Zach Morgart-Filipski has always loved baking, ever since he was little helping his family make cookies at Christmas time. Now, many years later, he’s fulfilled a lifelong dream of opening a bakery in his native Northeast Pennsylvania.
Zax Bakeshop, however, has a twist that separates it from other bakeries in the valley. The business at 234 Scranton Carbondale Highway, Suite A, in Archbald specializes exclusively in French cuisine.
“French baking was always something that fascinated me in culinary school,” Morgart-Filipski said. “It has so many intricate details. I also thought that specializing in it would help me stand out from the many other bakeries around here.”
Morgart-Filipski’s professional baking background goes back to his time learning pastry arts at the Culinary Institute of America, a college in Hyde Park, New York. Although he trained in all forms of cooking during his studies there, baking was what excited him most.
Following that, he got a formal job at Winged Foot Golf Club outside of Yonkers, serving as its executive pastry chef. After working there for several years, however, he felt like he had honed his passion enough to start working toward opening his own bakery back home.
“After leaving my position there, I got a master’s degree in business from Keystone College,” said Morgart-Filipski. “It was only after I graduated that I started going through the process of setting up the bakery.”
Morgart-Filipski chose the Trap Plaza on Route 6 in Eynon for his bakery, in a neighboring suite to the appointment-only spa Case of Elegance. He said he selected the spot for its location, being right in the middle of the valley on the Scranton-Carbondale Highway and because of the frequently high volumes of traffic that come through the area.
“I thought it was a great location,” Morgart-Filipski said. “Some people might be driving by, and they’ll see the sign and go, ‘Maybe I should see what they have and pick up a few deserts.’”
As for the name of the shop, Morgart-Filipski wanted something short but distinctive. He was hesitant about putting his first name on the bakery until his husband convinced him of how good it sounded. Figuring out the colors of the bakery, black and lime green, wasn’t as hard of a task.
“Lime green is my favorite color, and I thought it looked good against a black background,” said Morgart-Filipski.
Zax Bakeshop has a changing menu depending on the time of the week and the season. Croissants and macarons are offered, as is customary for a French bakery, but different varieties and flavors are available all the time. This fall, they offered pumpkin spice macarons, and now in the winter they’re serving salted caramel and cinnamon roll macarons.
More complex deserts are offered as well, such as almond coffee-flavored cakes and crunchy raspberry spheres. More common desserts, including cheesecake and tarts, are available, too.
“There’s also soft pretzels, although we usually only bake batches of them for the weekends,” Morgart-Filipski said. “Customers love them. They say they love cutting them in two and making pretzel buns with them.”
Despite having only been open since October, Zax Bakeshop has already begun to receive regular customers.
“There’s an older man who always comes in every week,” said Morgart-Filipski. “He always gets a few croissants and pretzels.”
Zax Bakeshop is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and is closed Monday and Tuesday.
Morgart-Filipski encourages people to come out and try the various desserts, whether they’ve had French cuisine before or not.
“It might be more elegant-looking, but they’re still just desserts,” Morgart-Filipski said. “Everyone should try a croissant or macaron at least once.”
If you go
What: Zax Bakeshop, 234 Scranton Carbondale Highway, Suite A, Archbald
Hours: Open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Closed Monday and Tuesday.
Info: Call 570-521-2500, visit zaxbakeshop.com or the bakery’s Facebook page.