La Petite Patisserie provides incomparable treats

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The lemon tart is beyond comparison. The miniature cream puff swans are as delicious as they are beautiful. The sacer torte, however, defies description. You simply have to experience it. |ret||ret||tab|

A visit to La Petite Patisserie has a way of bringing out the culinary hedonist in all of us. Visitors will find any run-of-the-mill desserts or pastries here. Bruno Pierre Marchan-dise, a classically trained French pastry chef, makes every item from scratch using the freshest ingredients as well as select baking supplies found only in Europe. |ret||ret||tab|

Marchandise, who was born and raised in the Fontainebleu area of France, began his career as a baker's apprentice in Cor-bel-Essome, France. After completing his apprenticeship, which took two years, he received a Certificat D'Aptitude Professionelle Patissier Con-fiseur Glacier (diploma in pastries, candies and ice-cream making). |ret||ret||tab|

After serving for a year in the French military, he worked as a pastry chef in Brunoy, France, before being recruited by Au-chan, an upscale French hypermarket company. |ret||ret||tab|

While with Auchan, Mar-chandise oversaw a team of pastry chefs and, in 1989, Auchan asked him to relocate to Chi-cago, where he helped train and supervise a team of American pastry chefs who worked at one of the company's branch superstores in the area.|ret||ret||tab|

A year-and-half later, Mar-chandise left to work at The Cypress, an upscale restaurant in suburban Chicago. By 1993, however, Marchandise had grown tired of working for others, so he opened the Ovens of Micheline in suburban Palos Park. His bakery grew quickly, and he began catering for many country clubs in the area. |ret||ret||tab|

Marchandise's business was thriving, and his staff of two grew to include more than 18 employees. Business was good, but Marchandise felt he wasn't spending enough time with his wife, Teresa, and their three children. So in 1999 he sold his bakery and relocated to Nixa so they could be closer to his wife's family and enjoy a more relaxed lifestyle. A few months later, he opened La Petite Patis-serie.|ret||ret||tab|

Like many small businesses, La Petite Patisserie is a family operation. Teresa does "anything and everything that doesn't involve baking," while Bru-no back in the bakery masterfully crafts a wide array of Euro-pean pastries such as baklava, black forest tortes, blueberry almondine, cannoli, eclairs, colorful mixed fruit tarts, na-poleons and tiramisu in a choc-olate cup. |ret||ret||tab|

He also concocts a wide variety of tarts and cakes, including wedding and special occasion cakes, which taste even better than they look. |ret||ret||tab|

When Marchandise isn't busy whipping up one of his delectable desserts, he bakes bread. He also makes muffins, cinnamon rolls, Danishes, croissants and other breakfast items, which are sold to hungry customers who stop by La Petite Patisserie in the morning on their way to work. |ret||ret||tab|

Recently, the Marchandises opened a second bakery shop at 4303 S. National Ave., which is located just south of Republic Road in the Aundria Plaza. According to Teresa Marchan-dise, the new shop has allowed them to better serve their Springfield customers. Unlike the shop in Nixa, which is largely a bakery, the Springfield location is styled like a small French caf and offers indoor and outdoor seating, weather permitting. |ret||ret||tab|

These days, Marchandise is keeping busy by catering for many local Christmas parties. Often, he sets up a dessert table that's filled with miniature pastries. Other times, he makes specialty items such as a buche de nol, which is a rolled sponge cake filled with flavored French buttercream and decorated with chocolate so that it resembles a Christmas tree log. Many of the parties Marchan-dise caters are held in private residences, but in recent months he's added many area country clubs to his list of regular customers. |ret||ret||tab|

"When I worked in Chicago, I catered for approximately 45 country clubs in the area," Mar-chandise said. "That's a lot, considering the competition I had."|ret||ret||tab|

Indeed, Marchandise's work speaks for itself. Although he hasn't advertised much, La Petite Patisserie already has developed a following among those who enjoy authentic European-style pastries and desserts. |ret||ret||tab|

All of the pastries, desserts and breakfast food items found at La Petite Patisserie are made from scratch daily using the freshest ingredients, and none contain preservatives. Many of the ingredients are flown in from Europe. In addition, La Petite Patisserie stocks a number of gourmet food items from Europe, including chocolates, candies, cookies, jams and marmalades, pates, caviar and an assortment of cheese. |ret||ret||tab|

"The market here is totally different than it was in Chi-cago," said Teresa Marchan-dise. "One of the biggest challenges we've faced is creating demand for the products we sell. A lot of people who live in this area have never tasted a real authentic European pastry or dessert. We want that to change."[[In-content Ad]]