Meet Angela Tarigradean | Head Patissiere and Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Angela Tarigradean and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Angela, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
Dang Sweets was started by Angela and Tim in Vail, Colorado. They met in the kitchen at Terra Bistro in Vail and began dating. Marrying just a short time later they decided to make Vail their home for the time being. Angela is originally from Chisinau, Moldova which is a Eastern European country. Moldova is a country with lots of traditions, holidays and food. For all those holidays you’ll find the women from the family cooking for 2 full days, I’ll often be found in the kitchen where everyone was cooking. I wasn’t allowed to help being the youngest one but I was really good at tasting and snaking, I was just a fluffy kid who loved food and loved that atmosphere in the kitchen were everyone was enjoying cooking, jokes and good times.
Tim is originally from a small town in upstate New York. He was born into a restaurant family with his mom have been a server, his dad a restaurant manager, Tim would spend time at his grandma’s house making pierogis for the holidays and seeing how it would bring the family together. His mom would always be making meals out of whatever she could find in the kitchen or the garden, teaching him to be resourceful and appreciate home cooked meals. Growing up in a small town, I’ve always felt a since of community and appreciation for your neighbors.

What should our readers know about your business?
Dang Sweets is a pastry based business. We grew organically out of the pandemic. Tim was working in a butcher shop at the time, long days and busy shifts. I was a server at the start of the pandemic and found myself home. During the pandemic I began to explore my passion of baking and began to play and develop my own style. I took the pandemic as a way to develop and grow enrolling in master’s classes and studying European pastry techniques. I would constantly send Tim to work with sweets for his co-workers and him keeping their spirits high and their sweet tooth happy. I decided I would give Dang Sweets my attention while working part time at Matsuhisa to supplement the growing of the business. Tim would help with deliveries but not get involved in the baking too much, spending his time teaching a youth based culinary program at a local college and being a sous chef for a Matsuhisa.
The growth started to gain traction when we got into the local farmer’s market. From there, we were invited to multiple farm to table dinners and finally were given the opportunity to be apart of a charity event, I and Tim have always believed in giving back to their community and love to be apart of Jack’s Place fundraiser helping to raise money for a local charity aimed at helping kid’s with cancer. Fast forward a few years and Dang Sweets has become a staple at the local farmer’s market, Jack’s Place fundraiser and are working toward opening our own bakery and cafe.
The ability of making fine pastries, that are balanced, flavorful and not overly sweet. We pride ourselves in making pastries that are what we have tasted in Europe. With this ability to use the diverse palates and experiences, we make unique pastries to the Vail Valley.
The biggest lessons we have learned is that going into business together is all about support of one another. We had to get over the fear of leaving our stable jobs for more control of our lives and work/life balance.
It wasn’t always easy, especially since the year we both decided to pursue Dang Sweets full time, we welcomed our first child Teo. He brings us great joy as well as some challenges that come with having a baby. We still wanted to pursue Dang Sweets so we decided to make the jump to brick and mortar. Tim finally left the kitchens starting last summer and I was home with Teo while continuing to bake. This past summer, we took Teo with us and went to work our local farmer’s market. He’s been with us on deliveries, markets, farm to table diners and baking in the kitchen.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
With us coming from and having lived around the world, we love Eagle County Colorado. It is an outdoors lovers dream with great adventures just footsteps from the door. Some of the obvious adventures that we love to take our friends on is skiing in the winter or hiking in the summer. Growing up snowboarding, Tim does it whenever he can. A day on the mountain is always good for the soul But we always try and have our friends come visit us in the warmer months. Hiking is great because you have the chance to see wildlife in a beautiful setting. Another great activity is to link up with a local angler and get out on the river for some fly fishing with Tom Rushlow at Minturn Anglers. Summer nights are always special in Vail. We have awesome gardens and a great live music scene. Seeing a live show is always a must, especially at the Ford Amphitheater, where the shows are intimate. We definitely encourage biking around town to enjoy the views and take life to a slower pace. There are some hidden gems in terms of dining around turn. American-Mexican style food from Rocky Mountain Taco is always a must. We tend to bring all of our friends who visit here to the Minturn location. It gives a good insight to our local community through its mountain vibes and positive energy. The special dinner out is at the local favorite of La Nonna for homemade pasta, great focaccia, and delicious cocktails. Other nights out will be spent at Il Mago, Wild Sage, Matushisa and Craftsman. We love to cook though so their is a good chance we will be grilling outside on the stay.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to dedicate this shot out to our families. Our parents have always been our biggest supporters pushing us to reach our goals and to be happy in life! I would also like to show a lot of love to our Vail family. Our Vail family is composed of our great friends we’ve made since moving to Vail. First off the Terra Bistro family, without them we never would’ve met. Chef Shawn who to this day is a great friend and mentor. Thank you to La Nonna restaurant for trusting us with their kitchen. They allowed us to use their kitchen as a commissary and get our bakery going! Thank you to Liz for giving us the confidence to start doing weddings. She was the first person to help us get into weddings and give us the feedback, allowing us to make weddings a huge part of our business.
A huge thank you to the Zabo sisters, helping us with our little guy so we can do all these events at random times.

Website: www.dangsweets.com

Instagram: @dang_sweets