If all goes well with construction, permits, inspections,
etc., Croustille Café is scheduled to open in the Pikesville Shopping Center by
year’s end. The 3,800 square foot
authentic French bakery will be occupying a portion of the former space held by
Rite Aid. The shopping center is located
on Pikesville’s main thoroughfare, Reisterstown Road.
Paris, France is where baker/owner Moshe Mimoun mastered his
craft and is bringing his in-house freshly baked breads (can you say
baguettes?), Danish, fruit-filled brioche, turnovers, strudel, biscotti,
madeleines, tarts and French-styled cookies to his café. Personally, I’m looking forward to his
Gaufres waffles -Flemish waffles, or Gaufres à la Flamande, which are a specialty of northern France and portions
of western Belgium.
The café portion of Croustille will serve
breakfast and lunch with a focus on bagels, custom-made salads, sandwiches and
in-house made ice cream.
“That section of Reisterstown Road is extremely pedestrian
friendly with many businesses and residents located within walking distance,
and we envision our bakery and café becoming a central gathering spot for both
local residents and businesspeople,” explained Mimoun. “To facilitate lingering,
a section of the bakery and café will contain a lounge area to encourage groups
of people to gather, socialize and conduct business. There will be booths and
also high-top tables to address the needs of different audiences. We believe
young people in particular will gravitate to our environment.”
Mimoun and his family operated several bakeries and
supermarkets in France and he intends to instill these traditional cooking and
baking principles in this new concept.
Croustille in French translates to “crunchy” – did I mention
real French baguettes, sure I did, but it is worth mentioning again.
Bienvenue
Croustille Café