Black Box Is Baking Up Big Plans and Out-of-This-World Pastries

In the meantime, Black Box continues to experiment and push the limits of creativity with its pastries, which come in an actual black box. "We didn't want to be just another bakery with a brown box," Israel explains. "So I think that gave us a world of possibilities, and that's kind of where the space theme ties in. Because space is endless. You don't know what's out there. You don't know what you're going to get."

Black Box Bakery on a Roll in RiNo

In July, she left her post as executive pastry chef at the Bindery in order to partner with Megan Read on a wholesale business, Black Box Bakery. The two had met back in 2015, when both were attending the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, where they worked together through their pastry training. After graduation, Read headed to Italy for more study; Israel did a stint in New York City, then moved to Denver, where she landed at the Bindery. Read joined her there, until they left this summer to pursue starting their own bakery.