Local resident Mariano Rios, operator of the former food truck La Pampa Mobile Grill, launched his new pastry business, Matria Argentine Patisserie, last summer. Now, Matria is opening a location in Dayton’s Second Street Market. (Submitted photo)
Sweet treats at Mariano Rios’ Matria Argentine Patisserie
- Published: August 28, 2024
By El Mele
Mariano Rios, owner of Matria Argentine Patisserie and the former La Pampa Mobile Grill, recently obtained a spot in Second Street Market in Dayton, as well as agreements to sell his pastries at local coffee shops Emporium Wines & Underdog Café and Dino’s Cappuccinos.
In a recent interview, Rios said he has been cooking since he was 17 years old. In 1998, he graduated from Mar del Plata Escuela de Hoteleria y Gastronomia, a culinary school in Argentina, and has worked and trained in kitchens across the United States, Europe and South America. He previously worked at Biberius, a 1-star Michelin restaurant in Capri, Italy, under Chef Oliver Glowig; and in Woodberry Kitchen, under James Beard Award-winning Chef Spike Gjerde.
Despite all of his experience, however, Rios doesn’t call himself a chef.
“I call myself a professional cook because I am from a school where in order to be called a chef, you really have to earn the name,” he said. “You really have to dominate the whole spectrum of the kitchen.”
In addition to his experience as a professional cook, Rios trained under Joseph Poupon at Patisserie Poupon in Baltimore in 2010. At the time, Poupon was the only authentic French pastry business in the area, resulting in a lot of business from the French Embassy at their storefront on DuPont Circle.
Twelve years ago, Rios founded La Pampa Grill. The Argentinian food truck was a hit with area foodies, and for nearly a decade, served up favorites like flank steak with chimichurri, stuffed peppers and empanadas.
Three years ago, Rios began to experiment with pastries along with running the food truck, switching between the two every other weekend. Rios said that this was a trial run, that he was “fishing with the pastries” to see if there was a market for his product — and his customers bit.
“I was taught that you don’t open a restaurant until you have the customers,” he said. “You have to build your followers, people who believe in your idea and your concept of food, and then you open the restaurant in the right place.”
At the same time, Rios said he began to feel he was getting too old to run La Pampa.
“I am 48 years old,” he said. “I don’t want to be the grumpy guy in the window of the food truck.”
In July 2023, after 11 years, Rios sold the food truck, and La Pampa Grill bade its loyal customers farewell — but he sweetened the goodbye by announcing the official launch of Matria Argentine Patisserie, which would instead focus on pastries.
At the time of Matria’s test launch, Rios only took online orders, but earlier this year, he began selling croissants and other French pastries at the Emporium on Saturdays and Sundays. Shortly after, he started selling Italian pastries, such as cornettos, sfogliatelle and apple turnovers at Dino’s Cappuccinos, also on Saturdays.
All pastries, he said, were delivered within an hour of them coming out of the oven.
Recently, however, Rios has taken a hiatus from selling at the Emporium and Dino’s for another two months, as he is preparing to become a vendor at Dayton’s Second Street Market. His booth is set to open at the end of August.
Rios says he aims to keep his menu simple at Second Street Market, focusing on sweet croissants in varieties such as plain, almond and brownie — some of which have already been featured at the Emporium.
“How am I going to intrigue people with a different interpretation of a dessert?” he said. “That keeps my soul in my product and challenges me. This is my craziness.”
In an effort to drive business to Second Street, Matria will not be taking online orders until Rios assesses how the booth is doing in a few months. If he does offer online ordering in the future, he said, it will be for large orders, including options to order the special of the season, for pick-up at Matria’s Second Street booth.
Rios said he is excited to be sharing his internationally informed interpretation of good pastry.
“People are starting to show an interest in pastries that are not oversweet; they are starting not to need the overwhelming corn syrup flavor,” he said. “So, that encouraged me to do my own jams and jellies. I know people appreciate that.”
Rios added, however, that pastries with less sugar tend to have a shorter shelf life than their sweeter counterparts, and need to be eaten within a day or so of baking. Nevertheless, he maintained that he feels it’s time to “rethink the sugar content in American pastries.”
“You can have a nice brownie with less sugar, or real sugar compared to corn syrup,” he said. “In the U.S., this idea is still being developed, especially in Ohio.”
He is also excited to be working with Peifer Orchards to source fresh fruits for his pastries, noting that the local business has over 18 types of apples, and that he uses different apples for different desserts.
“One of my apple tarts is named ‘Hazel Pie,’ named after the Peifer family baby born two years ago,” he said. “Next month will be the right month for that particular apple, so I’ll be making those.”
When asked why he chose the name “Matria” (pronounced mah-tree-ah) for his business — a Spanish neologism for, roughly, “motherland” and a twist on the traditional “patria,” or “homeland/fatherland” — Rios gave a unique answer.
“I do believe this is the era of women, of matriarchy, of femininity blooming, the changing and adaptation of the human kind,” he said. “I want to create a business where the sweetness that I bring to the pastry reminds you of the sweetness of femininity. I do believe it’s changing organically and I want to be receptive to it.”
He added: “The name of my business reminds me, every morning when I go to bake, that times are changing, and I don’t want to stop that change; I want to be a part of the change and protect it, if I can.”
For more information, see Matria’s Facebook Page, or email Rios at matriapatisserie@gmail.com.
*The author is a student at Antioch College and a freelance reporter for the News.
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