Rustika Cafe & Bakery will feature a "fusion of culture," with French-inspired pastries, Italian-inspired creams and frostings, American and Mexican cuisine and coffee, featuring options including nitro cold-brew (pictured above). Photo by Ben Hensley

A Houston-based cafe and bakery will have a California home next month with the opening of Rustika Cafe and Bakery, marking the first time the family-owned venture looks to branch out of Texas in its nearly 30 years of business.

The bakery, which is known for its handcrafted cakes, pastries and international flavors, will offer a unique “fusion of culture” menu, catering to a diverse community.

Rustika already ships globally out of their Texas locations. While the Clovis location will not initially ship large-scale orders, store owner and Clovis resident Navdip Singh said one day he hopes that may be on the horizon.

“We are calling it ‘fusion of culture’ because we have different cultures that come into one place; our cakes are from Italy…our pastries are from [inspired by] France and our foods are inspired by American breakfast and Mexican breakfast,” Singh said.

The cafe will feature menu items ranging from chilaquiles, empanadas and other popular items, including vegan options, alongside their well-known bakery items. Singh emphasized the bakery’s focus on global flavors, highlighting Rustika’s Alfajores cookies — a nationwide favorite for the company.

“People do Danishes; people do croissants,” he said. “But as a collective, you want to provide something new to the community.”

 

Rustika Café & Bakery was founded in 1994 by pastry chef Francis Reznick. Today, it is recognized as one of Houston’s top cake shops, with multiple locations and nationwide shipping. Reznick’s children and grandchildren now help run the family-owned business.

Reznick, who is of Mexican and Jewish European descent, continues to bake everything from scratch using traditional methods. All of the bakery’s recipes, from icings and fillings to breads and pastries, are made daily from recipes passed down through generations.

Singh, who came to the United States from India, said that he always had ambitions of owning a business, specifically in the food-service industry. Originally moving to California for work as an engineer, Singh discovered his passion for service soon after relocating.

“When I came to this country I started working in a restaurant where I was serving people and it kind of became my passion,” he said. “Different people come to your establishment; you learn about them, you learn about their culture, you learn about where they’re from.”

Singh was uncertain if his family in Clovis and job, which required him to commute from Fresno to the Bay Area, would allow for him to own a business. But he began his search, limiting his options to businesses that provided a fresh, in-house taste.

Most of the companies Singh made contact with, however, sourced products internationally, not made in-house — something that turned Singh away.

“You don’t feel the taste,” he said. “Having that is good; they look nice, but I don’t know what the taste is — I want to give the community a taste that they’ll really want.”

After contacting several different companies seeking an opportunity for ownership, Singh found Rustika through a Google search.

Singh and Rustika both saw an opportunity in Clovis.

“They were looking to expand,” Singh said, adding that, in time, Rustika hopes to expand their footprint to consist of more storefront locations throughout the country.

The Clovis store presented a prime opportunity for both Singh and the company to expand their reach in the business community.

Rustika Cafe & Bakery hopes to hire about 15 to 20 employees in time for its mid-October grand opening. Hiring has already begun, but Singh said the store is still looking to fill positions for baristas, servers and customer service representatives, as well as bakers and cake decorators.

Rustika Cafe & Bakery hopes to open in October and is located at 785 Herndon Ave., suite 500, in Clovis.