Durham's hidden Parisian bakery is a Valentine's Day gem
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Treats from the February menu at La Recette Patisserie. From left: Crazy in Love, Forêt Noire and White Angel. The Cardamom Cloud is in the background. Photo: Mary Helen Moore/Axios
Drive around to the very back of an unassuming strip mall in Research Triangle Park any given weekend, and you'll find people flocking to the storefront of a Parisian bakery with Middle Eastern and North African flair.
Driving the news: La Recette Patisserie has become a destination for elaborate, handcrafted desserts — perfect for a Valentine's Day indulgence.
Flashback: Djamila Bakour and her husband opened the retail shop three years ago, but she's been baking professionally for over a decade, starting with custom cakes in her home kitchen.
- "It was a one-bedroom apartment, so I had the tiniest kitchen you could ever imagine," Bakour, an N.C. Central grad, tells Axios. She later studied Parisian pastry-making in her home country, Algeria, a North African country once occupied by France.
Dig in: La Recette serves French and Arab desserts from a deli case in view of the bakery itself.
- "Food, to me, it's like a universal language. You and I may not have to speak the same language, but if we're breaking bread together, that's a way for us to connect as humans," Bakour says, saying she always loved being in the kitchen and serving others.
My thought bubble: I tried a strawberry pistachio layer cake at an event last year, and loved how it demanded my attention without being overwhelmingly sweet. It was delicate and well-executed — and it photographed beautifully, too.
The vibe: Visit the bakery itself, and you'll find people taking boxes of treats to-go or sitting down at a table to share over coffee.
- The shop is tucked away in a strip mall because the couple leased it as a commercial production kitchen, never envisioning opening a storefront.
- But customers wanted the ability to walk in and grab things, Bakour says, and the storefront now accounts for 80% of La Recette's business even though it's only open Friday through Sunday.
What they're saying: Bakour says Friday mornings are her favorite. She goes in early to work dough by hand, before the customers begin arriving.
- "I just love the connection that I would create with my croissant dough. The croissant dough to me, it has life, it has a soul. So it speaks to me, if it needs to be more proofed, it needs more moisture, it needs more time in the oven."
Best bites: Here's what we tasted and loved on Sunday afternoon:
- 🍰 Forêt Noire: Chocolate cake soaked in cherry syrup, layered with crème Chantilly and cherries, finished with shaved chocolate. ($6)
- 🍓Crazy in Love: Buttery tart with almond cream, white chocolate ganache and strawberry insert. ($9)
- 🥐 Cardamom Cloud: Crunchy croissant dough with caramelized cardamom. ($4.50)
Stop by: The shop is only open on weekends.
- Friday: 7:30am-2pm
- Saturday and Sunday: 9am-4pm
If you go: The address is 4823 Meadow Dr. in Durham, and the shop is on the back side of the back building. If you don't see it, keep driving.
- Go early. Sell-outs happen often. They're doing pre-orders if you don't want to leave things to chance.