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Tarts Bakery brings tasty comfort food in a small package

photos by Justin Tan

When I think about tarts, it conjures images of sweet morsels of delectable pastry goodness, forked over good conversation and washed down with a hot cup of tea. Tarts Bakery near Broadway and Granville Street offers such an experience, with a mouth watering selection of both sweet and savoury tarts. 

Run by sisters Lisa and Shawna Coen, Tarts Bakery appears to be Vancouver's only retail bakery specializing exclusively in tarts. Having studied at the Northwest Culinary Academy, Lisa handles of the baking, while Shawna tends to the shopfront.

Shauna presenting a delicious sweet meat tart

"When we were travelling around doing research, we noticed that some other bakeries would take a pre-made shell, and some yellow goop from a tub and put it in, and that was their lemon tarts! That's why so many people might not like lemon tarts because they taste like dish soap," jokes Shawna.

"We want to do the opposite of what we want to do. We want to make everything from scratch. We take fresh lemon zest and fresh lemon juice so it's just like real lemons, and it's not too sweet."

With their signature dish, the raspberry macaroon tart being sadly sold out, Shawna presented a selection of other fantastically flavoured delights including a savoury portobello mushroom tarts, and a rich white chocolate and strawberry tart for tasting, as well as her favourite lemon tarts.

While the tarts themselves looked almost too delicately pretty to eat, once the first bite had been eaten, they did not last very long on my plate at all. I found their flavours to be not overwhelmingly sweet like some pies and pastries tend to be, and yet possessing a distinct, fresh flavour that left my taste buds wanting more.    

Tarts Bakery 

1509 West Broadway, Vancouver

website - www.tartsbakery.ca

 

 

 

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