Eesa Bakery brings European pastries, sourdough to Wausau

Something new is on the rise in downtown Wausau this fall. 

If you walked past the corner of Second and Forest streets this summer, you might have notice a stunning transformation at the old Rice’s Antiques building. Soon, you’ll start smelling the delightful aromas of fresh-baked bread and ground espresso.

Instead of the quiet stillness of old treasures, the historic 1940s industrial space will soon be filled with freshly stone-milled Wisconsin wheat, single-origin coffee and slow-fermented sourdough as Eesa Bakery prepares to open early next month.

In a food industry largely driven by speed and convenience, this new family-owned cafe is turning baking back into a multi-day labor of love and asking residents to step out of their rushed routines and fall in love with simple ingredients all over again.

It all started when Karen and Andrew Huang purchased the building in 2022. Karen has a background in public health and epidemiology but had taken time off from her career after the birth of their two daughters.

“I told my husband that I didn’t quite want to go right back into medical research. I thought if I did anything, I’m going to open a bakery,” she said.

Eesa Bakery is owned by Wausau residents Andrew and Karen Huang.

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The couple previously lived in San Francisco, which helped develop Karen’s love for baking.

“There’s a huge baking culture out there — sourdough and croissants — and I just thought, I feel like Wausau could use croissants all the time, so that’s what really spurred this on,” Karen said.

Once the kids reached school age, Karen took the business opportunity seriously. The 9,000-square-foot building features a large baking kitchen, outfitted with top-of-the-line machinery.

Once the bakery is fully staffed and running, Eesa will serve a variety of croissants, including chocolate, almond and seasonal flavors. Heartier breakfast and brunch dishes will include quiche, Swedish cardamom buns and a variety of tarts. For lunch, Eesa will prepare sandwiches (served on their fresh sourdough), soups and salads.

Not sure where to start? Karen’s personal favorite will be on the menu.

“My favorite pastry is definitely pain au chocolat, which is going to be a plain croissant with chocolate — just like a few strips of chocolate in it. I think it’s the perfect balance of sweet, but not too sweet,” she said.

Eesa Bakery's slow-fermented sourdough loaves are made from Wisconsin grains.

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At the heart of Eesa’s dough is Wisconsin-sourced grains. Karen works with farmers who mill less common varieties of grains on demand for the bakery, where bread will be baked fresh daily.

“To smell freshly ground, milled, stone-ground flour, to smell it actually being raw dough is totally different than what you’re going to get in the grocery store,” she said.

Much like the baking ingredients, the building design has been carefully considered. The coffee bar features espresso machinery built underneath the bar, so there are no large machines separating baristas from customers.

“Instead of having a giant box on your countertop ... it’s actually just taps, kind of like a beer you might have in a restaurant,” Karen said. “You get to be much closer to your barista as they make a drink. That’s one big intention of all of this though: as you can see we have giant windows into our kitchen, so you can see how this all gets made. A little kid could be sitting there, or an adult, watching it like, ‘Oh that’s how croissants get shaped and how the dough gets the butter put into it.’”

Eesa Bakery sits in the 9,000-square-foot building that previously housed Rice's Antiques. The large space has been completely redesigned and refinished.

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As the Huangs prepare to open up shop this fall, their eyes are already on how Eesa can become a seamless part of the broader community — whether that’s during special events like Night Markets or the Festival of Arts, providing fresh bread for local restaurants, or simply being another unique space for friends to gather.

“Food is one of those beautiful things, it’s attached to a memory often ... I think one of the best things about food is that it can really be much more than food for people,” Karen said.

Eesa is expected to have a soft opening “within a few weeks,” targeting 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. operating hours. For more information and updates, visit eesabakery.com.