By David Porat
Maison Kayser appeared and opened to the public on Oct 1 at the corner of Bleecker and Christopher, looking a bit like it has always been there. Where did it come from and what makes it different from other bakeries—that allows it to assume important and expensive real estate and prosper?
Started as one boulangerie in the Latin Quarter in Paris in 1996, it has grown quickly, becoming a global brand with many in Paris but also around Europe, the Middle East and 22 in Japan before arriving in the United States. Maison Kayser touched down in the United States in the UES in August 2012. Since then, it has spread around Manhattan—eight locations there and one opening next month in Brooklyn. Built as a bakery and a cafe, capitalizing on coffee, light food, viennoiserie (croissants, brioches and similar) pastries and mainly bread, Maison Kayser is about quality and making its high standards a good value.
Lou Ramirez and Louis-Jean Egasse are the licensees for all the Kayser bakeries here in the States. Started by Eric Kayser, a renowned baker with baking in his blood line, bread is taken very seriously. Eric has managed to incorporate ingredients, including French butter, and to create techniques and equipment allowing his standards to be met worldwide. One example is using a special liquid leaven or sour dough yeast which takes longer to work but adds taste and complexity. Yann Ledoux was his head baker in Paris, who now works in New York to oversee the quality of the baking.
The baguettes are mixed, proofed and baked off constantly during the day and have a shelf life of about six hours, hence you can take a short walk and more easily get them warm. Although they do not focus on wholesale, Le Bernardin, the number one rated Zagat restaurant in NYC, gets three deliveries a day! All the bread is mixed using organic flour, proofed and baked on location—which sets it apart from most other breads in our city.
Maison Kayser 326 Bleecker Street
MaisonKayserUSA.com