But the jump from point A ( leasing ) to point B ( opening ) became the great abyss that no one saw coming . She kept going , took a leap of faith and her patience paid off . Little Sister is now open on the East Side serving takeout pastries and coffee , and breakfast and lunch options , all with a Latin flair .
Back in January 2020 , before COVID-19 hit , Pagán was still designing the storefront layout . The walls and tin ceiling had been painted vivid periwinkle and icy blue , and the counters were being built , but progress stalled when National Grid failed to upgrade the power . She faced delay after delay with the city of Providence , until the pandemic finally hit last March , forcing all restaurants to temporarily shut down and figure out a takeout plan . At that point , finishing the work seemed like a moot point .
“ The pandemic started , and my contractor disappeared and wasn ’ t going to work , so we really had to make do ,” says Pagán , who owns both Little Sister and Rebelle Artisan Bagels with her husband , Darcy Coleman . The couple took over the Little Sister project themselves with Pagán designing the space with tropical flourishes like guava pink paint accents , lots of live plants , rattan and dried flower arrangements , and they built benches and finished the painting , wallpapering and decorating together . It was nothing different from the do-it-yourself attitude picked up from Pagán ’ s first project , Rebelle , which opened in 2017 . Pagán is an MIT-trained chemical engineer who is known for leaving a successful career to focus on her recipes for perfecting bagels , first in her own kitchen , then at pop-up locations , and finally her own storefront at 110 Doyle Avenue in Providence .
Opening Little Sister was supposed to be easier the second time around , until it wasn ’ t . After finalizing the design concept , menu planning came next . Pagán , prodded by friends , decided Little Sister would be a bakery and cafe reflecting her latin roots . “ Friends said it should have some Puerto Rican influence , and I wasn ’ t convinced at first . I guess I have a complex ,” Pagán says . “ I grew up eating these fairly humble foods . To me , they are not exotic , but I had to look at it through an American lens .”
Putting creative twists and Latin flavor into everything from
86 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l JUNE 2021