Ex-Chef Brings New Home-Baking Venture To Bayside

BAYSIDE, QUEENS — Waking up to the smell of freshly-baked cinnamon rolls at his parents' Long Island home one morning during the pandemic had Michael Nicastro salivating. Two cinnamon rolls and one nap later, the professional chef decided the treats could make for a sweet new business venture after losing his restaurant job.

Nicastro researched and compared recipes, then started experimenting. He tried about two dozen different combinations to develop the recipe for his final product: a cinnamon roll that had the treat's characteristic overindulgent sweetness but would stand out for its light texture.

"It’s my form of art," he told Patch. "It feels good to make something.”

He called the burgeoning business Discolight, a nod to his passion for music and childhood dream to become an international DJ.

This weekend, Nicastro is bringing Discolight's cinnamon rolls to the Bay Terrace Shopping Center — his second neighborhood pop-up. (Bayside residents will have to order ahead to get a taste.)

Nicastro is among a rising number of home bakers, novice and professional, who are using their kitchens and social media to start businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.

In Rego Park, professional baker Lisa Costa began selling sourdough loaves and cinnamon sugar morning buns under the name Peace, Love & Dough. She uses Instagram to get out the word and takes orders on Google Forms.

A new online-only doughnut bakery based in Woodside, started by an alum of the Michelin-starred restaurant Eleven Madison Park, reportedly had an 800-person waitlist in the fall.

Nicastro said cinnamon rolls started out as a passion project for him; giving the sweets to friends was a way to create the kind of shared experience that has become rare in the pandemic.

"A real way to connect with someone is to eat with them and enjoy something together," he said.

Without the pandemic, he said, he probably would have never started Discolight.

Before the pandemic, the culinary school alum was working as a bartender for Atoboy, a high-end Korean restaurant in Manhattan. He was let go and moved back home to Franklin Square on Long Island, where he spent much of his time in the kitchen with his mother and grandmother.

Then came his mother's fateful batch of cinnamon rolls.

Nicastro said he's using this time to make the most out of what he has and find new ways to bring people together with food. He is also offering virtual cooking classes, under the name Remix Hospitality.

To those who have an idea they're on the fence about, he said, "I think you should just do it and try it out. See what happens."