Salty Tart

Dulce de Leche Cupcake
Salty Tart, $2.50

For years the vacant Sears building loomed over a somewhat sketchy area of Minneapolis like an enormous Art Deco lego (below left).  I am incredibly pleased to find that it has beeen rehabbed and now houses a group of shops and stalls known as the Midtown Global Market.  The business were carefully chosen to reflect the diversity of the surrounding neighborhood, and to support local entrepreneurs.  The Market's goals are explicitly stated and prominently posted--and so noble that they made me choke up a little.  Hawking foods from regions such as Central American, Scandnavia, and the Carribean, the Market's vendors had my mouth watering at every turn.

Of all the baked goods in the building, Salty Tart's were voted "best" in a recent survey.  Opened in 2004 by pedigreed pastry chef Michelle Gayer, Salty Tart offers prime pastry in a blend of rustic European and quirky American styles.  Seasonal, local, and organic ingredients figure heavily (at the moment, my beloved rhubarb is front and center) and all goods are baked fresh daily in the tiny open kitchen.  While Salty Tart's motto is “Cooking with Integrity", it is perhaps equally well known for baking with attitude and serving up sass.  A sampling:

"No one can live on bread alone. Pastries and bread? Now that's more like it."

"For everyone who believes that when life gives you lemons, you make a lemon-filled tart. Or better yet, you have a master pastry chef make it for you."

"Broken cookies have no calories. Call us to discuss."

My dulce de leche cupcake (above) was moist and flavorful, with a substantial dollop of buttercream icing, a sprinkle of bitter cacao nibs, and a hidden heart of oozy caramel.  

Salty Tart
920 East Lake Street
Minneapolis, MN 55407
(612) 874-9206