Michelin-trained pastry pop-up

A Laredo pastry chef who trained in Switzerland and worked in Michelin-starred kitchens in Spain, Hong Kong and San Francisco is back home for a six-day pop-up at Casa Blanca Specialty Coffee. (chron.com) Carlos David Monahan, 24, is running the pop-up on April 16-18 and April 23-25, 2026, with service from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Casa Blanca Specialty Coffee in Laredo. (chron.com) The menu includes six pastries, with the Laredo Morning Times highlighting signature tarts, éclairs and entremets, including pistachio and midnight espresso entremets. (diningandcooking.com) Monahan told the Laredo Morning Times he is using the pop-up to test how local customers respond to pastries that are not standard fare in Laredo, while adapting the flavors for hometown tastes. (chron.com) That makes the event less like a permanent bakery launch and more like a short market test inside an existing coffee shop, with a fixed run across two three-day windows in April. (chron.com) Monahan grew up in Laredo, graduated from Alexander High School, and said his interest in food started in family kitchens with his mother and grandmother before he trained professionally abroad. (chron.com) Before culinary school, he studied design at the University of Southern California, then interned at Laredo Country Club during winter break and decided to pursue food full time. (chron.com) He later enrolled at César Ritz Culinary Arts Academy in Le Bouveret, Switzerland, according to the report. (chron.com) Casa Blanca Specialty Coffee is listed at 1605 E. Del Mar Blvd., Suite 119, in Laredo, and third-party listings show regular weekday hours that match the pop-up’s 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. schedule. (visitlaredo.com) (joe.coffee) For now, the pop-up gives Laredo customers two weekends and one weekday block to try Monahan’s pastries in the same setting where they already stop for coffee. (chron.com)