Lisa Ocker likes to do things quietly.
Like when she quietly opened Ren Coffeehouse in St. Philip’s Plaza four years ago and then, nearly four years to the day later, quietly opened its sister Ren Bakery and Espresso Bar in the same plaza last week.
“We had a soft opening. We didn’t really advertise it,” Ocker said Tuesday from the bakery, where she and her staff create all of the baked goods from muffins and danish to scones and cinnamon rolls that are used in Ren Coffeehouse.
Ocker decided to expand her footprint in St. Philip’s Plaza after 8 Degrees Ice Cream & Cookies at 4320 N. Campbell Ave. shuttered in January after a few scant months in business.
The 1,100-square-foot space, which already had an oven, gave Ocker plenty of room to bake, which was the big obstacle to her 1,400-square-foot flagship restaurant at 4300 N. Campbell Ave. The kitchen was too tight to bake and make the sandwiches, salads and breakfast items from the restaurant’s menu.
Lisa Ocker opened Ren Bakery and Espresso Bar in St. Philip's Plaza nearly four years to the day after she opened Ren Coffeehouse.
“The space was just so small. We could do the baking in the morning, but when the food started getting ordered, we just couldn’t keep up,” Ocker said.
Ocker, who ran a bakery and coffee shop for years in Wisconsin before moving to Tucson four years ago, said the bakery serves espresso drinks, ice cream treats and baked goodies to the plaza’s shoppers or diners from the trio of restaurants — Union Public House, Reforma Modern Mexican and Proof Artisanal Pizza & Pasta — ringing the plaza. She anticipates people attending concerts in the plaza courtyard might also wander in for a treat.
Ren Coffeehouse is open from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily while Ren Bakery is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
Ren Bakery and Espresso Bar opened in the former 8 Degrees Ice Cream & Cookies, an 1,100-square-foot space that already had an oven.
Lisa Ocker anticipates people attending concerts in the St. Philip's Plaza courtyard might also wander in for a treat at her new Ren Bakery and Espresso Bar.
