Ayu Bakehouse, known for its king cake, is worth a stop year-round
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Ayu Bakehouse on Frenchmen Street near closing time. Photo: Chelsea Brasted/Axios
Ayu Bakehouse opened on Frenchmen Street in 2022 and almost instantly achieved a near-impossibility in New Orleans: Its out-of-town owners created a must-get king cake.
Why it matters: This city, with its high burden of proof for newcomers, fell for the croissant-like king cake created by Kelly Jacques and Samantha Weiss for good reason, but the pair's baked treats are just as good year-round.
Dig in: The bakery's day-to-day offerings include fresh bread loaves, a mix of sweet and savory pastries, breakfast and lunch sandwiches and a full coffee bar.
The intrigue: I've been on a personal mission for about two years to find bakeries with bread slicers because nothing store-bought beats a locally-made loaf for sandwiches.
- Although many New Orleans bakeries make and sell loaves, finding ones with a bread slicer, which automate the process of slicing loaves into equally-sized pieces, is absurdly rare.
- I've only clocked three or four across the city, but Ayu is one of them.
What I ordered: On an afternoon near closing time, I was lucky enough to snap up a loaf of the roasted corn sourdough ($7.75), a savory pastry called the shroom boom ($4.50) for later and the Frenchmen sandwich ($13) for right then.
- Prosciutto slipped out of the cut in a small baguette, which was topped with a mustardy caper sauce, thin slices of watermelon radish, green beans and mozzarella. It was far more inventive than your usual premade sandwich, and it felt like it'd been made just for me.
- I revisited the bread loaf later that night when I ladled up a pulled pork ragu for dinner, and the slightly-sweet corn made each slice stand out beautifully.
If you go: Ayu is open daily, but check the website for hours.
