New Bakery in Third Ward
Not French or Italian bakery. Batches will specialize in American and southern sweets.
Batches. Photo from Batches website.
A new bakery will be opening in the Historic Third Ward just in time for Valentine’s Day. It will open its doors on Tuesday, February 13th at 401 E. Erie St. in the Mandel Group‘s Domus apartment building. Batches is led by Executive Pastry Chef and Owner Jaceleen Latin-Kasper, currently the pastry chef at DanDan, who will collaborate on this new project with chefs Linda Thai, Chris Walker and Ashlee Millen and lead barista Sammi Krstic.
The bakery will focus on sweet and savory pastries, including vegan and gluten-free items. The bakery will also have a full coffee program and various to-go breakfast and lunch items. Latin-Kasper’s whimsical menu features inventive takes on classic American desserts including vintage desserts, house-made ice cream and sorbet, pies, brownies, cookies, candy bar-style layer cakes and more.
Menu highlights include:
- Banana Chocolate Loaf (gluten free) with chocolate chips and peanut butter icing ($2.50)
- Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Scone (vegan) with cinnamon icing ($3)
- Tater Tot Casserole with egg, sausage and cheddar cheese ($3.50)
- Pizza Babka with marinara, pepperoni and mozzarella ($3.50)
- Iced Old Fashioned Oatmeal Cookie ($2.50)
- Oh, Henry! Candy Bar with peanut, caramel and milk chocolate
- Confetti Cake with strawberry buttercream frosting ($3/slice)
- Yogurt Parfait with vanilla yogurt, house-made granola and berries ($4)
Batches will also dish out Assorted Quiche, Fresh Baked Donuts and Cinnamon Rolls on Saturdays only. Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Batches will offer a limited number of custom chocolate truffles ($3/two or $6/four).
The bakery’s take on vintage American and Southern classics will make it unique from the French and Italian bakeries already located in Milwaukee.
The logo, in a handwritten script that gives the same nostalgic, vintage vibe as the pastries themselves, will decorate the window in pink neon. The interior of the restaurant will have a long display case of different pastry items and a grab-and-go cooler.
Batches will be within walking distance of the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, making it an ideal spot for students to grab breakfast and drink coffee while they study.
The bakery will also be across the street of its sister restaurants, DanDan and EsterEv. Jaceleen Latin-Kasper will continue as a pastry chef for DanDan, but will hand over her position at EsterEv to Linda Thai. Batches has been referred to as Latin-Kasper’s “baby”, so it should get plenty of love from her.
The bakery will be open Tuesday-Friday 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Looks great. Good luck to them.
Your deck (“Not French or Italian bakery”) indirectly raises a question I’ve had for years: In this most German of U.S. cities, where are the German bakeries? One has to go to Chicago to find one … and there are many.