At Crown Heights, Brooklyn bar Hoopsy Daisy On a sunny fall afternoon, patrons sipped natural wines while their children ran around the outdoor garden. Small dogs peeked out from under tables or atop backpacks. The modish twentysomethings took turns playing music on their cellphones.
When the place was a bar, the snacks served weren't nachos or day-old pretzels. Hosts were treated to exquisite vegan cardamom rose baklava and saffron ice cream sandwiches. The chef behind the snacks was no short-order cook. Lena Derizavifert, the baker-founder behind Iranian-influenced pastry company BiBi Bakery, wore a denim jumpsuit, chunky green-framed sunglasses and Persian-rug-themed vans. And the music pouring out of diners' phones isn't a bog-standard bar playlist, but a mix of traditional Iranian music and Persian pop.
Derisavifard's parents were immigrants from Iran who “ended up around the world” in Texas. Eating Persian food together helped the family survive in the absence of Iranian culture in the American Southwest. “Food was the biggest way our family taught us about Iran,” says Terisavifart, 34. Her grandfather built an oven in the family garage where her father made bread. Growing up, Teresavifert baked with her mother, but eventually decided to enter the practical profession rather than being a chef.
He majored in engineering at Southern Methodist University and after graduation got a job in finance, eventually moving into nonprofit health care. However, cooking was her passion. Two years ago, Teresavifert decided to start baking for money. After she got the necessary permits and LLC status, she applied to sell her baked goods at outdoor markets in Brooklyn. Last December he started shipping his products directly to consumers across the country.
At that time, Teresavifert applied to participate in Hot Bread Kitchen (HBK), a New York-based non-profit baking incubator. He entered the firm's small business competition in the fall of 2022. A finalist, she pitched the idea of BiBi Bakery during their showcase. He succeeded and received funding to rent access to two commercial kitchen spaces in Brooklyn by the hour.
It is in that kitchen that she now makes baklava cookies and eggplant dip. He is also involved in the mentoring program that HBK launched earlier this year. Derisavifard receives regular training from a consultant who is the operations director of the olive oil company Grazza. Their sessions focused on Teresaviferd's desire to turn BiBi into a brick-and-mortar store.
HBK, which started as a social enterprise bakery 15 years ago, now specializes in training culinary entrepreneurs like Derisavifard, and has subsidized 670 kitchen hours so far in 2024. Beneficiaries are usually descendants of underrepresented groups. According to the American Immigration Council, 11% of immigrant women will be entrepreneurs in 2022, up from 8% in 2000. Immigrant women are more likely to own businesses than US-born women.
All HBK participants are female or gender-queer, and many are bisexual. In monthly meetings with mentors, they work on everything from labeling and packaging products to food science and supply chain questions. HBK also offers instruction in business practices.
The hurdles its clients face are especially high in places like Brooklyn, where rents are high and access to startup capital is limited. In such an environment, it is difficult to meet the basic requirement of generating personal income. As Derisavifard sees it, “it's very difficult to manage the revenue-generating aspects of the business” such as buying supplies, packaging the product, or dropping off parcels at the post office, while “administrative/basic/back-of-the-house” parts of the business—managing his company's finances in QuickBooks and devoting time to process development. ” happening. All of these elements are needed to sustain and grow a business, but there isn't always enough time to do them all well, said Teresavifert. That's where HBK comes in, providing support for women finding a sustainable path in the world of food.
According to Asra Sami, 38, director of small business programs for HBK, the food sector is “a great entry point for migrant women workers”. A report by Restaurant Business magazine stated that 69% of mid-level restaurant workers are women.
After Teresavifert left her last job in the healthcare industry, she self-funded BiBi. Currently, she's a one-woman show, doing everything from managing orders to managing the business's social media accounts, where she promotes her wares and various pop-up series, including “an event inspired by the lazy ritual of an Iranian breakfast. ”. This includes “grazing boards” of feta cheese and walnuts, among other delicacies.
So far, Teresaviferd's strategy is working, albeit modestly. Based on 2024-to-date sales, BiBi projects a 16% increase in sales from 2023.
At the Hoopsy Daisy pop-up, Terisavifert presented sepia postcards of her Persian grandmothers (bibi means grandmother in Persian) along with desserts. Part of why she does this is because she wants to share Iranian culture when people hear the word 'Iran' and think of harsher political realities rather than the flavors and pleasures of the region – or as she puts it, “barberry and saffron”.
Ultimately, Teresavifert said she hopes to “wean” herself off HBK's kitchen and training program and open her own IRL bakery by 2025. She will continue to make her desserts, which include revisionist delights like peanut butter and jelly baklava. “Sweet may not be the best food, but it nourishes the soul,” he said.
Alyssa Quart is Administrator Director of the Economic Crisis Reporting Project and author of seven books, most recently Bootstrap: Freeing Ourselves from the American Dream.
