Tarts and Bread, the French-Belgian bakery brainchild of co-founders Christophe Raza, Kyle Raza, and Callyn Phillips, will open its doors to Amenia on April 27. If the whisper of sourdough pastries wasn’t enough to get you in gear, the first 200 customers will get their choice of a cinnamon crun (the love child of cinnamon roll and croissant) or almond apricot “8,” an infinity-shaped, filled pastry.
Prices remain affordable after the freebie, with baguettes ringing in at $2.90, and you can get yours at almost any time of day. Tarts and Bread is open every day from 7am to 6pm. “We wanted to have one key term, and for us, it’s accessibility,” says Christophe Raza, co-founder and executive chef. That ethos is present in the low prices, long hours, ample seating, and a plan for multiple Tarts and Bread locations, the second of which is coming to Rhinebeck this summer.
It’s also a principle that’s central to the menu. The baked selections are made to be easy on the stomach, with all items low-lactose or lactose-free and made with sourdough starters. Thirty-six percent of the United States suffers from lactose malabsorption, including Kyle, whose lactose intolerance prompted Christophe to reevaluate his ingredients in the kitchen. “By eliminating that, I think it opens up certain desserts to a whole lot more people,” Christophe says.
The menu highlights Christophe’s favorites from his childhood in Belgium, often with a dose of reinvention. He translates desserts like tiramisu and black forest cake into tart form, all made daily on the premises. Though there are plenty of pastries and rolls to be had, those who want something savory will find sandwiches, quiches, and in-house spreads, which are also available to buy to take home. A standout spread is the cornichon-shallot-herb blend designed to elevate your run-of-the-mill ham sandwich.
Tarts and Bread’s offerings are based on Belgian recipes and ingredients, which tend to be simpler than cuisine from neighboring France, while incorporating French techniques Christophe learned during his time at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. With lime-wash walls and wooden accents, the interior brings the fairytale warmth of Belgian design stateside, reminiscent of the bakeries in Brugge where Christophe took his first job at 14. “It was illegal, but I did it anyway,” he recalls. “I threw out all my teenager years from that moment on.”
He apprenticed himself to Roger Souvereyns, a two-star Michelin chef and early adopter of farm-to-table practices. Taking notice of the teenager’s passion and talent, Souvereyns offered to teach Christophe with the goal of one day taking over his restaurant, but discouraged by others’ cynicism about his career as a chef, Christophe went into the family business of construction materials and flooring.
With the onset of the pandemic came more time to think (and cook), and Christophe decided to attend Le Cordon Bleu to study “the classics of the classics. Innovation and creativity, I have on my own,” he says. He originally intended to open a restaurant but found himself gravitating towards baking. “It’s something a lot of people are scared of, especially if you're more on the chef’s side—it's too precise,” he says. “But that's really what amazed me; I discovered that there's so much flexibility in it. It becomes super playful, just as cooking.”
During his studies, Christophe met Callyn when they were assigned to team up, and their efficiency together propelled them to the top of the class. She had been the general manager of various restaurants in the US, which prompted Christophe to bring her on as head baker. His husband Kyle, whose background is in fashion merchandising, applied his branding experience to shape the identity of Tarts and Bread as its chief marketing officer.
With Tarts and Bread, the cofounders hope to make bakeries as essential to daily routine in the Hudson Valley as they are in Europe. “Providing a beautiful space for people to come and experience a little bit of Europe through that, that’s the brand of Tarts and Bread,” Kyle says. That mission, in no small part, is concerned with cost.
“That's my number one complaint about America,” says Christophe. “I don't understand why it has to be so expensive. If you sell bread at $10, for a lot of people it becomes a luxury product. I have a problem with that.” To keep prices low, they reduced labor costs by investing in equipment like lamination machines (for layered dough: think croissants, not plastic.)
Amidst the chaos that comes with opening two storefronts in about as many months, the founds are also navigating the emotional as well as the logistic: running a business as a couple. “You learn as you go,” Kyle laughs. “You’re so in sync with your partner, you know to anticipate things before it’s even said. The biggest problem for us is knowing when to say goodbye to work.”
Following their April 27 opening, Tarts and Bread will be open daily, 7am to 6pm.
