rtisan bakery and cafe Le Petit Prince opened its doors this week. Tired of corporate life, co-owners Adam Diamond and Moise Leouzon decided to quit their jobs and follow their shared dream – to bring the country to the city by way of rustic, artisan baked goods. And we’re glad they did.

In pursuit of this dream, Leouzon headed off to France to learn baking skills from the best. He spent four months training with some of the country’s most awarded chocolate artists and learnt the art of bread, pastry and cake making. And if the crusty loaves, buttery croissants and petit pastries that populate the shelves of Le Petit Prince are anything to go by, he knows his stuff.

According to Leouzon, the pair wanted to “take everything back to the first principles and start with raw ingredients – flour, water and yeast – and take the customer on the bread making process journey at any given time of the day, whilst sipping on a hot latte or having a quick bite of a sandwich.”

But a sandwich is not all that one might wish to bite on in this enchanting space. The menu also includes cooked breakfasts such as ricotta hotcakes and oeufs cocotte. For lunch, a selection of hearty sandwiches (on freshly baked bread, of course) as well as tarts and salads are available.

To help realise their vision of a “rustic industrial” cafe, the pair appropriately enlisted French-born Anne-Sophie Poirier to design the space. The square white tiles that line the back wall (reminiscent of the metro stations of Paris) are juxtaposed with reclaimed wooden features (from an old church in Richmond) and carpentry.

The overall feel of the space is not dissimilar to a French classroom. With a blackboard, a North Pole map, clothes hangers and school chairs, one has the impression that the little French prince himself could walk in at any moment.

The standout feature is a wall installation composed of wooden boxes, lush fern-like plants, old kitchen aid tools, books and rusty boxes.

To let customers know that they mean business, Diamond and Leouzon boast of a Rolls-Royce of a coffee machine. A baby blue powder-coated Slayer espresso machine will be churning out the countless lattes, with Coffee Supreme elected as coffee partner of choice.

Combining ancestral cooking procedures with fresh local produce, this cafe is sure to satisfy any lover of French flavours.

Le Petit Prince
1a Mercer Road, Armadale
(03) 9824 6404

Hours
Daily 6:30am–4pm (or until stocks last)