Ayca User, co-owner of Monmouth Street’s Antoinette Boulangerie, has partnered with Asbury Park-based gallery Exhibit No. 9 for the first in a planned series of contemporary art events. (Photo by Susan Ericson)

Having quickly found their way to the hearts (and sweet teeth) of the community’s foodies through Antoinette Boulangerie, the artisanal bake shop that they opened in Red Bank last , sisters Ayca User and Zeynep Ozdemir were said by many to have elevated the notion of the neighborhood bakery to the realm of fine art.

In a further blurring of the lines between the contemporary and the culinary arts scene, the Boulangerie has entered into a partnership with one of the area’s newest and most acclaimed galleries, for the first in a planned series of exhibitions at the Monmouth Street storefront.

The exhibit is entitled “Dessert for the Eyes” — and it represents a collaboration with Tom White, founder and director of Exhibit No.9 on Asbury Park’s Cookman Avenue business corridor. Opening with a reception on the evening of Thursday, October 2, the group show of works by local, regional and international artists will remain on display inside Antoinette Boulangerie through December 27.

This inaugural “meeting of the culinary and visual arts” is being curated by NYC designer White, his wife and executive director Lois White, and associate director Rune Egenes — the team behind the recently established gallery space that evolved from the 9 Surf Editions high-end print studio that the Whites founded in Asbury in 2008.

The reception runs between the hours of 5 and 9 pm on October 2, and sweetening the deal will be a selection of wares created by Ozdemir, a graduate of the School of Baking and Pastry Arts of the New York Institute of Culinary Education.

“Together with our curiosity for new tastes, unique flavors and our passion to create an authentic experience, we are adding a touch of sweetness to the picturesque town of Red Bank,” said User in a press statement. “We are excited to partner with Exhibit No.9 to bring tasteful artworks to our shop.”