After spending his youth traveling the world, a 26-year-old Maurice Delechelle decided it was time to retire his suitcase.
Delechelle, a native of Tours, France, settled in New Orleans, where he opened his European-style bakery La Marquise on Chartres Street near Jackson Square in 1972. Six years later, the mustachioed baker picked up a side hustle as a landlord.
Long before Croissant D’Or Patisserie opened at 617 Ursulines Street, the building was home to New Orleans’ first ice cream parlor Angelo Brocato.
He bought a property on Ursulines Street that was housing the city’s first ice cream parlor, Angelo Brocato, at the time. After it closed in 1981, Delechelle opened another French bakery, Croissant D’Or Patisserie, at the location.
Though he retired in 2003, his enterprise lives on and is returning to its birthplace. A second Croissant D’Or Patisserie storefront is slated to open in two months at 317 Chartres Street, employee Kris Armand confirmed.
On Wednesday morning, a circular sign that featured a cartoon-style croissant and the shop’s name in a yellow typewriter font hung from a filigree bracket. Near the St. Louis Cathedral, the three-story brick building is sandwiched between a gift shop and shoe store.
In a city deemed the most European in America, Croissant D’Or Patisserie undoubtedly embraces the same Old World aura with its courtyard, white table-clothed tables, floral wall trim and glass display of flaky viennoiseries. But it is currently unclear if the second location will resemble the same atmosphere.
Regardless, the second location will be an addition to New Orleans’ growing French bakery scene that remains fairly small, despite France’s prevailing influence on the city’s cuisine, architectural style and culture.
Maurice Delechelle baking a cake.
The dearth of French bakeries is what led Delechelle — who was just 14 when he started working as a pastry apprentice in his hometown — to open Croissant D’Or Patisserie. In a 2003 interview with The Times-Picayune, he said there was only one European-style pastry shop in New Orleans besides his own in the early 1970s.
René Bajeux, a France-born chef who opened the local restaurant Rene Bistrot, agreed.
“In this city, (pastry) is not a big thing,” Bajeux said. “It has never been. And it’s funny, in a city with such a French influence.”
Delechelle expected Croissant D’Or Patisserie to be a success quickly after its opening, considering its vast selection of pastries satisfied what appeared to be an unmet demand in New Orleans. When the city was still asleep, he would fire his ovens and load them with homemade croissants, tarts and brioche, honing his skillset while anticipating throngs of customers.
But that turned out to not be the case. At least not right away.
“It took six, seven years to get the business going,” Delechelle said. “The first two years. I was barely making it.”
The pastry shop eventually bustled with a mixed clientele — some who grabbed a croissant to-go before speeding off to work and others who resorted to the quaint courtyard with a cup of coffee to sip on. Quintessential French pastries like crescent rolls, cloudlike brioche and vegetable quiches became beloved menu items.
Despite its popularity, Croissant D’Or Patisserie didn’t change its slow, easygoing pace that echoes the well-known spirit of New Orleans.
“Don’t expect fast service or plush seats,” a Times-Picayune reporter wrote in 1988. “Do expect decent value, good food and plenty of local color.”
