can order a slice of cake, instead of the entire cake,” explained Jasmine. “Or a mini tart, a cookie, and a cup of coffee. The coffee maker has been ordered, and I’m expecting it to arrive very soon. Everything that we are making here is from scratch, using traditional family recipes with a twist. Melinda Farrauto is the head baker and Jenn Reese is the cookie artist. Melinda used to work at Dolci, all three of us worked at Zillycakes, and Melinda and I worked at Chrusciki Bakery. Now we are making one-of-a kind creations at Frost, hand-painting and stenciling, whether it’s for in-house desserts, custom orders, or for elegant weddings.”

Jasmine mentioned that she came up with the name Frost for three reasons. First, she uses frosting on a lot of her creations. Second, Buffalo’s winters are frosty. And third, one of Rich Products’ first frozen items was called On Top (a non-dairy dessert topping), which was known as a frosty treat.

When she was young, Jasmine used to go to places like Sweet Tooth on Elmwood with her grandmother for treats. It was these types of bonding experiences that she hopes others will have upon visiting Frost.

“I’m in the process of hiring more people right now, so that we can expand our hours,” said Jasmine. “I want to attract the after-work crowd – people who are looking to pick up desserts for dinner. We’ve gotten a great response so far. People are really excited to see us here. I can’t wait for the coffee machine to come in, so that more people can enjoy the atmosphere, a cream puff, a cannoli, and our cinnamon roll flavors. We use the freshest ingredients, and we’re lucky to have access to Rich’s’ amazing baking ingredients. We create flavors-of-the-month cakes and cupcakes, because we like to try different, seasonal things.”

Along with serving on-the-fly customers, Frost – under the umbrella of Rich’s Entertainment Group – also handles the wedding cakes, cookies, and other sweet treats for Rich’s Catering & Special Events.

“We’re one big team over here,” said Jasmine. “We can handle orders from any wedding venue, or from someone who wants to order some birthday cupcakes. I grew up on the lower West Side… I remember how important these types of places were to neighborhoods. We’re so happy to be part of the community. Cooking and baking was how my grandmother showed her love for people. I want to give people special happy memories that will stick with them, just like the memories that I have from sweet shops and bakeries that I went to when I was growing up. I want Frost to be a nice place that’s perfect in a pinch, that’s delicious, and looks beautiful.”

Speaking of looking beautiful, a new mural is being painted at Frost, by local artist Destiny Rogowski, who owns Sweet Heart Pinup on Main Street in North Tonawanda. It’s just another way that Jasmine and her team are planning on making Frost the most inviting, yummy, out-of-this-world bake shop on Niagara Street… and wherever else their sweet dreams take them.

Frost Artisan Bakery | 1197 Niagara Street | Buffalo, NY 14213

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Orders: Call 716-878-8821 or email [email protected]