LA's booming croissant scene has a brand new pastry powerhouse from two Hotshot bakers

It's a surprise Clémence de Lutz by no means met Tony Hernandez earlier than scrolling Hinge. The 2 mainstays of Los Angeles' close-knit baking neighborhood had been operating in comparable circles for years earlier than hitting it off on the courting app. Hernandez labored at a few of the metropolis's finest bakeries, together with Bread Lounge in Downtown, Atwater Village's Proof Bakery, and Associates & Household in East Hollywood, whereas de Lutz owned and operated the Gourmandise College in Santa Monica whereas consulting numerous native bakeries for hit his recipes and his programs, which earned him the nickname “the pastry doula”. Now, after two years of courtship, the couple is opening a bakery collectively in Santa Monica. Petit Grain Boulangerie debuts Wednesday, Could 1 at 1209 Wilshire Boulevard.

Though de Lutz and Hernandez had been born on reverse sides of the globe—he in Veracruz, Mexico, and he or she in Paris, France—they each developed a eager sense for meals and hospitality rising up in household eating places. and frequenting native artisans for bread, meat, and the like. Petit Grain's place locally is influenced by its childhood. “Once we consider this area, we simply consider a small neighborhood bakery the place individuals stroll, get their bread or pastry, their espresso day-after-day,” says de Lutz. “We really feel very rooted to our neighborhood and [the bakery] it's a mirrored image of that.”

A portrait of Tony Hernandez and Clémence de Lutz, the owners of Petit Grain, both wearing black shirts and green aprons. — Tony Hernandez and Clemence de Lutz.

Like their probability assembly years in the past, the acquisition of the Wilshire Boulevard storefront was serendipitous. When Broadway Baker house owners Jim Osorno and Tom Mueller had been prepared to hold up their aprons and retire, Osorno contacted de Lutz to supply the bakery location. Osorno had beforehand taken a category taught by de Lutz on operating a meals enterprise and wished to go away the area in his personal fingers. “It's positively a rental we will afford, which is tremendous uncommon and with an proprietor who's only a nice, stand-up man,” says de Lutz. Better of all, every little thing within the bakery was as much as code – all that wanted to be introduced in was two items of apparatus: a proofer and a sheeter.

Within the weeks since Broadway Bakery vacated the premises, de Lutz, Hernandez and their crew have added to the 900-square-foot area, however largely left it as is. “It is vitally a lot an open kitchen the place you will notice us cooking and you’ll ask us questions. And there’s a nice feeling the place we get to satisfy with the neighborhood and never simply cook dinner within the again and take out in entrance,” says de Lutz. A newly put in shelf is lined with merchandise from native producers akin to Koda Farms and Malibu Honey.

By design, the focus of the operation is the pastry counter – a beautiful visible feast amply stocked with all method of viennoiseries, together with croissant au beurre, ache au chocolat, croissant ham Gruyere, strawberry pistachio danish, bostock and cardamom buns. With greater than twenty years {of professional} baking beneath his belt, de Lutz has his methods and formulation down pat. “We're not attempting to create an Instagram-worthy extravaganza,” he says. “It's extra like honoring the quintessence of the basic method after which utilizing it as a platform to actually showcase the merchandise which are right here in Southern California.” De Lutz expects to fill seasonal danishes with Lanham apricots that ripen the second week of June and Persian morsas that arrive the primary week of July. “We really opened the proper week as a result of cherry season began the week earlier than,” he says. “We will't reinvent the wheel, however we will actually use it to spotlight every little thing that grows right here.”

Within the pastry case are a wide range of morning sweets (blueberry scones, ginger, Boursin and herb scones, maple pecan espresso cake, conchas) and breads, together with Japanese candy potato shokupan, yeast brioche pure, ciabatta and seed yeast bread. Petit Grain additionally presents heartier choices like quiches and sandwiches, together with cookies (chocolate chip, sesame honey) and hand pies stuffed with ready fruit or jam. Every thing will likely be packed for takeout because the bakery's small footprint doesn't enable for sit-down.

Petit Grain makes use of 100% natural flours and sources its fruits and merchandise from the Santa Monica farmers market. (“It's my church,” de Lutz says.) The bakery can also be dedicated to the California Grains marketing campaign and can use 20 p.c domestically sourced flours and milled from suppliers akin to Grist & Toll and the Tehachapi Heritage Grain Undertaking, which it’s applicable provided that “petit grain” means “small grain” in French. (Petitgrain can also be the French phrase for the bitter juice of an orange generally utilized in Mexican cooking, a nod to the bakery's French and Mexican founders). p.c,” says de Lutz. “We'll be actually clear about how a lot entire wheat is in every merchandise.” The bakery has dairy merchandise from Straus Household Creamery, butter from Isigny Sainte-Mère, and chocolate from Conexión and TCHO. “The provision and being clear is the important thing to our operation,” says de Lutz. The bakery would be the Cafè Civile.

Dough in a plastic container flowing on a wooden work surface covered with Petit Grain flour. — Petit Grain makes use of 100% natural flours.

Hands holding ciabatta bread and forming it into shape at Petit Grain. — The bakery will begin baking sourdough bread in a number of weeks.

Tasty patties sprinkled with grated cheese from above at Petit Grain. — Petit Grain sources fruit and produce from the Santa Monica Farmers Market.

The raw croissants are brushed with an egg wash before baking at Petit Grain. — Viennoiserie kinds the spine of the bakery's choices.

De Lutz and Hernandez pay as a lot consideration to the event of their staff because the bakery's product line. “We've labored so lengthy on this trade that generally we've come throughout environments that aren't actually meant for workers to thrive,” Hernandez says. “I wish to make our staff really feel like they’ll contribute and really feel empowered.” Due to this fact, the bakery's two staff are paid $23 an hour, plus ideas; advantages are usually not at the moment obtainable, however will likely be sooner or later. As well as, the couple will embrace their small crew within the improvement of recent menu choices and can make room for his or her voices to be heard.

Wanting forward, Petit Grain will start baking sourdough bread in a number of weeks and throwing out New York-style pizzas on Friday and Saturday nights beginning in June. Hernandez, who based the Chicago-style pizzeria Dough Field in 2016 and beforehand labored the ovens at Triple Beam, Grá, and Associates & Household Pizza Co., plans to make 16-inch pies topped with an ever-changing number of seasonal merchandise. all on a pastry crust; the bakery may also promote pizza dough for residence use. Petit Grain will welcome bakers to make use of their area for pop-up occasions on Tuesdays when the bakery is closed for enterprise.

“Our focus is simply actually clear, easy, scrumptious, technique-focused pastries,” says de Lutz. “We solely need issues which are scrumptious.”

Patisserie Petit Grain is positioned at 1209 Wilshire Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA 90403, and is open Wednesday by means of Sunday from 7:30 am to 4 pm.