By Terrence Doyle
Over the course of just a decade, Tatte Bakery & Café has grown from a home kitchen operation into a favorite purveyor of pâtisserie in Boston, Massachusetts.
Tatte Bakery & Café is a micro-empire with 11 outposts snaking throughout the Greater Boston area of Massachusetts. It’s the city’s fastest-growing bakery and café—and for good reason. Take, for instance, Tatte’s (pronounced like latte) Harvard Square shop at the heart of Cambridge, what founder Tzurit Or refers to as “the full Tatte experience.”
On the first level (it’s a large, sprawling location), customers shuffle across a graphic floor decorated with hexagonal tiles of white, black, and gray. White subway tiles line the walls, and the coffee bar and tables are topped with white marble. It’s a clean, well-lit space, the prime backdrop for aesthetically pleasing, Instagram-perfect photos. Behind the till, busy bakers mix batter and knead dough among speed racks full of cooling breads and pastries. During the school year, as Cambridge erupts into a jostling college town, the second floor is filled with caffeinated students spread out at community tables with homework, cafés au lait, and empty plates scattered with the crumbs of just-devoured muffins and toasty paninis. The warm scent of freshly baked bread is a constant reminder that all of Tatte’s tangy sourdough, rustic French baguettes, and tender challah pour out of this signature location.
Such is the romantic environment Tzurit has created with Tatte. And we haven’t even gotten to the world-class pastry she’s churning out. A self-taught baker, Tzurit delivers one of the most versatile, creative bakery menus in Boston. The breadth of her baking knows no limits. She rocks out on everything from the simplest of baked goods to the most advanced forms of pâtisserie (think decadent poached pear tarts and Belgian chocolate mousse cakes). Don’t miss the Chocolate Rose. It’s shaped like a morning bun, the interior of which is laced with a hot cocoa filling. Cut into the tightly packed scroll, and admire the swirling chocolate interior.
