There may be a “drive through” sign on the exterior of La Princiere Bakery, 1426 N. Main St., but make no mistake, you will find no dime-a-dozen donuts for sale there, nor any fast food.
Instead, you will encounter perfectly flaky pastries, crafted from recipes hundreds of years old, for the refined palates of heads-of-state and military leaders.
“I have been trained by the big names,” said owner and chief pâtissier Hamid Oulebsir. “My friends, they taught me a lot of the secrets of the bakery.”
La Princiere, which has been open since January of 2021, specializes in Viennoiserie, a subset of French pastries with origins in the Austrian Empire, the most famous of which are the pain au chocolate and the croissant.
Oulebsir, who has lived in this country for 27 years, learned his craft as apprentice for the executive chef of the president of Algeria and perfected his work making pastries for officers in the army.
Haley’s Grains owner Haley Blundell, who has lived in Europe, described Oulebsir’s croissants as among the best she has ever eaten.
“He takes a lot of pride in what he does,” Blundell said. “Often times when I go in there, he is remaking something because the butter didn’t do what he wanted it to do, or they messed up on his yeast order, and it’s not the correct one, and he is remaking it to make sure it’s perfect.”
Blundell also sells Oulebsir’s cookies and croissants at Haley’s Grains, 120 W. Second St.
Oulebsir keeps his recipes, which have been passed down for hundreds of years, a secret. However, he will tell you that in order to obtain perfect flakiness, you need the right butter, the right manipulation of the dough, and the right temperature.
The result is a perfect pastry with staying power, Oulebsir said.
“Certain pastries can stay 48 hours,” Oulebsir said. “You heat it in the oven, you taste it again, and it’s back again alive. It’s like the same day you buy it in the bakery.”
At La Princiere, everything, from the jam in a tart to the cream in a tart, is made from scratch and from fresh, non-GMO ingredients. Not surprisingly, due to the soaring costs of food, this choice is not without a price.
“Building up a business is hard,” Oulebsir said. “It’s harsh a little bit.”
However, Oulebsir, who remembers walking in taped up shoes as a kid, and who has done everything from flip burgers to drive a cab to make his dream possible, is determined to stay in business.
“I will make it,” Oulebsir said. “I am very patient.”
