The Mexican-born pastry chef blends classical technique, Mexican flavors and live-fire cooking to redefine dessert in Texas barbecue.
SAN ANTONIO, TX, UNITED STATES, September 9, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — At many Texas barbecue restaurants, dessert has traditionally taken a back seat to the brisket, ribs and sausage, often ending with familiar favorites like banana pudding or cobbler. Chef Grecia Ramos believes dessert deserves the same creativity and craftsmanship as the barbecue itself. As co-owner of MICHELIN Guide-recommended 2M Smokehouse in San Antonio, Texas, and founder of Baked in Castroville, she is helping redefine what dessert can be in Texas barbecue through pastries inspired by her Mexican heritage and classical culinary training.
When 2M Smokehouse opened in 2016, Ramos introduced pastries and desserts rarely seen in Texas barbecue, including tres leches, Mexican-inspired bread pudding, tarts and cheesecakes. As her skills evolved through formal culinary training, so did the bakery program, helping expand expectations for what dessert could look like at a barbecue restaurant.
Born in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico, and raised in San Antonio, Ramos wasn’t raised in the kitchen. In fact, she didn’t learn to cook until adulthood, teaching herself family recipes over the phone with her mother before eventually enrolling at the Culinary Institute of America in San Antonio. That unconventional path continues to shape her belief that great chefs are built through curiosity, persistence and a willingness to keep learning.
In 2023, Ramos brought that same philosophy to life with the opening of Baked in Castroville. As founder and head baker, she oversees recipe development, menu creation and daily bakery operations, producing artisan breads, croissants, kolaches and seasonal pastries. The bakery reflects both her classical culinary training and the Mexican flavors she first learned by recreating family recipes with her mother.
Since opening in 2016, 2M Smokehouse has repeatedly earned a place on Texas Monthly’s Top 50 BBQ Joints list and was recommended by the MICHELIN Guide in 2024 and 2025. Working alongside her husband and acclaimed pitmaster Esaul Ramos, a two-time James Beard Award semifinalist, Grecia has helped build 2M Smokehouse into one of Texas’ most celebrated barbecue destinations. Together, they’ve shown that dessert can be just as memorable as the barbecue itself.
Because she came to cooking later in life, Ramos has never felt constrained by convention. Instead, she’s built her career by trusting her instincts, embracing curiosity and never being afraid to learn something new. Whether introducing Mexican-inspired desserts to a barbecue menu or challenging herself to master unfamiliar techniques, she believes growth begins the moment you step outside your comfort zone.
As Ramos continues refining her craft, she is expanding her work in live-fire pastry and baking. By incorporating smoke, flame and direct heat into her desserts, she is exploring new ways to bring together classical pastry technique, Mexican flavors and the traditions of Texas barbecue. For Ramos, live-fire pastry represents a natural next chapter in a career built around experimentation, cultural influence and challenging expectations around what dessert can be.
Her live-fire experimentation includes a tres leches cake cooked over live fire and soaked in café de olla-infused three milks, ember-roasted calabaza paired with miso caramel and toasted pecans, and croissant bread pudding layered with fire-roasted pineapple and coconut crème anglaise. She is also exploring a smoked chocolate pecan tart made with Texas pecans, dark chocolate and piloncillo. Each dessert uses smoke, embers or open flame as more than a finishing touch, bringing the techniques of the pit into the pastry kitchen while building on the Mexican and Texas influences that define her cooking.
Follow Chef Grecia Ramos on Instagram at @LaReinaDePostres and learn more about 2M Smokehouse, Baked and Casa Ramos Hospitality Group at www.casaramoshospitalitygroup.com.
Kimberly Beechner
Embark Marketing
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