The bakery is called Sunday Morning because a restaurant person almost never gets one.

Days off land on a Tuesday, or wherever they land. But if you get a Sunday, Armando Litiatco says, that's a good Sunday. And what he did with his was wake up early enough to start a dough that would not be ready until late, and spend the day doing nothing and making cinnamon rolls.

Tiffany Pham sits down with him over four of them: the classic caramel pecan, strawberry Earl Grey, blueberry lemon curd, and Brooklyn Blackout, which is chocolate on chocolate on chocolate. He explains why the dough is American rather than European, gooey and fluffy in the centre; why enriched dough deserves more love than it gets; and why the staff are in at half four for a bakery that opens at nine.

He was born in the Philippines, raised in San Francisco, trained at the California Culinary Academy, cooked at Daniel early in his career, and was working at Google as an accountant when he started picking up catering gigs on the side. He asked a friend named Ahmet Kiranbay to help with the holiday rush. Ahmet never went back to his office. Twenty years later they run Rana Fifteen, their Aegean Turkish restaurant in Park Slope, and two bakeries together.

Asked what's next, he says he'd like to see Sunday Morning in other cities, and then immediately explains why that frightens him: there are only two people who know the actual recipe, and he still tastes the dough every day.

Savor with Tiffany Pham, a Representation production, is a companion to the television docuseries premiering May 2027. Cinematography by: Kym Pham.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Walking in, and the four rolls on the table
00:38 "I'll tell you what we have in front of us"
01:45 "I always go for the classic, because I want to taste the dough"
02:05 American style: gooey, fluffy, not European
02:33 Enriched dough, and why it doesn't get enough love
03:33 French butter, brown sugar, Saigon cinnamon
04:36 "The staff is here at 4:30 in the morning"
04:51 Fine dining, brought to the cinnamon roll
05:26 "As you mature as a cook, you understand where your lane is"
05:45 "Cook what you love to eat"
06:08 Strawberry Earl Grey, and everything made in house
06:57 Blueberry lemon curd
07:35 Brooklyn Blackout
08:27 Born in the Philippines, raised in San Francisco
08:50 New York, 2003, and the place you always want to go back to
09:19 The accountant, the catering gigs, and Ahmet who never went back
10:18 Twenty years, and hashing it out like a kitchen line
11:05 Daniel, and the hours
11:43 A schedule completely flipped by a bakery
12:30 The dough: started the night before
12:53 Why it's called Sunday Morning
13:53 "It's a lot of pressure on the shoulders"
14:51 One item, done right
15:32 Two bakeries, a Turkish restaurant, and splitting the duties
17:15 "I wake up and I think about what I'm going to eat"
17:57 What's next: growing the bakery
18:22 "Only two of us know the actual recipe"
18:43 The pattern across the season: why franchises succeed
20:04 "Number one is the food": you should be able to cut it with a fork
20:48 What you give up as a cook, and learning to step back
21:44 "The true definition of reinvention"
23:16 Rapid fire: pho, burger, noodles
25:47 Favorite chocolate chip cookie
26:39 "It's been such an honor"
27:01 After the interview: Jason, and building slowly
28:34 "Excited to feature you, excited to honor you"

ABOUT SUNDAY MORNING
Sunday Morning — @sundaymorningcinnamonrolls on Instagram

🎬 The Savor with Tiffany Pham docuseries premieres May 1, 2027
🌐 savortheuniverse.com

Click here to view the episode transcript.