Easton bakery PIE + TART expands just in time for Thanksgiving rush

EASTON, Pa. — Seven years since its opening day on Oct. 17, 2018, PIE + TART has now outgrown its original storefront.

The small downtown Easton bakery long operated as takeout-only, but its new location at 349 Northampton St. will allow the business to expand.

Co-owner Lisa Yelagin, originally hailing from Australia, got her start in the Easton baking scene through a shared commercial kitchen called Common Space, where she sold Australian meat pies.

Around the same time, co-owner Anne Gerr had become the first pop-up to be sponsored by a nearby restaurant incubator, FOODWORKS, serving foods from a small Mediterranean menu.

Frequently crossing paths, the two noticed one day that they were wearing near-identical outfits—one thing led to another, and a lasting partnership was born. Yelagin and Gerr decided to combine their baking interests to create what is now PIE + TART.

The bakery produces a wide variety of handmade sweet and savory pies, along with coffees, soups and other small treats like pastries.

PIE + TART originally only had “room for four people to stand across the front, and they had to like each other,” Gerr joked. Their new location, just a block and a half away, offers much more.

“The possibilities are so much more in a space like this,” said Gerr. “We could do classes, we could do parties, we could ship. We have room in the back to have a little shipping department if we wanted to send things.”
“But most of all,” said Yelagin, “having the seating for people to have a cup of coffee and a slice… that’s going to be game changing.”

Towards the front of the store, customers can find PIE + TART merchandise, as well as artist-made ceramics and rolling pins. Yelagin and Gerr also hope to eventually sell a cookbook of their own alongside those they already offer.

The new space has something for all ages, featuring a play kitchen and, soon, Play-Doh “baking” kits for young customers.

Yelagin and Gerr hope to reopen in mid-November, just in time to take Thanksgiving orders from their usual crowd. “We’ve got great customers. We’ve got awesome pie people. Pie people are good people.”