Batter and Mac Comes to Bay View

Bakery Serving Sweet Treats and the Cause of Social Justice

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Cupcakes, macarons, crookies (the viral croissant with a cookie baked inside), Sunday hot ham and rolls as well as other sweets and treats are coming to Bay View at 1100 E. Oklahoma Avenue. Come October, if predictions are correct. Batter and Mac, a popular Menomonee Falls bakery co-owned by sisters Kasey Gusho and Brittany Wohlfeil, will be open and ready for business. It is a long-awaited occasion for those Bay Viewers desperately longing for a proper, locally sourced croissant ever since Lakeside Bakery (formerly Canfora Bakery), the location’s previous tenants, closed its doors back in January.

If the bakery’s name sounds familiar that may be due to a bit of press coverage it garnered back in May of 2023. In fact, ironically enough, it was because of a ruckus raised in the name of Batter and Mac’s commitment to charitable giving. It seems the owners organized a drag story time bingo fundraiser at their Menomonee Falls location. The event intended to raise money for Courage MKE, a local support organization for homeless LGBTQ+ kids. 

A month prior, thieves ransacked Courage MKE’s new living facility for older LGBTQ+ youth aging out of foster care that, at the time, was still undergoing renovation. They carried off everything from appliances and a new furnace to copper wiring and a Keurig. Whether a targeted hate crime, or just another random act of criminal scavengers, was never established. Either way, damage to the facility was estimated at $100,000. That is when Batter and Mac stepped up to help. “We’re a bakery. We just want to be inclusive,” Gusho said at the time.

Repaying Kindness with Hatred

The sisters’ act of kindness did not go unnoticed. True to the Republican playbook, a coordinated social media campaign of intimidation and threats of violence by anonymous callers was launched to ensure the fundraising event did not take place. In remarks given to the media, Village of Menomonee Falls Trustee Ann Lessila, a leading participant, was quoted saying, “I stated (on her official Village Facebook page) that this event for grooming children should be shared so the community knows the details.” It worked. 

Citing concerns for the safety of its patrons and staff, Batter and Mac cancelled the fund raiser at the bakery but moved it to another venue. The story’s silver lining, however, was the positive response of Menomonee Falls’ community and beyond. In support of both the bakery and its mission, the effort raised thousands of dollars for Courage MKE and gave a boost to its business as well. The controversy and the pushback against intolerance (or, as one patron put it, “un-inclusiveness”) also established Batter and Mac’s reputation as a champion of social justice. With that, the plucky bakery joins Penzey’s Spices and Minocqua Brewing Company, both with their own histories of run-ins with the right wing, as another progressive business with both excellent product and a cause for good.

As it turns out, the new Batter ad Mac location at the intersection of South Clement Street and East Oklahoma Avenue is just a few blocks away from another charity site, “A&J’s Halloween House,” the neighborhood’s annual fundraising installation on South Clement that benefits Pathfinders, a Milwaukee institution supporting at risk youth. Perhaps a mutual fundraising effort may be in the offing. 

Welcome to the neighborhood, Batter and Mac!