MADISON, Wis. — Something new is on its way to Madison’s Northside this winter. Far Breton Bakery will take over a building that once was a butcher shop. With it, they will bring cakes, tortes, tarts and breads
“The name ‘Far Breton’ translates to ‘ovens of Brittany,’ but it is also the name of an old-fashioned dessert your grandma would make,” said Marie Yung.
Yung has had a love for baking her entire life. After going to culinary school, she opened her first and second bakery in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
“I lost my second bakery when the recession hit,” said Yung.
After that, Yung spent a few years jumping around to different jobs, working mostly as a pastry chef.
Yung later retired and was working as a student loan federal contractor until the company got bought out. She soon found out she wasn’t ready to retire.
“I decided to take my 401k and start a business,” said Yung. “So here I am four years into that.”
Yung opened Far Breton Bakery in 2019 as a mobile operation.
Until she settles in on her new permanent location, she will sell her warm, sweet pastries on Fridays and Saturdays at the Garver Feed Mill and at the Northside Farmers’ Market on Sundays.
Currently, Yung and her team make sweet breakfast pastries, as well as some savory pastries as well. She said the plan is to continue making the pastries everyone loves and to expand slightly.
“We have the best of the modern world and then the style, the flavor and the nostalgia of the old world,” said Yung.
Many of the recipes that Yung uses are post World War II era.
“A lot of this has roots in Julia Child’s work, where I have taken it and tweaked it, so they are my recipes, but the foundational bit of it is Julia Child’s,” said Yung.
Yung said she wants to keep the past alive through her recipes. That’s also why she said she plans to design the bakery in a way that makes you feel like you are taking a step back in time.
“This bakery should be celebrating the grandmas of old and their style,” said Yung.
But starting a business can be expensive. Yung said she has started a fundraiser to help her make this new business exactly as she envisions it.
“Anybody who donates gets back the value of their donation plus five dollars in Far Breton Bakery products,” said Yung.
The plan is to open Dec. 1, but there are many things that come into play. Yung said that the date could get pushed back. For updates on the opening date, you can follow this link.