By Joe Jarosz
Northeast News
October 22, 2014

KANSAS CITY, Missouri – The River Market is about to get a little sweeter.

Carol and Vicki LaBruzzo co-owned Kelly’s Bakery for 20 years, from about 1975 to 1995, in the Historic Northeast.

However, the neighborhood started to change. Carol said families moved away and more and more grocery stores started including little bakeries. So she and Vicki stepped away, with Vicki finding work at a pharmacy while Carol worked for a credit union.

But just because the two stepped away from baking didn’t mean people stopped asking for cookies and pastries.

“A lot of people would call us over the years asking us to bake the Italian cookies again,” Carol said.

The two sisters always remembered the kind words that were constantly said about their family’s bakery. After 20 years at Spalitto’s Pharmacy, Vicki thought it was time for a change. About a year ago, she began talking to Carol about looking for a place to potentially open another bakery.

“We knew we wanted something in the Northend or the River Market,” Vicki said.

After some searching, and some luck, the two found their new home.

Now, the two are returning to their roots with LaBruzzo’s Sweet Oven, a new bakery in the River Market area located at 528 Walnut St. The bakery will bring back the much requested Italian cookies, as well as other pastries and after the new year, Italian breads. Vicki said the area appealed to them because it’s wanted a full service bakery for some time.

“We like the growth of the Market and the area,” Vicki said.

While getting the shop situated, the two sisters are having fun going through old recipes for potential shop items. Carol said the Italian cookies, which will be a fixture of the bakery, are so popular because they’re the size of teacups and are sweet. The two have no worries about baking the cookies. It’s the other items they’re worried about.

“We have to relearn how to bake everything,” Vicki quipped.

As for the Streetcar construction that will occupy the area until 2015, both sisters said they’re not worried about it.

“Maybe if we were already opened we would be, but we know the benefit it’ll bring the area once its complete,” Carol said.

Currently, the plan is to open within the next month. Optimistically, Carol said they’d like to open by Halloween.