Lagniappe Bakehouse now open in Central City
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Kaitlin Guerin is the founder of Lagniappe Bakehouse. Photo: Chelsea Brasted/Axios
Kaitlin Guerin's Lagniappe Bakehouse has been delighting New Orleans since the pandemic, when a visit home turned into a permanent return and she started selling pastry boxes.
Why it matters: Guerin finally gets a permanent storefront, too, with the opening of a gorgeous, renovated Central City home just off O.C. Haley Boulevard.
Catch up quick: The New Orleans East-raised pastry chef formally trained as a dancer, but found her passion in baking.
- With experience in Michelin-starred restaurants and with various chefs around New Orleans, including Dakar NOLA's Serigne Mbaye, the move into her own space is both overdue and a natural next step.
Between the lines: Guerin's baking is about more than creating "the perfect French croissant," she says.
- "We're here to highlight local, seasonal bounty, what is fresh, what's available right now, with a focus on Southern food ways and West African ingredients," she tells Axios New Orleans.
- That intentionality extends to the space Lagniappe occupies, too.
- Guerin and her life and business partner, Lino Asana, want Lagniappe to be a gathering space for individual Central City neighbors, but also for institutions like the Southern Food and Beverage Museum and Cafe Reconcile.
The vibe: The bakehouse sits off Euterpe Street under a soaring oak tree. A few tables out front offer a welcome spot for reading with a good cup of coffee and a breakfast pastry, or meeting with neighbors.
- With the front door open, I could smell bread rising from the street as I walked under the tree canopy.
- Inside, a small pastry case curls around to a coffee bar.
What I ordered: A "Vaucroissant," a buttery pastry stuffed with Vaucresson sausage ($6.50) still warm from the oven, and a grains of paradise Swedish bun ($5.50).
- While I loved every part of the savory pastry, which crackled apart between my teeth as I bit into it, it was the bun that'll have me back over and over again.
- With its spicy, warm flavor and citrus glaze, it's the perfect compliment to a cup of coffee and a cozy morning.
Go deeper: Our review of Lagniappe Bakehouse's king cake.