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A new French-style bakery has opened its doors in Livermore, establishing itself as “a place where passion meets flavor.”
Pastry chef and Pleasanton resident Simone Baltzelle’s dream of opening her own patisserie came to fruition thanks to her own dedication and perseverance as well as support from family, friends, neighbors and the community at large.
Baltzelle welcomed guests last weekend for Patisserie by Simone’s successful grand opening.
She told the Weekly in an interview that ahead of the event, she was concerned about having too many goods that she’d end up having to practically give away by the end of the day but she actually had the opposite problem where she sold out of every pastry within the first three hours of opening on both days.
“I consider myself an artist. Before I was a baker I was a pianist and a piano teacher for a good decade before my children,” Baltzelle said. “It really matters to me, I take a lot of pride in my pastries as an art whether it’s looking at it as being the most delicious and the most perfect and authentic that it could be but also I wanted the space to be a place that also is a reflection of me and a destination. So not just a place for good food but a beautiful place to visit as well.”
As a mother of three, Baltzelle also wanted her space to be a family-friendly environment which is why a portion of the shop is a children’s play area. “I wanted a place where on the one side you can have a quiet, nice cup of tea or coffee and enjoy your pastries, but on the other side a place where mothers can come with their young children,” she said.
The storefront located at 2958 Pacific Ave. that is now Patisserie by Simone is where countless baked goods have been produced over a number of years as the space was previously occupied by Dan Good Cookies, which closed in December following the owner’s decision to shift focus to other projects, according to a statement shared with customers at the time.
Baltzelle was able to purchase much of previous owner Dan Floyd’s equipment to use for her own bakery. But with a different business model as a full patisserie rather than a specialty cookie shop, there was quite a bit of additional supplies she needed to purchase.
Baltzelle turned to her community for financial support to make her dream a reality. She already had a buzz in Pleasanton from word of mouth as she had been baking from home before venturing out to open a shop. She launched a GoFundMe campaign at the beginning of the year to help purchase essential equipment and to fund some necessary electrical and lighting work in the space.
Although the shop is open now, the campaign remains active having reached $7,725 of its $15,000 goal as of Wednesday morning.
As a self-taught baker, Baltzelle has worked in several kitchens around the Bay Area, including at Noah’s Bagels and Monica’s in Livermore and Mademoiselle Colette on the Peninsula.
While she offers a variety of pastries at Patisserie by Simone, there are some signature treats she’s known for including her croissants and Danishes that have savory fillings as well as sweet. Baltzelle said customers have also come to love her malasadas, which is the one thing she makes that isn’t French. The traditionally Portuguese fried pastry is akin to a donut but without the hole.
Noting that the pastry is also popular in Hawaii, Baltzelle said, “I make my own version of the Hawaiian-Portuguese malasadas, but I use my French training and do really delicious French-style creams of like every flavor you could think of.”
Following the big sell-out opening weekend, Baltzelle is now looking to hire at least two part-time employees to help out around the shop with dish-washing, kitchen work and other duties while she primarily focuses on the baking. She noted that she had help from friends and family last weekend, but as long as sales keep doing as well as they are, she will need more consistent support.
“We didn’t expect nearly this turnout in our first two days, but I’m working really hard this week not only to make more pastries but also trying to hire a couple staff and hopefully these next few weeks we’ll be better prepared,” she said.
The bakery’s current hours of operation are Fridays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. However, those hours are subject to change if all pastries sell out before closing.
More information about Patisserie by Simone can be found by following the business on Facebook and Instagram.
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