What started as a passion concept shared with friends and family has grown into a quick-service restaurant at Salt City Market, with ambitions to take the brand into new markets.
Founded by Jake and Bri Lastrina in 2022, SINBUN puts a creative spin on a familiar favorite with a menu of sweet and savory buns. The couple’s entrepreneurial journey has included CenterState CEO’s Start It! program, time developing their concept at the Salt City Test Kitchen and eventually opening their own space at Salt City Market.
We caught up with Jake and Bri to talk about how SINBUN has evolved, the support they’ve found through INSPYRE and where they hope to take the brand next.
From Start It! to the Salt City Test Kitchen to becoming a vendor at Salt City Market, how has SINBUN evolved along the way?
SINBUN was just a passion concept that we would pitch to friends and family. The unique concept was brought to life during our Salt City Test Kitchen days, where we spent countless hours testing and perfecting dough recipes, flavor combinations and streamlining operations.
We finally brought the product to the public via a ghost kitchen that operated out of the shared kitchen on the weekends through online ordering and third-party apps. This is where we gained proof of concept, and after regularly selling out, decided it was time to find a place of our own.
Now at Salt City Market, we have evolved to be a quick-service restaurant that caters to both lunch and dinner crowds. Keeping the menu limited, changing the proportions of our buns and having convenient on-the-go options like our Savory BUNwich are some of the things we would have never thought of doing when we first started.
As an INSPYRE client today, what kinds of support, resources or connections are most valuable to you at this stage of the business?
Having access to INSPYRE’s Fractional C-Suite has been extremely helpful to our business as we strategize the next stage. There is a wide range of consultants for almost all areas of the business, and we find great value in connecting with them in areas where we know we need expertise.
Through each stage of our business, INSPYRE has connected us with industry experts to help us navigate unfamiliar territory.
Have there been any specific connections, mentors or opportunities through CenterState CEO or INSPYRE that have made a meaningful impact?
Erik Jankowski has had a very meaningful impact on our business. In the early days, he made introductions to the GSBDC for small business funding as well as VLP to assist in getting our LLC set up. He has supported us along the way since the beginning, and we feel very lucky to have had him as our advisor.
Brendan Mastrangelo and Greg Ayers are both fantastic mentors. Constant communication and biweekly meetings allow us to stay on track with our goals and soundboard new challenges.
You’re the featured vendor at the Syracuse Mets this week. What does it feel like to see the SINBUN brand reaching new audiences and showing up in new places around Central New York?
It feels surreal yet, at the same time, very familiar. Before having a home base at Salt City Market, we would pop up all around Syracuse to introduce our brand.
Having the opportunity to do it at the Mets has been so exciting and has gotten us back into that grassroots marketing mindset, which we love.
What’s next for SINBUN? Where would you love to see the brand go from here?
We have spent the past few years testing, learning and building the foundation to scale the business. It has always been our goal to pursue franchising, and we are actively seeking new markets and investors who share our vision and commitment to innovation.
And most importantly: sweet or savory? What’s each of your favorite SINBUN?
For Jake, it’s hard to choose just one. His favorite sweet option is the Churro BUN, while his savory pick is the Chicken Caesar BUNwich.
Bri’s sweet favorite is the Raspberry Almond BUN, and for savory, she goes with the BLT BUN.
From an early idea to a growing restaurant brand, Jake and Bri have continued to test, adapt and build SINBUN with an eye toward what comes next. We’re proud to have been part of their journey through Start It! and today through INSPYRE, and we’re excited to see where they take SINBUN next.
SINBUN founders Jake and Bri Lastrina at NBT Bank Stadium, where SINBUN was featured as a local eats vendor during Syracuse Mets games over Labor Day weekend.
