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Popular chef’s croissants on the rise again

By Elan Head

When Eddy Harris opened Le Pleaissant, a croissant speciality shop, 15 years ago, chefs weren’t celebrities and home refrigerators weren’t stainless steel. Bread was pre-sliced and dandelion greens were weeds. In short, cooking was uncool. People loved Harris’ moist, buttery croissants but no one asked for his autograph.

“Fifteen years ago, to work inside a kitchen was not the same as it is now,” Harris says. “It surprised people that I liked to cook. They’d ask me, ‘You like to cook?’ and I’d say, ‘Um, well, yeah.’”

That general lack of prestige was one reason why Harris left the business five years later. Instead, he went into the solidly respectable field of commercial shipping. He still cooked, of course, but only at home.

Yet by then, Harris really had become a celebrity and his shops legendary. Valley residents fondly recalled those airy croissants and Harris’ signature pink boxes. For many, the boxes became a byword for longing, because the fact is, nothing ever replaced Le Pleaissant.

But Harris is back. On Sept. 15, he opened Mille-Feuille Bakery inside Coffee Works, on the northeast corner of Ray and Rural. Now you can get his terrific filled croissants seven days a week.

“The croissant’s a little bigger than it was before, but it’s still made with the same top ingredients,” he says.

And it’s still baked fresh from scratch each morning—a Herculean effort, considering that Harris has kept his “day job” in shipping.

 “We will not sell anything day-old,” he says. (Leftovers go to charity.) “I get in around 2:30 in the morning to have the croissants ready for a 6 a.m. opening. I enjoy it, though. It’s a pleasure to come in. My wife has finally realized that it’s something I enjoy doing.”

Harris acknowledges that his big, fluffy croissants are not of traditional origin. French croissants are flakier but also drier, and generally smaller.

He calls his “American croissants,” and aptly, because they are indeed what most Americans expect from their pastry. These are moist croissants with a slight chew--croissants you can build a sandwich with. They accommodate their ample fillings without being overwhelmingly rich.

And the fillings are a big part of the appeal. Although he offers plain croissants, his top seller is filled with cream cheese; almost as popular is one with chocolate chips. Almond croissants (one of Harris’ favorites), apple, blueberry, strawberry, cherry, cinnamon and ham-and-cheese round out his ambitious menu.

Harris, who has lived in the area for 16 years and in the Valley for most of his life, was a customer at Coffee Works for several months before approaching owner Debbie Stall with the idea of a joint venture.

“The reason we thought it would work is we have very much the same values,” says Stall, citing high standards and a dedication to customer service.

“I had been looking for something different, something special to sell out of the pastry case for a while, but there’s not a lot out there. His croissants were absolutely what I was looking for.”

Five days after their launch, they were selling “great,” says Stall. “I don’t know how the word spread so fast, but we’ve had people come in specifically looking for his croissants.”

Eddy Harris
Mille-Feuille Bakery
(480) 200-8429

Coffee Works
(480) 214-0264

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