Outside the newly opened café, Salt in Cake, located near the San Bernardo metro, a line of around 15 people forms along the sidewalk. The crowd waits patiently to try the café’s famous cinnamon rolls and freshly brewed coffee. Through the glass windows, three employees can be seen moving frantically. One worker, a female in her young 20s with black hair, grabs a bottle of cleaning spray and wipes down the windows, tables, and trays where the baked goods will be placed. She is very detail oriented and cleans two times, making sure everything is ready. Meanwhile, the coffee machine grinds beans nonstop, causing coffee powder to spill all over the counter and floor. The second employee, an older man with a full blond beard, tries to adjust the machine, struggling to contain the mess and his hands coated with coffee powder.
Behind them, the third employee, a young man that is about 185 centimeters tall, carefully pulls a tray of cinnamon rolls from the oven. The heat stings his hand, causing him to lose grip. The tray crashes to the floor, rolls sliding across the kitchen. A brief silence falls over the café, and the three employees exchange wide-eyed looks, frozen by the accident. After a tense pause, the man quickly gathers the ruined pastries and throws them out with a frustrated sigh, before returning to the oven to take out the remaining batches.
As the next tray of rolls comes out from the oven, the warm, sugary scent of cinnamon fills the air. The crowd outside reacts collectively, the smell brings smiles and excitement. A Spanish mother near the front says, “Madre mía, como huele bien,” while her three children jump up and down, screaming, “¡Quiero rolls, quiero rolls!”
Further back in the line, an older English-speaking couple breathes in the smell. The woman smiles while her husband nodded quietly in approval.
Inside, the employees move quickly to set up the display in the window, they carefully arrange cinnamon rolls of various colors, cookies, and cheesecakes. The first few customers in line press their faces closer to the glass, trying to see what they’ve been smelling for the last several minutes. At exactly 10 a.m., the doors open for the first time. The employees, wearing big smiles on their faces, rush into action. One operates the register, another serves the rolls, and the third prepares coffee, each working in sync to serve the crowd. In just the next 15 minutes, the line flows, with about 30 to 35 people picking up their orders to go, supporting the new café.
