Take a Peek Inside LA’s Sweet First Laduree Boutique

Photo Credit: MarinaDa/Shutterstock.com

Although sweets probably aren’t a high priority after copious amounts of seasonal over-indulging and that New Year’s resolution to hit the gym more, you might want to make an exception to your diet: French macaron shop Laduree is finally open at The Grove.

Rick Caruso‘s open-air retail destination is the first L.A. launch for the French luxury bakery, which first opened in Paris near the Place de la Concorde in 1862, but it has its eye on expanding in the City of Angels and will open another location in Beverly Hills later next year.

Laduree has been expanding internationally since 2011, when it opened its first U.S. boutique on Madison Avenue in New York City, followed by additional destinations in SoHo and Miami.

The Parisian tea room has a rich and storied history: it opened its door in 1862, when Louis Ernest Ladurée, a miller from the southwest of France, founded a bakery in Paris at 16 rue Royale. In 1871, a fire in the bakery opened the opportunity to transform it into a pastry shop. The decoration of the pastry shop was entrusted to Jules Cheret, a famous turn-of-the-century painter and poster artist. And the stunning sweet shop was born. Ownership of the brand was taken over by David Holder, Vice-Chairman of the Holder group and Ladurée’s Chairman, in 1997. He began to expand internationally, opening locations in the United States—on Manhattan’s Madison Avenue and in Soho, as well as in Miami. There are also a plethora of French macaron houses, located in prime vacation spots for the rich and famous including Cannes, Courchevel, Saint Tropez and Orly.

For those unfamiliar, Laduree’s Parisian outposts are favorites of couture-crazy Americans who frequent the City of Lights during Paris Fashion Week, as much as for their fashion pedigree as the overall ambiance and taste: throughout time, the brand has collaborated with several high-end houses on limited-edition flavors and chic containers, including the likes of Emilio Pucci, Lanvin and Reed Krakoff.