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Business & Tech

Baker Found Sweet Spot in Quaint Tosa District

La Tarte's tasty success began in a Brookfield school kitchen, then settled in a cafe setting.

Merry Turner has established her sweets shop, , as a “guilt-free zone.” A smart declaration, considering La Tarte’s offerings of butter-laden pies, cookies and bars. 

La Tarte, 6742 W. Wells St., is a place were customers come and pick up a pie or pastry and go, but some stay to enjoy a cup of coffee and a sweet treat at a table inside or out – think French sidewalk cafe.

Running a bakery is not as easy as pie, although this one started with pie – Turner’s famous Granny Smith apple pie. Actually, she can trace her pie-making roots as far back as her childhood.

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“When I was a little girl, I watched our neighbor make pies,” she recalled. “I remember sitting on the counter as she rolled out the pie crust for her blueberry pie.”

She joked about making custard pies in her Easy Bake oven and conducting cooking classes in her sand box, but whether inspiration was born out of those experiences, Turner can’t tell. She’s always loved to bake for family, friends and parties.

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So, when she wanted to start a business, baking seemed to be the obvious choice. In 1987, she and a friend opened a bake shop in Brookfield. It survived for two years. “After we closed, it wasn’t long before I missed baking,” she said. So she looked for a commercial kitchen to lease.

“I leased the kitchen at the old Swanson Elementary School in Brookfield and started looking for customers,” she said.

Her Granny Smith was and is her signature pie. Her pie crust, a recipe from husband’s grandmother, is topped with a buttery crumble streusel. Among her first customers were Grasch Foods in Brookfield and Karl’s Country Market in Menomonee Falls. They continue to be customers to this day.

Soon customers were asking Turner for other sweet treats. She obliged with turtle bars and cookies. Her business was going well.

Then the Elmbrook School District made a decision that changed everything.

“They decided to renovate Swanson and re-open,” she said. “So I had to find another commercial kitchen.”

But maybe it was time to go in a different direction. One evening she and her husband were going for pizza at in Tosa's quaint Hyde Park district surrounding the corner of West Wells and North 68th streets. Her husband spotted the "For Lease" sign out in front of a quaint storefront on Wells Street a couple doors from the corner.

“My husband just looked at me and said, ‘why not?’,” Turner recalled.

For 16 years, La Tarte has been a sweet spot in the neighborhood. It’s pies continue to be a signature item, although Granny Smith is just one variety. Seasonal pies are filled with fruit, like Very Berry, strawberry/rhubarb, peach/blueberry and Door County cherry.

“We use to offer cranberry walnut pie just at Christmas, but our customers were asking for it all the time, so now we make it year round,” she said.

Giving the customers what they want is why they keep coming back. Turner uses the best ingredients in everything she bakes, including the selection of bars – turtle bars and lemon bars are among the favorites – and her cookies – buttery, frosted and delicious.

“Our cut-out cookie is a butter cookie. We will do special orders,” she said. “If we don’t have a cut-out shape you want, bring in your own and we’ll use it for your order.”

La Tarte’s morning croissants easily can get to be a routine daily stop.

“We have plain, chocolate, raspberry and almond croissants for breakfast,” she said. LaTarte also sells turkey and Swiss, ham and Swiss, and spinach and feta cheese sandwich croissants for lunch. 

LaTarte Bakery also does special order dessert trays.

________ Let’s Go! ________

La Tarte Bakery

Address: 6742 W. Wells St., Wauwatosa

Phone: (414) 456-0995

Website: www.latarte.com

Hours: Monday - Friday, 7 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

           Saturday, 8 a.m. - 3 p.m.

           Closed Sundays

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