French macaroons. Croissants made from scratch using French recipes. Sorbets. Entremets. Pui-je avoir un gateau de petit, si vous plait? A taste of France came to Fondren in the form of
La Brioche, a French-style bakery that opened last fall. The business cards say La Brioche is "Bringing you the world" and it does so.. through your palate. The bakery is at 2906 North State Street in Fondren and is in the same building that houses Basils.
La Brioche is the creation of sisters Cristina Lazzari and Alejandra Sprouts. They grew up in Argentina and moved to Miami when they were small children. Their family then moved to Mississippi to start an organic farm because land was so cheap. Alejandra is the Pastry Chef and said she went to
the French Pastry School in Chicago "after I realized pastry was my true passion in cooking. I always, always, always loved sweets and wanted to learn how to make them." She graduated from the six-month school and then stayed at the school for another six months as an intern. She said she realized there was an opportunity for French pastries in Jackson - because no one made them while they are considered standard fare among Chicago chefs. She said "Chicago everyone knew how to make this stuff, it was expected."
The sisters obtained a loan from Community Bank and opened La Brioche on September 29, 2014. The bakery sells French pastries and some pastries that are specialties in other countries. Cristina said people were "surprised" that a French bakery opened up in Jackson and that they were "thankful." She said the biggest sellers are the French macaroons and the croissants. La Brioche also sells gelato-style ice cream that is made from scratch. Alejandro said future plans include offering some Italian pastries, more flavors of macaroons, and other French pastries. The bakery also offers several flavors of espresso from Northshore Specialty, a local roaster.
Cristina said the biggest problem has been "keeping up with demand" as "we keep selling out. She was pleasantly surprised as she thought "people would be too scared to try" this different style of bakery. We close on Mondays just so we can get caught up back in the kitchen" as some pastries take a long time to make. She said she wants to do more catering as well.
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| Cristina Lazarri helps customers |
She said the biggest sellers have been the croissants, macaroons, and several mousse layered cakes such as the Natalie, Tango, and Celeste. The offerings are not exclusively French as she sells the Tango, an Argentinian pastry, in a nod to her homeland. She said the bakery has eight employees. She said the largest challenge has been training employees to make the pastries because hardly anyone in Jackson has any experience making this style of cuisine.
HOURS OF OPERATION:
Monday – Closed
Tuesday – 7:00AM to 4:00PM
Wednesday - 7:00AM to 4:00PM
Thursday - 7:00AM to 6:00PM
Friday - 7:00AM to 6:00PM
Saturday – 8:00AM to 6:00PM
Sunday – Closed
Catering is available.
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| Ice cream ready to serve |
16 comments:
"Now, look here, lil' lady... if yer tellin me y'all don't have some daggum Krispy Kremes up in here, I'm just gonna take my bizness elsewhere!"
Seriously, best of luck to these gals. Looks great!
Truly like nothing else in this part of the country!
Love Europe and "coffee time" and outside cafes ---- these girls are getting my business! They owe you a cake Kingfish for all the good P.R. you just gave them.
Cool. Didn't know this place existed. Looking forward to checking it out.
Great stuff there! I've enjoyed it every time I've visited.
I go where the gelato goes.
This place is awesome.
Their macaroons are out of this world.
I've had a couple of their creations and they do good work. Perfect with a nice cup of coffee, European-style, like one of the other commenters said. I hope hey continue to do well.
Sounds really good.
When I was at Tulane for my first degree, there were some wonderful European-style bakeries. It really living there much more pleasant.
Those places were gone (along with the Oil Boom), when I went back for another degree. I missed them.
Lafayette has a Poupart's, which is on the shortlist of things I give to people headed there. (Try the Fig Pockets, and bring a cooler for packing a Doberge Cake.)
And I hope that everybody puts 'La Brioche' near the top of any list they compile for visitors to Jackson. A great Pastry shop makes such a huge difference for a town.
Will they be offended if I cannot pronounce anything on the menu board? I have a hard enough time at Corner Bakery and 'Crack Another Egg' (or whatever it is)........
Best of luck to the place.
There is another french bakery in Hattiesburg on Hardy Street; C'est la Vie. EXCELLENT products.
The "Natalie" is delightful - light and refreshing. I order that most of the time cause it's a cut above other desserts in the area in craft.
I'm from the Mississippi Delta, from a family notorious for going to New Orleans and correcting the French of Garden Quarter people who outrank us socially. I'm probably sixth-generation in that regard. So please forgive me. But I cannot refrain from tweaking your French sentence to read:
Et puis, j'aurai un gateau de petit, si vous plait?
More simply stated....
Est ce que je peux avoir un café ?
Et puis, je voudrais un petit gâteau , s'il vous plait.
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