Earlier this year, Kari Borchardt finally pursued a years-long dream of opening her own business following a career change after 25 years as a repiratory specialist and other healthcare roles. Now, at her coffee shop and eatery on East Wausau Avenue, Borchardt likes to say, “Instead of serving you oxygen, I’m serving you cookies and cinnamon rolls and food.”
Across different careers, one thing remains the same: Borchardt cares deeply about giving those she serves the best possible experience. At Auntie Taya’s, that’s exemplified by Borchardt bringing her food straight out to the customers and making sure everything is alright.
“Not many cooks bring out their food,” she said. “I can’t be stuck back in a kitchen all day and not talk to people. I love talking to people.”
Another thing Borchardt loves is making food for people. In her previous career, she often made baked goods for the entire office. After years of coworkers suggesting Borchardt start a bakery, she decided to parlay that passion into a career with the establishment of Auntie Taya’s in late July.
“I’ve just baked and cooked all my life,” Borchardt said. “I’ve lived on a farm all my life and that’s really traveled to here [Auntie Taya’s]. I don’t have a microwave, nothing is made until you order it.”
On the beverage side, Auntie Taya’s serves a full coffeehouse menue with espresso, tea, hot chocolate, smoothies and a deep variety of the increasingly popular Lotus Energy drinks.
“We have every flavor you can think of,” Borchardt said, motioning to a small mountain of syrups behind the counter. In addition to traditional espresso variations, these syrups are used to give unique spins to Lotus drinks as well as dirty sodas -- a growing trend that combines soda “spiked” with cream, flavored syrups and fruit juices.
Despite their large list of drinks and signature bakery items, Auntie Taya’s serves much more. Borchard said it’s a “full blown restaurant,” serving breakfast dishes, sandwiches, wraps, soups, salads, 18 flavors of ice cream and specialties like chicken wings and fish fry to a variety of clientel.
“I’ve got farmers coming at me one way, I’ve got he city coming at me from the other way –- so I’ve got burgers, grilled ham and cheese, all your coffee shop sandwiches, fish fry, salads, I’ve even got take and bake pizzas,” she said.
The standout item on the menu, however, is Auntie Taya’s signature twisted cinnies -- a decadent cinnamon roll developed by Borchardt over years of trial and not much error.
“I have never bought a cinnamon roll in my life. I never knew people liked cinnamon rolls like this,” she said, noting that customers have asked what her secret is. “When baking, it’s a look and a texture, number one. I didn’t just come up with this recipe, it’s been a long time looking on the internet and figuring out what works and what doesn’t work.”
While Wausau has a bevy of excellent coffeehouses and bakeries, Borchardt said the thing that makes Auntie Taya’s unique (beside the cinnamon rolls) is that she provides a considered variety of offerings to accommodate all sorts of patrons.
“I have something for everyone. We’re all friendly here and happy to do anything. If you want breakfast at 5 p.m., I’m making you breakfast at 5 p.m.,” Borchardt said. “I made a ham and cheese [breakfast sandwich] for someone at lunch. It don’t matter. I’ll do it, I like to make people happy and food makes everyone happy.”
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