Jayce Baudry French Pastry, a French patisserie, will soon be joining the ranks of Church Street retailers. The bakery is owned by a husband-and-wife team and will bring classic baked goods like tarts, eclairs, and macarons, as well as ice cream, coffee, tea, and more to downtown Montclair. Read on to learn more about owner Jayce Baudry and the new shop opening soon.
About The Owner
(Photo credit: @jaycebaudryfrenchpastry)
Jayce Baudry began his pastry career at a very young age. He was just 14 years old when he landed his first apprenticeship back in Bordeaux, France. He went on to work under prestigious chefs throughout France in both Paris and Lyon, two of the country’s most well-known food cities. Jayce had a deep knowledge of the technical aspects of baking, was always learning new skills, and had a passion for pastries, which helped him advance in his career.
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Jayce then took the biggest chance of them all and made a leap to the Big Apple in 2013. Jayce landed at Restaurant Daniel where he was the Executive Pastry Sous Chef for Daniel Boulud, who is one of the world’s most famous chefs. Later, he was promoted to Executive Pastry Chef of Epicerie Boulud, a high-end cafe market with multiple Manhattan locations.
(Photo credit: @jaycebaudryfrenchpastry)
“My wife and I were both working in New York City, her as an executive pastry sous chef in a Michelin star restaurant and me as Executive Pastry Chef of three stores. We ended up laid off as so many restaurant workers were. We did not know what tomorrow would bring. We were at the same time expecting our first child and as the months passed we started to realize we would never go back to what used to be our normal life. From there, all possibilities were open.”
Jayce made his way to New Jersey a little over a year ago to support friends Dominique Paulin and Olivier Muller, as a pastry chef in their new venture, a French restaurant in town that may ring a bell: Faubourg. “I have been living in New Jersey for 8 years now. I’m not living in Montclair yet, but plan to move there soon,” he told The Montclair Girl.
Baudry previously worked with Dominique and Olivier during their overlapping tenures with Boulud in New York City and they have been close companions ever since.
It was during this time in New York when Jayce also met his future partner, wife, and fellow pastry chef, Rebecca. When the opportunity to have his own shop was presented to Baudry, he knew he had to take advantage.
“I decided to open a French pastry shop in Montclair after seeing my friends Olivier Muller and Dominique Paulin successfully open their French restaurant, Faubourg, and witnessing how the people of Montclair appreciated the experience,” he explained. “After meeting a lot of people and visiting the town, it became evident that it was time for me to open my own pastry shop in this beautiful town.”
About the Bakery
(Photo credit: @jaycebaudryfrenchpastry)
The shop is located on Church Street in the newly renovated lobby of the Clairidge Cinema. The idyllic storefront will be one passer-by find hard to ignore.
The store will be filled with classic French desserts like the dark chocolate eclair, which is a light pastry dough filled with decadent chocolate creme, and the lemon meringue tart, filled with smooth lemony custard topped with toasted meringue. There will also be imported items to fill the pantry like chocolate-covered cherries, wildflower honey, and calissons, a traditional French candy. Jayce Baudry will also offer custom cakes.
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(Photo credit: @jaycebaudryfrenchpastry)
“This pastry shop will be different from the traditional bakery as we are focusing on upscale French pastry products with fine ingredients. You will be able to find pastries and cakes like those made in pastry shops in Paris but are rare to find here. The shop will also offer a complete array of chocolates, macarons, ice creams. We will also do delivery and nationwide shipping,” says Jayce.
“My pastries are designed to interact with all of your senses. The first and most important one of course is taste, but I like to not mix too many flavors to keep the true taste of noble ingredients,’ he goes on to explain. “My second focus is on the visual, as I think we eat pastries first with our eyes, and so they need to be sexy and seducing you — every little detail is important. The touch is also very important as you want a pastry to be easy to eat, to be able to grab it with your hand, or easily cut it with a fork and knife. And finally, the sound, of the crunchy part when you take a bite, and the smell, of all the ingredients mixed together as a unique perfume. The inspiration of the shop is a French Parisian pastry shop (designed by Craig Shillito, Cycle Architecture). Our goal is to create a fine and upscale experience in a warm and inviting atmosphere.”
Stay tuned on the bakery’s Instagram for further details of the opening date!
