Local Parisian restaurateurs have a sweet tooth for business

By Kai Oliver-Kurtin

French cafe and bakery Le Parfait Paris recently celebrated its first anniversary in the Gaslamp Quarter. Although business has continued to increase every month since opening, French owners Ludivine Mas and Guillaume Ryon were initially worried that their menu would be lost in translation.

“We were scared at first because we were introducing so many new products,” said Mas, chief operating officer of Le Parfait Paris. “The challenge in the beginning was to educate customers on the different pastries. That’s why we added the cheesecake — so there was something familiar on the menu.”

Although the Frenchy cheesecake is a lot lighter than traditional New York-style cheesecake, with a buttery crisp on the bottom, they hope reluctant new customers will use it as an introduction to the cafe and later return to try other menu items.

Le Parfait Paris imports high-quality products such as Normandy butter and French chocolate to make its own bread and pastries from scratch.

Pastry chef Jean Francois “Jeff” Fays was hired to develop the menu, which features fresh-baked bread, pastries, macarons and other desserts, as well as savory selections like quiche, croque sandwiches, paninis and eggs Benedict.

They also have a full coffee bar, and serve wine, beer and cocktails.

“Le Parfait Paris is very authentic,” Mas said. “We are French, so we try to bring true French products to make a real experience when you come here. Our goal is to have people eat here and feel like they’re traveling back to France for a little bit.”

Mas studied culinary arts and restaurant management in Paris, where she worked for friends at various restaurants, but many of the recipes at Le Parfait Paris were her grandmother’s originals.

“If we had this cafe in Paris, we would do it the exact same way,” said Ryon, the company’s CEO.

The couple’s journey to Le Parfait was anything but routine.

Ryon was born in Paris but grew up in Africa along the Ivory Coast and Congo, but eventually made his way to the South of France.

In search of the American dream, Ryon came to the U.S. to play college football, and eventually ended up playing at San Diego Mesa College and the University of San Diego (USD).

Mas, a native Parisian, followed Ryon soon after to better her English and learn more about restaurant operations. She went on to complete a degree at San Diego State in hospitality and tourism management.

Ryon later graduated from USD where he studied finance and real estate, but it was while working for a financial institution doing portfolio management that Ryon began thinking about opening a cafe.

While doing investment analysis of profitable business ventures, he came across La Boulange bakery in San Francisco that was sold to Starbucks for $100 million in 2013.

“The numbers were incredible, and I thought … I could do this,” Ryon said. “I started studying baking but knew I wasn’t going to be good. So I called the expert in food — my wife — and she said we must have a good baker.”

So they began conducting interviews via Skype, when they found Fays, who is also from the South of France.

The couple now lives Downtown, just a few blocks from Le Parfait Paris, but their production facility is in Mission Valley. Their employees begin baking at midnight so that products are fresh when they’re delivered Downtown before 6 a.m.

The cafe’s best-selling items are macarons, almond croissants, the parfait signature dessert, Frenchy cheesecake, bavarois dessert, the L’Alsacien breakfast sandwich and eggs Benedict.

For the holidays, they’ve created three new desserts: an almond cookie with raspberry filling, covered in dark chocolate mousse; a butter cream custard with fresh fruit and a cookie bottom; and a milk chocolate mousse with chocolate cake and hazelnuts. All of the decorative items plated with their desserts are edible, including sugar buttons and pearls.

Le Parfait Paris purchases all of its produce from local farmers markets and will soon have a booth at the Liberty Public Market in Liberty Station. The new location will offer the same menu as their flagship store Downtown. Eventually, the owners would like to expand the business to other cities outside of San Diego.

Every year or two, Mas and Ryon travel back to France, but during the recent terrorist attacks in Paris when they were thousands of miles away in San Diego. Mas immediately called her family to make sure they were safe, and Ryon talked with his friends who work near the scene of where some of the attacks took place — forced to shelter in place until 4 a.m. Then the couple spent the rest of the afternoon glued to their TV for updates on what happened and how many people were injured.

“The worst thing was being here,” Ryon said. “I felt so helpless. There are so many things we could do if we were there — donate blood, help with the wounded, etc. No one has guns in France, so they don’t recognize the sound and don’t know how to react.”

Mas said the Facebook Safety Check feature was especially helpful while checking on the status of friends and family.

“I was happily surprised by how much support we got from the San Diego community because people know we’re French,” Mas said.

They hope the community will continue to support them in the future, as they organize wine tasting events, pastry and wine pairings, and a cooking class at their Mission Valley facility.

They’re also planning to update the lunch menu and expand their catering business. They currently do some wholesale business to shops outside of the Downtown area.

Le Parfait Paris launched a new happy hour menu that features discounted beer and wine, as well as a daily pastry item. Happy hour is available Monday through Friday from 3 – 8 p.m. Right now their busiest time is when the after-dinner crowd comes by for dessert and drinks, with many customers ordering dessert to take home.

“Getting your dessert in France is always really important,” Mas said. “That’s what we’d like to bring here.”

Le Parfait Paris is located at 555 G St. For more information, visit leparfaitparis.com.

—Kai Oliver-Kurtin is a local freelance writer. She enjoys covering events, restaurant news, culture and entertainment. Contact her at kai.[email protected].