IW~1 By ~MIi1~U~ i iAdam ahrIU 1(I


 (Continued from page 14)
routes, Housewife still main-
tains a bunch of regulars.
Some even remember their


Animal cake


parents taking them to the
bakery to get donuts. Others


got their first birthday cake
there, or their wedding cake.
 Fortunately for their regu-
lars and new customers alike,
the Perrones have repeated
the same recipes throughout
the decades, maintaining the
same great, authentic taste
after all these years.

 Olympia

 Catering
 Olympia Catering is home
to two West Tampa baking
Olympians: Joe Diaz, and his
son, Darren Diaz. They are

 -I






 S,


 Joe Diaz and Lazaro Perez
 part of a lineage of bakeries
 that dates back to the early
 1900s on 7th Avenue in Ybor
 City. Joe Diaz' father and
 grandfather were both bak-
 ers, making Darren the fourth
 generation of this passing of
 the torch.
 "We've been at it all these


An historical shot of Olympia


years," says Diaz, who gained
his skills at an early age.
"When I was 12 years old, I
could roll the bread better
than some bakers can today.
That's all handwork. Form
decorating cakes to throwing
batter, everything is all man-
ual."
 Diaz, who eventually at-
tended the American Institute
of Baking in Chicago, worked
at La Paloma Bakery off Ne-
braska Avenue and Ybor City's
Victory Bakery, which opened
in the 40s during WWII. He
opened Olympia in 1952.
 Though Olympia has been
operating for nearly 50 years
off Howard Avenue, seven
years ago they quit doing re-


tail and switched to large-
scale catering, hence the
name Olympia Catering.
 "Today, we're making more
and more cakes than we've
ever made," says Diaz. "It's ri-
diculous the amount of pizzas
we're making."
 Since everything must now
be specifically ordered, Olym-
pia has actually saved money
because they aren't wasting
money on food going stale.
"It's a fresher product," says
Diaz. "It's made strictly for
the customer." Olympia used
to have to throw away around
12 percent of its products
at the end of the day due to
stalingg". "You couldn't count
on customers coming in every
day for that loaf of bread like
it used to be," explains Diaz,
who refused to adulterate his
products with preservatives.
 The current Howard Av-
enue location is complete with
front offices, a kitchen, stor-
age facilities, trucks and por-
table kitchens for the catering
jobs. Olympia even has a ca-


tering facility at the Museum
of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg.
 Without question, Darren
Diaz is to thank for a lot of
Olympia's present success.
 "He's done a tremendous
job," says his father. "He's
taken it to another level."
 Joe Diaz retired 12 years
ago. "At the beginning, it re-
ally sucked," he says. "I didn't
know what to do with myself."
He still comes into the office
every day and helps Darren,
who got his degree in hotel
and restaurant management
from Cornell University, with
anything he needs.
 ."The bakery is coming
back," says Joe Diaz. "It's un-
believable what it's doing. I'm
pleasantly surprised."


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LA GACETA/Friday, May 6, 2011/Page 15 Section B


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