A Story of Love and Flan

Meet Cristi Diez, who started making her grandmother’s best friend’s flan recipe during the pandemic.

The Deligram highlights some of the best food artisans making delectable things in and around New York City. In our last feature, Phoebe Tran, the creator of Bé Bếp Baby Kitchen, who makes postpartum meals inspired by her mom and her Vietnamese culture. This week, our feature is also deeply rooted in family. Specifically, Mi Best Friend's Flan was named after Cristi Diez’s grandmother, Elvira, and her best friend, Blanca.

The Product: Made-to-order flan de coco.

How to Buy: Email hola@mibfflan.com with 24 hours notice. Pick up is available in Williamsburg, and delivery is an additional $10 fee.

Price: Minis (serve 2-3) are $12 and larges (serve 8-10) are $40.

The Deligram Tip: Flan is a great gluten-free alternative to cheesecake for Passover.

What inspired you to launch?

The story of Mi Best Friend's Flan starts with the two women behind it: my grandmother Elvira and her best friend Blanca. My grandmother lived in Cuba during the revolution, but later moved to Miami with my mom and my uncle; my grandfather was a political prisoner and stayed behind in Cuba. Elvira and Blanca grew up together in Cuba and had been best friends since they were about 15 years old. Blanca went to Miami a few years prior to my family, so when my grandmother arrived in Miami, Blanca created a soft landing for her, someone who didn't really have any connections in Miami, and obviously just went through something pretty traumatic. 

Their story always gets me pretty emotional, because I just think that theirs was the purest form of love. Blanca really took care of my family when they got to Miami; I feel like the generosity really impacted me; in providing all of these resources for my grandmother, my mom was then able to set up a really wonderful life for me and my sisters. 

For my birthday in quarantine in 2020, I decided that I wanted to just have dinner at home with my family to celebrate, and my grandmother made me Blanca's flan de coco. My grandmother had been making her own flan recipe for decades, but this day she decided to make her friend's recipe. It was the best one I've ever had. Like, my grandma's recipe was really wonderful, but the coconut element was really unique. I begged my grandmother to teach me how to make it. And since then, that's the recipe that I've been making and the recipe that I sell now. It's really important that I share the story about the two of them, because they are the reason why I do this. It’s my way of maintaining their legacy. I don't think that stories about female friendships are shared enough, and it's really important for me that I share their story. 

I officially started Mi Best Friend's Flan in November 2022. I was working in tech as a recruiter and I was laid off from my job, like many of my industry peers. Before that, I had been making flan for my friends for birthdays and holidays. I got a lot of positive feedback – that it was an amazing flan, that I should really consider selling it. I always thought, I don't have time for that. I was just very burnt out. But when I was laid off, I decided that I wanted to focus on something creative, something that brought me joy, and something that also didn't require me having to look at a screen or be in meetings all day.

At first sales came in mostly from word of mouth, with a lot of individual orders. In the last couple of months I've been doing more of the pop ups and those have been really wonderful. It’s been a really amazing creative outlet for me and something that has brought me so much joy and also just something that has allowed me to tap into a different part of the New York community. Everyone I’ve met is just so excited about helping each other out, because they just want to see you succeed.

I have been very intentional about connecting with makers and small businesses that are Latin owned. For instance, my tailor, who I'm obsessed with, is Dominican. I don't care where I move, I will always go to Ramon Tailor on the Lower East Side. One day I just brought him my flan because I know that it's a part of his culture as well. And he always orders from me, he posts about my flan on his Instagram. And it's like, what do custom pants have to do with flan? But I appreciate him so much. Every time that I go, he tells me, “Your flan is my favorite. Keep going for it.” 

Blanca passed away in December 2023, and I flew down to Miami to attend her funeral with my grandmother. It motivated me more to continue doing this, because when I heard all the stories about her from her family and from her friends, it was so consistent with the things that my grandmother told me. I had a moment where I was like this, like, “You're the reason why I do this. And I never want to lose sight of why I do this, the reason behind me making this flan, baking it, selling it and sharing it with everybody.”

What is your dream for the brand?

I'm going through a good amount of change in my life, change that is extremely wonderful and positive; I'm starting a new job, I've moved into a new apartment. I'm trying to find a way where I can continue doing this creative project while also continuing my professional career. To that end, I'm looking for a way to find a balance between the two of them and plan to be a bit more intentional about the projects that I do. That probably means pulling back a little bit more on individual orders, and focusing more on pop ups, and doing collaborations and partnerships with businesses or with brands that I really admire and respect. I'm hoping that I'll be able to tap into the New York pop up scene a bit more this summer. That’s exciting for me because instead of doing small individual orders, it's just like banging out a bunch of flans all in one night or one day, and then being able to sell them in one go

I would love to consider wholesale opportunities around selling to different restaurants or small food shops for folks that need to just get a last-minute dessert. I think that flan has a considerable amount of shelf life. It is a pretty easy dessert to transport – you don't have to be super, super delicate so long as the packaging is good. And it really makes for a wonderful addition to any dinner party. Long term, I’m considering ways to increase production as well. Ultimately I never want to lose sight of why I do this. So making sure that my grandmother and her best friend are really a part of the story and a part of the brand is very important and critical to me.

How to best enjoy your products: 

Amongst friends and loved ones. That is the meaning behind this flan. But in the technical sense, I think the flan should be eaten cold, shortly after it's been taken out of the refrigerator. It helps maintain the integrity of its form – it could melt or deteriorate if it sits out room temperature for too long.

Favorite restaurants to eat in NY: 

I am really excited to explore more of Greenpoint and find my local spots here – one of my favorites in this area is