04-08-2025
Aya Pastry Set to Close, Two Years After Its Namesake's Exit
is the James Beard Award-winning regional editor for Eater's Midwest region, and in charge of coverage in Chicago, Detroit, and the Twin Cities. He's a native Chicagoan and has been with Eater since 2014.
If your local coffee shop's pastry case looks a little barren this week, there's a reason. Aya Pastry announced its closure. The news, shared by ownership on Saturday, August 2, caught dozens of Chicago coffee shops and grocery stores that regularly depended on pastry deliveries off guard.
The West Town bakery will wind down operations this week or early next week, selling the remainder of its cakes and pastries until customers deplete its inventory. The bakery wrapped up its wholesale operations over the weekend, says operating partner Adam Brave. Aya opened in 2017 along Grand Avenue.
This marks the end of a turbulent chapter that began with former parent, Etta Collective, operated by longtime Chicago restaurateur David Pisor. Etta began filing a series of five bankruptcies in January 2024. Etta's downfall spanned restaurants in Chicago, California, and Arizona. Pisor was involved in a ritzy steakhouse in River North and a future Etta in suburban Evanston, both of which were cancelled after the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings.
Brave has been in Chicago for the last five months trying to stabilize Aya's business. He says Aya's current operator, RDM Hospitality, made a few offers to purchase the property from Pisor at 1332 W. Grand Avenue, but the courts have rejected those proposals. Brave says they decided to close after failing to reach an agreement over the property. Pisor, who worked with Charlie Trotter, co-founded iconic Gold Coast steakhouse Maple & Ash, and worked on a bevy of big Chicago projects, has kept a low profile during the bankruptcy process. Brave predicts Aya Pastry will land in the hands of the banks and notes that there's a $1.4 million lien on the property due to foreclosure.
Aya Fukai, the bakery's namesake who created most of the venue's recipes, hasn't been involved in operations since October 2023. She walked away after a publicized split between her former business partners, a battle that left Pisor in control of the bakery.
Reached by Eater on Monday, August 4, Fukai reflected on her time since leaving the business: 'I had so many difficult days, but when I turned around, my team was always there to support me.' She continues, 'The people who worked alongside me were incredible — I don't think I could have ever done it without them.'
In April 2024, the chief executive officer of Texas-based tech company InKind, Johann Moonesinghe, bought the assets of Etta Collective in an auction, and that purchase included Aya Pastry. That transaction was independent from InKind, a company rep clarifies: 'InKind never owned or operated Aya Pastry.'
Moonesinghe relinquished control of the bakery in April 2025 to RDM Hospitality (RDM also bought Etta's Scottsdale, Arizona, location). Brave, who says he'll return to Virginia after the bakery closes, ran the business on behalf of RDM. Brave says he hoped to right the ship and turn over operations to his daughter. The bakery employed 16, down from 26 when Brave started, he adds.
'They were losing money when I came on — I managed to save them from losing [more],' Brave says. 'It was just making enough to pay the payroll.'
Fukai says she hasn't had contact with InKind or RDM. She says she wasn't surprised by the news of the closure as she noticed fewer stores were carrying Aya's baked goods, and she has been doing a lot of reminiscing, missing how she connected with customers. She's been in limbo awaiting the courts to resolve the bankruptcy; she's owed about $300,000. Fukai says she doesn't expect to see any of that money. At the same time, she's left in limbo thanks to non-disclosure and non-solicitation agreements, but is unsure if those restrictions remain in place after the bakery's sales and pending shutter.
Fukai says the agreements prevent her from opening or consulting on a bakery within 20 miles of Aya Pastry. The agreement lasts five years, and in October, it will mark two years since her departure — three years remain on the non-compete. Her recipes continue to power the bakery, with hits like a doughnut inspired by Samoas, the classic Girl Scout cookie (Stan's Donuts recently unveiled its own version, which looks a lot like Fukai's creation).
While the NDA prevents her from working or consulting with a bakery, she has been consulting with restaurants on plated desserts. Fukai has also kept busy working with her friends at Jeong, the fine dining Korean restaurant in West Town. She says she's happy.
'No matter how hard it was, every day that I went to work, I was laughing,' she says. 'To see it go through multiple ownership changes and now, to it shutting down, feels bittersweet. It brings me some mental and emotional closure, but I'm definitely nostalgic.'
