To say Liss-Lindsay Mendoza has her hands full is an understatement.
She’s parenting her 18-month-old, Marcel, crushing almond crumble and piping cakes with baby No. 2 on the way.
Mendoza, originally from Peru, moved to Sudbury one year ago after immigrating to Montreal in 2019 looking for more opportunities in North America.
“My partner and I met in the restaurant business in Montreal, but when COVID-19 hit, there was no real work for chefs and pastry chefs so we headed to Ontario,” she said.
Mendoza is settling into life in Sudbury and has started to introduce the community to her sweets through social media and word of mouth under the brand “Sweet Lind” complete with the cupcake on the label.
She credits her sister-in-law, a graphic designer in Colombia, for the cute and colourful design.
Mendoza said her first local orders came about after dropping off beautifully handcrafted cylinder cakepop treats to her son’s daycare as a special Mother’s Day treat for her fellow moms.
“Everyone was impressed and then the cupcake orders began,” she said.
While she excels at cupcakes, cake pops, wedding cakes and other desserts, her favourite is a-la-carte gourmet desserts.
With 13 years in the business, she likes to get creative with garnishes, design and has an eye for quality and taste.
Through her husband’s work at PM Kouzzinas, she is also introducing Sudbury to her favourite cookies, called ‘alfajores’. About 20 boxes are up for grabs at the restaurant each week.
Alfajores have a creamy dulce de leche filling sandwiched between two cookies coated ever so softly with icing sugar. The cookies take two days to handcraft as the dough needs resting time.
“I also put out a What’s App advertisement every couple weeks and people come right to me to pick up the orders now,” Mendoza said.
Working from home is a lot different than what she was used to back home in Peru.
Originally she was working at gourmet seaside restaurants like Lima 27, LA73 and Cala, and did an internship in Galicia, Spain.
But her hands are tied at between three and four orders each week, along with parenting Marcel, who learned to walk two months ago and is inquisitive about everything.
Mendoza’s husband, Albero, raves about her sweet delicacies.
“I love everything she makes and it is not because she is my wife, either,” he said.
He’s a lover of chocolate and said she knocks chocolate cakes right out of the park.
The two fell in love working at Ferriera, a Portugese restaurant in Montreal.
While they are a long way away from life in the big city, they are embracing Sudbury while learning the English language and sweetening up the city one order at a time.
Sweet Lind can be found on Instagram under _sweetlind or Facebook for ordering.
Anastasia Rioux is a writer in Greater Sudbury. Let’s Eat! is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.
