HAMPTON — The Pastry Garden, located at 836 Lafayette Road in Hampton at the former location of Sweet Flours, will be opening their doors on the weekend of April 15-17. During this special grand opening event, the shop will be open from 4-7 p.m. on Thursday, April 15, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, April 16-17. The public is welcome to share in the ribbon cutting and open house and to enjoy free samples of their delicious goodies.

Mother-and-son team Kathie and David White bought the business approximately two months ago, after David was a baker at Sweet Flours for more than five years. They say the former owners of Sweet Flours, Dave and Teryn Allen, taught David everything he knows about baking. Kathie, on the other hand, is experiencing baking for retail purposes for the first time and is really enjoying it. A psychoanalyst specializing in depression at Portsmouth Hospital as her career, Betty finds this a refreshing change of pace.

Natives of Hampton for 15 years, the Whites can certainly consider their business a family affair. David's mother bakes with him, and his father, who owns a television consulting business, is handling the accounting, marketing and advertising end of things. His brother, Bryan, a Web designer, even helps out with the digital technology allowing them to imprint photographic images on cakes for special occasions or weddings.

The Pastry Garden will be offering gourmet wedding cakes, all-occasion cakes, cookies, scones, individual pastries, bagels and croissants. They are happy to take special orders and also dessert catering for businesses and functions; they already supply many high-end restaurants in the area with tempting treats to sell for dessert. They pride themselves on their all natural fresh ingredients, like fruits and berries, and high quality tastes and presentations. Everything is made in-house from scratch with nothing artificial, and real fresh flowers and festive ribbons are use to decorate their cakes.

The Whites have done some minor re-decorating and are eager to start serving the public "the best cakes they ever tasted," as well as much more. They will be featuring tantalizing Bavarian cream cakes, flavored cheesecakes, carrot cakes, tortes, fruit tarts and petit fours. Stop in and try one of their mouth-watering delicacies and see that it is true that they "specialize in the fine art of dessert."

The Pastry Garden is open Tuesday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., and can be reached for orders or more information at (603) 926-3693. Stay tuned for their Web site, which will be coming soon. See you at the grand opening on Route 1 in Hampton this weekend!