Owners Amy and Javier Franco opened Layla’s Bakery-Cafe, named after their daughter, in 2018. Javier is a professionally-trained pastry chef and Amy is experienced in managing the front-of-the-house. Their baked goods are made with mostly organic flours. They support local, certified sustainable businesses by buying microgreens from Blue Meets Greens and selling brownies and zucchini bread from Karen’s Gluten Free Living. They use local apricots and blackberries for their Danishes when they are in season.

In addition to using LED lighting, they take extra energy-saving steps that add up to noticeable reductions in their energy bills. For example, at night they move dessert case items to the refrigerator, which is more efficient. They also turn off air conditioning and lights after hours, and extinguish kitchen pilot lights to save gas and keep the room temperature down.

The owners develop their employees’ skills. Amy likes to say, “The only way to make your job easier is to teach someone else to do it.” Javier loves teaching and searches for hires who want to learn about cooking. They have also employed students from the Yavapai College culinary program at the café.

The café minimizes waste in several ways. Leftover pastries become bread pudding and extra pastries are donated to staff working at the emergency room, police station, and a daycare. They compost coffee grounds and both kitchen and table scraps (no meat or dairy).

They don’t just minimize their own waste in the café; they make it easier for customers to be more sustainable as well. Take-out options include paper wrappers for sandwiches, a compostable container for salad, and an unlined paper bag for pastries. Customers must ask for straws if they want them, and Layla’s sells reusable metal straws to help those customers be more sustainable in the future. Drinking water is provided only on request and served in small glasses to reduce water waste.

Check out Layla’s if you’re looking for a quiet spot in West Sedona to grab a treat or a healthy lunch! See who else is certified.

Darcy Hitchcock, Sustainability Alliance,
darcy@sustainabilityallianceaz.org 928-554-5171

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