Tzurit Or, owner of Tatte Bakery in Boston, Massachusetts, sits outside of the 3rd Street Tatte location on wick chairs, her dirty blond and curly hair placed up in a messy bun. She wears thick-rimmed eyeglasses, a trendy piece to her low-key and laid-back outfit. “I needed a name, and then my daughter when she was one, she was passing by me in the house while I was thinking about it, and just said ‘tatte,’” says Or. She explains that "Tatte" means "Grandma" in Hebrew for younger children, and that she liked it solely for the sound of it.
Although Tatte does not serve grandma-like cuisine, many of Or’s recipes are from family, and date back to before she was even born. Her mother’s recipes, especially, influence her cooking, some of which she copies, and others she uses for inspiration. Or says, “Some things I grew up on, like the roses, the morning pastry, that’s a recipe I did as a kid with my mom. The quiches that everyone likes is what my mom has been making before I was even born.”
The practice and inspiration from family recipes is what helped her to mold Tatte into the unique bakery that customers know it as today. Looking at the menu, Tatte offers a variety of dishes, pastries and coffee, all of which are made mostly with imported ingredients from Israel. Or says that she imports ingredients from her home country because it is what she grew up with as a child. “We have chocolate spread that I bring from Israel, specifically for our morning pastries, that I grew up on and really like and wanted to bring it here,” she says.
Some menu items include poached eggs served over grilled and marinated tomato with Halloumi cheese and sourdough bread; warm duck confit salad, made with spinach, French lentils, cipolini onions, balsamic and flat leaf parsley; and the lamb meatball sandwich with aged provolone and tomato sauce on a house-made ciabatta.
Or came to the US in 2003 when she was approximately 30 years old, and for three years after, longed to return to her home country, Israel. She remembers not being able to find anything to eat in the U.S., and credits it to the culture of cooking being very different from where she grew up. This brought Or to begin baking pastries in her house, bringing her closer to home through food. Eventually, she would bring them to Copley Farmers Market to sell and to start immersing herself into the neighborhood around her.
During this time, Or sold nut boxes, croissants and other baked goods that she grew up on in Israel. Or explains that she never made muffins or scones during this time, as it was an American pastry that was alien to her, but also not nearly as delicious as what she knew.
Only one summer after selling at the market, Or was thrust into a large demand for more products. Customers loved her products. This led Or to open Tatte’s first official location in Brookline, Massachusetts that summer. She says, “Customers started to look for locations for me, and I just went for it. I said, ‘Let’s just find a place to bake that is not my house.’ That’s how we started. We opened [in Brookline] and from day one it was just a great success.”
The atmosphere combined with the delicious food and savory pastries make for a large attraction in the Massachusetts area. Since starting her first store in Brookline in 2007, Or has opened four other locations: three in Cambridge and one in Boston. In other words, she opened five locations in eight years.
Or owns 100 percent of her company, and designs all aspects of it including food to decoration and packaging. She explains that all five shops have their own unique chandelier, all of which she made by hand. The chandeliers usually hang from the center of the room and feature old plates, light bulbs and animal ornaments strung with wire. They luminously stream light into the room, creating a calming atmosphere for all to experience. “It’s not just about getting the food, but about the experience and enjoying yourself,” Or says.
Walking into Tatte, customers are immediately immersed into a pastry version of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. Dozens of different pastries are assembled behind a small glass wall, all flaky and buttery looking. Large biscotti sit in a glass jar, and meringue clouds sit on cake plates, crackly and fluffy at the same time.
Jennifer Salamone, Assistant Director of the bakery and retail, found her love for Tatte through the unique experience and atmosphere that the bakery offers. Salamone says, “I just remember walking through the door and thinking ‘this is where I want to work.”
Coincidentally, Salamone had bought the nut boxes from Or when she worked at the Copley Farmers Market, but never made enough of a connection with her until the job interview. When Salamone finally met Or, she knew she had found her ideal boss. “Tzurit is an extremely kind owner and person. She just has great conversation from everybody—from the drivers that work for us to upper management. It has been a really great place so far,” Salamone says.
Besides having a great relationship with her employees, Or treats her customers like family and close friends. When first walking in she waves to multiple families eating breakfast. During the interview, she takes a moment to stop and say hello to a family that she had not seen in a long time, smiling and enjoying herself. The great conversation that Salamone talks about translates to all areas of Or’s business including outstanding customer service.
Between her relationship with her customers and the great food, buyers create an ongoing high demand for Or’s recipes. “When we [try] to take something off the menu, it is a huge struggle for us. We took down the hazelnut rose, for about a month or a month and a half, and the emails, the phone calls that we received from people who go out of their way every morning to buy the hazelnut rose…it was actually really rough, and we ended up putting it back on the menu,” Or says.
Since opening Tatte seven years ago, Or claims that customers have gained a sort of attachment to her food because of its authenticity and uniqueness. The hazelnut rose pastry reaction is not a new one for her, as she experiences it every time she decides to remove something from the menu. Or states, “People get very personal and very attached to our food, because it is different, and it is fresh because you can’t simply walk across the street and get it elsewhere. And when you take it from them it gets very personal.”
The high demand for her food doesn’t just stop in Massachusetts, as Or continuously receives requests from places like Qatar, Paris, Australia and Florida. In the past, Or partnered up with the William and Sonoma’s catalogue, where Tatte shipped products packaged in dry ice in order to reach farther destinations.
The positive press, however, keeps coming as more and more customers demand Or’s food. Because of having such a high demand, she plans on expanding into large cities within the next couple of years.
She states, “I am working on something that is pretty overwhelming. I am very thorough in what I do, very professional. If I do one thing, it is all the way or I wont do it.”
Or credits most of her success to honesty, a word that she emphasizes in her business. Or concludes, “[the] bottom line is be honest with your customers, with the ingredients, with your employees, and do things the right way. Make sure you have your passion in there and make sure whatever you give your customer, that you will eat it as well and enjoy it.”
