Baking from scratch is always preferred. After all, why buy a packaged Starbucks croissant or frozen Safeway cake when you can get the real thing, from a real bakery? Sadly, finding pastries that are truly made from scratch can feel like a wild goose chase.
That is, unless you’ve visited La Patisserie Francaise off of Wadsworth Boulevard in Arvada. The shop has been around for over 32 years and was previously in an open-air farmer’s market in Aurora, before shifting to a brick-and-mortar space in Arvada. Sadie bought it a decade ago in 2012, with July being her 10-year ownership anniversary.
Sadie, who has over a decade of baking experience, learned the craft after leaving a corporate role. When asked about her inspiration to bake professionally, she says, “Baked goods make most people happy. They’re bought for celebrations, birthdays - really, anything positive. It’s so much more fulfilling than the environmental consulting job I had before.”
The art of baking truly caught Sadie’s attention with her at-home projects. She’d often bake cakes at home for various celebrations, and soon found it to be her true passion. Sadie wanted to buy La Patisserie in particular since the shop was known for making everything from scratch, which reminds her of home: “Back where I’m from, everything, even the dough, is made from scratch. It just felt like home.”
Prior to owning La Patisserie, Sadie found early success as a not-so-amateur baker. She took home an award for Denver's Sweet Times in the Rockies Cake Show with her 3D pheasant cake. Years before that victory, she baked a 3D rooster cake to scale to win the Denver County Fair’s cake competition. Now, she’s using her skills to render La Patisserie the neighborhood bakery of choice in and around Arvada.
La Patisserie differentiates itself not only with its from-scratch ideology, but also its dough treatment. Croissant dough is laminated to make it nice and flaky, which is a traditional method that’s lost on modern bakeries that are focused on churning out products. According to Sadie, “Most bakeries will buy croissant and puff dough prefabbed and manipulate it to a certain shape, but they won’t actually make it from scratch. We’re from scratch from the start.”
The shop also has an edible image printer that prints decals directly onto cookies, chocolates, macarons, and more. It’s especially popular for weddings, birthdays, and birth announcements that call for a congratulatory edible message.
Sadie is most proud of La Patisserie’s custom cakes, especially their “to-scale” options. As an expert in to-scale baking with her 3D pheasant and rooster accomplishments, Sadie is accustomed to rendering cakes both delicious and awe-inspiring. Their pastries are also popular among customers and staff, especially their buttery croissants and Napoleons. Napoleons are especially popular among European customers, many of whom say it’s the best they’ve had since leaving home.
After a decade of successful operations, Sadie stresses how vital her staff is. The shop employs around 15 people, many of whom dropped during COVID and have since returned. You’ll find yourself ordering from mostly young adults - sophomores, juniors, and seniors from local Arvada high schools. What’s more, most of Sadie’s staff has been with her for over a year. Such a low turnover is unheard of in the baking industry, Sadie says, “I couldn’t do this without my staff, any of them. I couldn’t be more grateful for their help day in and day out.”
Sadie and her team pride themselves on their scratch-made pastries and community impact as Arvada’s neighborhood bakery. Whether you’re looking for a delectable French pastry, breakfast danish, mouth watering cookies, or a custom cake, La Patisserie Francaise is your one-stop bakery shop. Stop by 7885 North Wadsworth Boulevard to say hello to Sadie and sample their work in person. You can also visit their website at lapatbakery.com to browse their full menu, or call (303) 424-5056 with any custom requests.
