After Delsa Bernardo and Abbie Cuellar moved to Shorecrest eight years ago, the Cuban-American partners kept hoping someone would open a cafe with good Cuban coffee and pastelitos. No one did, so when an old dry cleaning shop on 79th Street went up for sale, they bought it, gutted it and remodeled the space as a gourmet bakery.

They named their shop for Cuellar's late mother, Julia, affectionately known as Yiya , who helped support her immigrant family by baking and selling pastries. A photo of her graces a wall in the industrial-modern space done in deep pumpkin and dark brown. One white wall was left for artists to paint on.

Bernardo came to Miami from Camaguey with her mother and grandparents when she was 5. She managed music groups, and was working as a real estate agent when she met Cuellar, a Miami-born lawyer.

Realizing their bakery dream involved contractor disasters and permit battles. They finally opened in January after Bernardo ran into Miami Mayor Manny Diaz at the Legion Park Green Market and convinced him to go to bat for them.

She says it was their pan con lechon that won the mayor's support. They make the sandwich with pork shoulder marinated in sour orange juice with herbs and spices and slow-baked for six hours. They pull the pork into shreds, piled it on Cuban bread and press it on a panini griddle.

Many customers come for the chicken wrap made with naan bread rolled up with organic greens, tomatoes, goat cheese and baked chicken breast with a balsamic vinaigrette flavored with herbs that grow in pots on the windowsill. Naan bread pizza and savory empanadas are also popular.

Bernardo does most of the cooking with a helper, but the bakery is a co-operative venture. Chef Harald Pagan-Coss offers to-die-for red velvet cake, brownies, and jasmine- and rose-infused flan. Ana Grill has scrumptious guava and cafe con leche cupcakes topped with butter cream frosting. Michelle Cozzi hand rolls chocolate truffles in flavors like raspberry-wasabi and honey-orange.

Breads include Spanish gallego with a crispy crust and airy interior, seven grain, ciabatta and French baguettes. Pastelitos (small pastries) are stuffed with apple, guava and cheese, coconut and pineapple and dulce de leche.

Their $3.99 breakfast special comes with a choice of bacon, ham or turkey with eggs and cheese on Cuban bread or croissant with cafe con leche.

Getting it open may have been a nightmare, but Yiya 's is off to a dreamy start.