Founded by Soraiya Nagree in 2010, La Patisserie is a French inspired cafe with two locations in Austin.  Although most famous for their macarons, La Patisserie is known for having a wide variety of  french baked goods. Nagree’s goal when she founded La Patisserie was to introduce customers to the French experience and way of life.

“When you come to La Patisserie, we like for you to not be in a hurry and for you to enjoy coffee and a sweet treat and take a moment to pause and enjoy life,” Nagree said. “This is my favorite thing about French culture; they always make time to enjoy food.”
Head Pastry Chef and Kitchen Manager, Lezlie Gibbs, has been working at La Patisserie for five years and has a lot of experience in many of the areas involved in determining the success of La Patisserie, including making macarons and cream puffs.
“Since I’m the Head Pastry Chef and Kitchen Manager, I’ve done all of the jobs in the kitchen at some point in time,” Gibbs said. “{At La Patisserie,} we are a small team that makes pastries from scratch  and bakes everything fresh each morning. My favorite thing about the cafe is our staff and our willingness to take a critique and change or fix something that may not be working.”

The cafe is mentioned and recommended in many magazines and websites including the Austin Chronicle and Trip Advisor. The features have brought many customers to La Patisserie, including frequent visitor Mike Avery.

“When they first opened, they were featured in one of these big foodie magazines and they were talking about their macarons, and I hadn’t had a macaron in forever,” Avery said. “I came, and I was in love. I went to Paris and liked these ones more, which is super bizarre. You go to Paris and want to be whisked away in this wonderland of everything, but these ones are so much better.”

Macarons are very complex and require a lot of time and effort, and this can raise the cost of the desserts. Macarons are very costly compared to other foods, while some people consider the cost worth it, others don’t.

“I love La Patisserie and their food, but I definitely think La Patisserie is overpriced because two macarons are almost six dollars, at other places you could get the exact same thing but it would only cost around three dollars for two macarons,” seventh grader Emilia del Pozo said. “It’s worth it if you get a variety of different flavors, if you get the same ones it isn’t.”

La Patisserie has two stores, each with different atmospheres. This brings a variety of experiences for different types of customers who can enjoy the individual feel of the two locations.

“Annie Street gets more people enjoying their afternoon stroll around the area, taking a break for a moment to enjoy the view, a latte and a macaron or croissant,” Gibbs said. “Our Burnet location is more appropriate for grabbing coffee and a box of pastries on your way to work, on a break, or on your way home.”

Customers and employees love the individuality of the restaurant and the constant change. The menu is updated with new flavors frequently so that customers stay interested and there is always something new to try.

“I feel lucky to have found La Patisserie as a place that I could learn and grow as a pastry chef and I, along with my amazing staff, strive to improve on our menu and techniques when we can,” Gibbs said. “It’s ever evolving so you have to keep coming back.”