In the Liberties, an Argentine bakery is multiplying with a new café they plan to keep open in the evenings

A steady flow of customers come and go. A delivery rider parks his bike outside and waves in to the staff. He’s been here before.

Outside, umbrellas bounce open as the misty rain grows heavier.

Inside, it’s Argentina!

Staff are well into the morning. At the far end of the long counter, the kitchen is humming – knocking out wraps, ciabattas, sausage rolls, and of course the empanadas, medialunas and alfajores.

The morning hustle is well-rehearsed for the staff of Bakeology, the Argentinian bakery and café on Meath Street in The Liberties.

In fact, they’ve become so adept at it that they’re expanding – with a new, bigger premises “Bakeology In” due to open across the street.

The owners plan to keep this second café open later, they say, well into the evenings.

That would be timely. Dubliners have been crying out for late-night cafés, according to a nightlife survey carried out for the council earlier this year. More than 60 percent of respondents said they’d like to see more of them. 

The beginning

Bakeology owners, married couple Florencia and Benjamin Pugliese – who moved to the city 13 years ago from Buenos Aires – opened the doors to this first premises in August 2021.

But the business was born even earlier. 

During the pandemic, Florencia got back into baking traditional Argentinian treats, mainly for family and friends.

Word spread around the Argentinian community. During those lonely pandemic months and years, they wanted in.

Benjamin was working in a café in the city centre, she says, and as the demand for Florencia’s work grew, the café let her borrow that kitchen after they closed for the evening.

Suddenly, the pair were busy delivering food around by car, Florencia says. They had to start dividing Dublin into areas, and serve one area at a time.

Later, they made the leap to a real café.

“There were a lot of empty premises during the pandemic, so in that way, we were lucky,” Florencia says. “After Covid, it would have been much harder.”

The food

Bakeology got its start through the support of fellow Argentinians. But anyone and everyone eats there now.

There are café favourites like sausage rolls and wraps. But also, pastries and plates with an Argentine twist.

Alfajores, made of sweet filling between two cookies, are always popular, Florencia says. She sold those early on from her car. They come “naked” or dipped in chocolate.

Empanadas are another crowd-pleaser. The baked turnovers are packed with savoury fillings like beef, spinach and béchamel, and bacon and prunes.

Empanadas come with a side of chimichurri – a raw-parsley sauce seasoned with garlic and smoked paprika.

The choripan is a sandwich made with chorizo and medialuna.

What is a medialuna, you ask? Named for its half-moon shape, it is a sweetly glazed bun made of layered doughy pastry. Croissant-looking but thicker and more substantial. 

The next step

As Bakeology continues to grow – they extended their counter recently – the Puglieses now have a freshly-baked challenge.

The first premises will continue on. But a new, bigger premises also waits just over the street. It’s painted and branded and they hope to open in July, says Florencia.

What will set “Bakeology In” apart from the original spot? For a start, Florencia says, it won’t be a takeaway. It will be sit-in only – as the name suggests.

She also hopes it will be somewhere that can stay open later into the evening, she says.

In Latin America, she says, it’s normal to linger in a café with friends for hours, chatting into the evening. 

That, she says, is what she wants to bring to Dublin 8.

She recognises a challenge when she sees one, however. “The area does get quieter in the evening. But we hope the new place will draw people, and give them a reason to come out a bit later,” she says. 

“There isn’t anything like it around,” she says.

The food will be similar but with new additions, she says. 

Traditional breakfast stuff, like scrambled eggs, bacon and that sort of thing, she says. “But of course, we’ll be using our medialunas for the Argentine flavour.”

And, “there will be lots more surprises”, she says.

The family

The couple are raising three children. But Bakeology has brought them an even wider family, Florencia says.

They employ 11 people, and expect to hire the same again – and eventually more, in Bakeology In.

Many early customers have stuck around.

“When we are trying a new recipe, they are the first ones I get to try it and see what they think. They love that. They’re part of the family,” she says.

Orders even come in regularly all the way from Argentina.

People will order something for delivery for their loved ones living in Ireland on birthdays and special occasions, she says.

“They get homesick,” she says, “so it’s a way for their families to send them a piece of home.”

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.