Back in 2008, Guillaume and Ludivine Ryon moved to San Diego from their native Paris to attend college. They fell in love with their new hometown, but missed the authentic French-made croissants, pastries and macarons they grew up eating. So, they decided to make their own.
Their creation, Le Parfait Paris, marked its 10th anniversary this year. What started humbly at a local farmers market in 2014 has grown to seven locations in San Diego and Orange counties, with two more shops set to open by the end of this year, as well as a kiosk at the San Diego International Airport in 2025.
To celebrate, the Ryons are hosting a farmers market-style party from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 23 at their new headquarters, a 10,000-square-foot commissary kitchen, with office space and a soon-to-open onsite café at 3555 India St. in Middletown.
Tickets are $5, which can be redeemed for bites, drinks, interactive activities, live music, bakery tours and more. Reservations and advance purchase required at ticketscandy.com/e/10th-year-anniversary-6990. Children 14 and under are free.
Guillaume and Ludivine Ryon, owners of the 10-year-old French bakery chain Le Parfait Paris with Malek Larbi, corporate chef. They pose for a photo in the new commissary kitchen in Middletown on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024 in San Diego, California. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The companys is in fast growth mode this fall, thanks to its new commissary kitchen at the corner India and Vine streets on the east side of Interstate 5. In September, the Ryons took over the building, which was formerly operated by Meals on Wheels. Before leasing the new space, the Ryons were bursting at the seams in their former 3,760-square-foot kitchen in the Mission Gorge area.
The new space has allowed the couple to double their capacity for food preparation, particularly chilling and freezer space, which is key to transporting their fresh-daily foods to locations in the Gaslamp Quarter, Liberty Public Market, Del Mar Sky Deck, Fashion Valley mall, Coronado Ferry Landing, Anaheim Packing District food hall and the latest spot that opened Wednesday in the former Haagen-Dasz space at Westfield UTC shopping center.
Le Parfait Paris new commissary kitchen in Middletown on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024 in San Diego, California. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Next month, an eighth location will open in the former Beard Papas bakeshop space at 7874 Girard Ave. in La Jolla.
The Ryons will also soon open a café at their new commissary kitchen. It will have large glass windows where diners can watch croissants and other items being made. The couple also plan to use the new space to revive the French baking classes they were forced to discontinue when the pandemic hit in 2020.
These arent the only new projects the Bankers Hill couple is cooking up. Theyll also welcome their first child in March. Theyre planning to create a large space in their new second-floor office where they can bring their daughter to work and she can grow up learning the business at their side.
Malek Larbi, corporate chef making coffee macarons in the new commissary kitchen in Middletown on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024 in San Diego, California. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The Ryons are the sole owners of Le Parfait Paris, which now employs about 75 people, but will grow to about 100 when the three new shops open. The kitchen is led by corporate chef Malek Larbi.
Besides their retail business, the Ryons also have a substantial online shipping operation. They do a booming trade in gift-boxed and custom logo-stamped macaron cookies. And especially around Mothers Day, they offer (via 3-day special order) massive 2-pound croissants that have become a viral sensation on Instagram and TikTok.
The bakerys food-prep cycle begins each night at 8 p.m., with fresh-baked croissants and breads, cookies and chilled desserts loaded into trucks at 4 the next morning.
The couple says they could have grown their business faster over the past decade if theyd taken on investment partners, but they feared that would force them to compromise on quality. They still make everything from scratch with all-natural, non-GMO ingredients, including butter from Normandy, France, for the croissants; chocolate from Switzerland for the desserts; and more than 8,000 farm-fresh eggs each week for the macarons.
Malek Larbi, corporate chef making croissants in the new commissary kitchen in Middletown on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024 in San Diego, California. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
We bake all of our own bread, we make our own chocolate powder, our own vanilla and pistachio pastes. That’s our core value, Ludivine said. We have a saying in France, fait maison avec amour, which translates as made in house with love.
The couple work well together, complementing each others strengths. Guillaume, who has a background in real estate and finance, focuses on analyzing markets, scouting locations, negotiating leases, overseeing construction and strategic growth planning. Ludivine, whose background is in hospitality, oversees the retail side of the business, including store operations and meeting sales goals.
With the expanded kitchen capacity, Ludivine said she would like to introduce more savory food items at the companys café locations, like soup, salads and hachis parmentier, a French winter dish made with pork or duck baked gratin-style with potatoes.
In order to accomplish that, the couple wants to hire a non-pastry executive chef who is trained in French techniques but not necessarily French, so they can develop recipes with a California/Baja influence.
“We’re both French and that’s our strength and our weakness, Guillaume said. We agree on everything all the time. But sometimes we’re too French in our head.”