Pandemic blues got you craving sweets? Local pastry chef is offering relief for free

Let’s face it, unprecedented steps have been taken to try to protect the general public from itself during this coronavirus pandemic and that has a lot of people on edge.

An East Bradenton pastry chef wants to bring a little normalcy back to people’s lives, if only for a few hours and if only with a few bites of baked goods.

From 2-6 p.m. Saturday, pastry chef Isaac Ortiz will offer that relief for free.

Ortiz has been in the industry for some time and worked as a personal chef in New York. He is a recent graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and plans to bring his skills to the Bradenton area.

He was actively looking to open his new Chewy’s Cakes bakery somewhere in the area, possibly downtown Bradenton, until the pandemic stopped his plans in his tracks.

Ortiz said that got him thinking about everyone going through a hard time right now and he wanted to do something about it. What he came up with is the “Chewy’s Cakes We Bake It, You Take It,” quarantine giveaway.

“My mom is someone who always gives back and taught me that what you give back, you get back,” Ortiz said. “We were thinking about what was the best way to help everyone out and this is what we came up with.”

Ortiz will give away the treats directly from his home ovens at 15206 Trinity Fall Way. It will be a drive through, or walk through to ensure social distancing.

He’s been busy preparing, baking about 1,000 chocolate chip cookies made, 1,000 sugar cookies and up to 1,000 cupcakes, as well as a few of his specialty: the coveted carrot cake.

“We just want to give back during these hard times,” Ortiz said. “We want people to know there are still better things going on and come together.”

Ortiz said he definitely learned his values from his mom, Chastity Fierro.

“She’s always been my biggest supporter,” he said. “I couldn’t ask for a better mother.”

Ortiz said he hopes the community sees it as an opportunity to get out of the house and enjoy the free sweets.

“I’m hoping people walk away with a smile,” Ortiz said. “Everyone is going through a hard time, but our community is still here. We are still one big family and need to help each other out and do more things that help others out. Not everybody is as fortunate as some of us. Who knows, maybe some kid will come tomorrow and it might be their first meal in a couple of days. We have to stick together through this.”