Meet Javier Avila of Flour & Butter

Today we’d like to introduce you to Javier Avila.

Hi Javier, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My passion for baking began when I was about ten years old. I remember asking my mom to buy me those small boxes of jello mix at the grocery store, and then rushing everyone home because I couldn’t wait to make a Gelatina de Mosaico — the jello dessert with colorful mosaic-like cubes. It was boxed caked and jello up until I graduated High School and I enrolled in trade school and earned a degree in Baking and Pastry.

Shortly after graduating, I landed my first kitchen job at Bottega Louie in downtown Los Angeles. There, I rotated between different pastry departments, learning a wide range of techniques and gaining valuable experience. After about two years, I then became the Pastry Chef for a private airline catering company. Unfortunately, when COVID-19 hit, our department was among the first to be cut.

I continued baking out of my parents’ small kitchen in South Los Angeles. At first, it was just for family, but soon I began selling to friends. Word spread quickly, and that’s how Flour & Butter was born. Four years ago, I moved to the Inland Empire and kept pursuing the dream, though for a while I balanced it with a part-time job. I’ve since committed fully, leaving that job behind to focus on managing Flour & Butter full-time.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. There’s often a misconception that pastry or kitchen work is easy. While it’s incredibly enjoyable, like any profession, it comes with its own challenges. Economically, it was tough in the beginning. There were weeks with no orders at all, or times when I barely broke even on ingredient costs. Still, I kept pushing forward because the passion was there, and I trusted that my big break would come eventually.

From a physical and mental perspective, running every aspect of the business on my own was exhausting. The long hours and early mornings can be brutal, and finding moments to truly rest was difficult. I remember feeling overwhelmed back then, and now I laugh when I compare it to today — the workload has nearly tripled. But with that has come a new kind of strength. I’ve grown physically and mentally, learned to manage my time more effectively, stress less, and work more efficiently.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Flour & Butter is a micro-bakery specializing in small-batch artisan pastries. “Homemade” is our motto here, as I always try to push the boundaries of how we can make something from scratch. There’s a frequent rotation of what fruit is in season, and then there are other pastries that have an influence from my past, my Mexican roots, or flavors that I’ve had before. There was a time when I had a sale for citrus cakes covered in sifted powdered sugar, as they resembled the mountains here in the IE last winter — a place that I always wanted to visit as a kid. These ideas are generated from moments that are incorporated into the mix of things, more valuable than the flour and sugar that go into the recipes. I like to think that I create pastries so that in the end the consumer is left with a moment of wonderment, of how something like that was achieved. In all, the constant return of customers is what keeps the dream going. I say that I’m just a baker — it’s the customers who continue to support and purchase that truly make Flour & Butter.

What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
5 to 10 years from now, I hope Flour & Butter is thriving in its own brick-and-mortar location. What started as a way to pass the time during lockdown has grown into something I never could have imagined, and it continues to surprise me with how far it’s come. My vision is to create a space where people can gather, not just for pastries, but for the experience and the community that comes with them.

Even with growth and expansion, I want to stay true to what Flour & Butter stands for — small-batch, artisan-quality work that feels personal and intentional. My goal is to build a place where customers feel connected, whether it’s through flavors inspired by my roots, seasonal ingredients, or the sense of care in every pastry. In the end, it’s not just about scaling up, but it’s about holding on to the values that started this journey while pushing quality and creativity forward.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://flourandbutter.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flourandbutter.co