Found: ‘Different discoveries in one place’

By Lauren Boudreau

David Zaczynski and Kayla Brandt opened Picasso’s Pastries at 466 Westcott St. in July 2013. The couple both found their love of baking at young ages through working at Eva’s European Sweets, owned by Zaczynski’s mother, eight years ago.

“We’ve actually been dating for seven years and thought we’d be risky and open up a bakery together,” Brandt said. Zaczynski and Brandt combined their respective skills of bread and pastry baking.

“We’ve always wanted to own something and call it ours,” Zaczynski said.

When deciding on a place to settle down, they chose Syracuse because of family.

“It’s almost been an excuse for our family to come together,” Brandt said.

Providing a place for people to relax while enjoying good food is what Picasso’s Bakery is all about. Brandt said they wanted to “create a place that you love waking to in the morning.”

While they say they put in long hours and hard work and while they both may have adventurous spirits, they find fulfillment in discovering new recipes and new combinations of flavors to enjoy. Brandt said she always wanted to be like Indiana Jones and discover new places but now tries “different discoveries in one place.”

“We were never really people that kind of, like, settled down in one spot,” Zaczynski said, but the bakery has added comfort and stability in their lives.

The couple agrees that they see themselves owning Picasso’s Pastries for a very long time.

“We know it’s going to be a lot of work and we’ve mentally prepared ourselves for that,” Brandt said. “I do foresee us waking up one day and just being like, OK, we’re ready to move on, but I don’t think it’ll be for a while.”