Another bakery could open later this year in Walker’s Point, and owner Jessica Reinhardtsen hopes her unique spin on dessert will set it apart from other, more traditional pastry shops in Milwaukee.
Greige, a bakery that would specialize in high-end pastries and desserts, along with wine and cocktails, has been in the works, Reinhardtsen said, since September when she left her position as assistant pastry chef at Tre Rivali, the upscale restaurant and cafe at the Kimpton Journeyman Hotel in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward.
She has since been baking out of her home for select wholesale clients while developing recipes for new desserts that she would sell at her bakery when it opens, she hopes, in late spring at the Brix Apartment Lofts building, located at 408 W. Florida St.
The space currently houses Brew City Yoga, but depending on lease negotiations between Reinhardtsen and Brix building owner Hovde Properties, that could be subject to change.
“I know its been a conversation but, as far as I know, nothing is official yet,” Mairin Ryan, owner of Brew City Yoga said. “I was not told anything about closing (the studio).”
For now, the studio remains open, holding daily yoga sessions.
Reinhardtsen said she is working with the building owner to negotiate a lease agreement and if it is finalized, she will apply for the necessary licenses to open the shop, and will then start renovating the space, tentatively, by late this winter.
Greige would be open in the morning, serving breakfast items including croissants, muffins and quiche, but it would remain open late into the evening, serving desserts such as mousse, tarts and torts, and after-dinner drinks.
“The idea came from the complaint that there is nowhere in the city to go for dessert,” Reinhardtsen said. “Sometimes you don’t want to sit at the same restaurant for three hours and want to go somewhere else. And most traditional bakeries close by mid-afternoon.”
The bakery would serve wine sourced from Santa Rosa, Calif-baed Kendall-Jackson Vineyard Estates and Milwaukee-based Bittercube craft cocktails. Milwaukee-based Colectivo coffee and tea would also be available.
Greige would also offer event catering and pre-order services and would partner with various area vendors as wholesale clients.
“I am really excited to be able to make something my own,” Reinhardtsen, who comes from an entrepreneurial family, said. “I am excited to be able to be creative and do what I want with the space and bring good talent in. It’s a different concept, so I am being open minded about it and will change things according to what I hear.”
