After 12 years at the Majura Park Shopping Centre, Latorta has a new home and a new cooking academy.
The popular Canberra cake decorating supplies business has moved to the Fyshwick Fresh Food Markets, but will be open seven days a week, with a shopfront accessing Mildura Street.
Located in an area once occupied by Lifeline's Book Lovers Lane (which is still at the markets, don't worry), Latorta has branched out with more space for its supplies, from sprinkles to flowers, and also added a custom-built kitchen for the new cooking academy which is attached to the shop.
It's been a long-held dream of Angela Griffiths, who has owned Latorta for the past nine years, to have an on-site cooking school with the cake business.
And now, after a lot of hard work and attention to detail (check out the turquoise-coloured features), her dream is a reality.
"The vision was always to build a cooking school and that's been nine years in the planning," she said.
"I look around and I'm all smiles. The feel of the place is really lovely. The neighbouring tenants and centre management have been so welcoming.
"The consensus is this is just a really lovely space to be in. The colours are calming and modern."
The intention is to focus on cakes and dessert classes but also broaden out to other cooking classes. The store has seven staff, four of whom teach.
"We'll look at utilising the space for many other things in the cooking world and in the baking world," Angela said.
"We've got so many beautiful vendors here in the markets we can invite them in to showcase what they've got."
There is also a plan for basic cooking classes for people such as young adults moving out of home or home cooking for a spouse who might have lost their loved one who prepared most of their meals.
"That's why we made it a domestic kitchen not a trade, industrial kitchen," Angela said.
"So while CIT would teach chefs, we're teaching home bakers and home cooks, replicating a domestic situation for them so they don't feel daunted when they try things at home."
There are also kids' classes every school holidays, starting next week, with cupcake and cake decorating. And adult classes during the term.
Latorta is a stand-alone small business, not part of a franchise. It was started by the same family who started the kitchenware shops Sauvage Urbain. Angela bought Latora three years after it was launched.
The former cake maker and decorator, wedding planner and accountant has now combined all her skills in one business.
"And I get to stretch both sides of the brain every day," she said.
She'd been searching for a new space for about three years, with the new location becoming available about a year ago.
The whole family helped to get the shop up and running - Angela and her husband Cameron and their children Taneesha and Rhett. Angela and Cameron also celebrated their 32nd wedding anniversary on Thursday.
It's been a busy time but baking is her happy place.
"Therapy for the soul," Angela said.
