He worked with pastry master Bachour. Now, this Cuban-born baker has his own Miami shop

Connie Ogle
·4 min read

In a small strip mall on the edge of Westchester, crammed between a barber shop, a jewelry store and a mini mart, a tiny piece of pastry paradise exists.

Open the door, and leave the clamor of Miami behind. Whimsical French accordion music drowns out the cacophony of traffic, and the aroma of freshly baked dough envelops you.

Examine the array of pastries on display and try to choose. A gleaming strawberry croissant? A glazed or guava doughnut? Sweet, sticky monkey bread?

At the new L’Boulanger Maison du Croissant, any and all choices are right.

The bakery, which opened in April, is the creation of Cuban-born baker Yusel Montelongo, his wife Marielys Toledo and their friends and business partners Robert Buduen and Julieta Ruiz. Montelongo credits his wife and Ruiz for pushing him out of his comfort zone and inspiring him to open his own shop.

“If not for them,” he says, “I wouldn’t have done it.”

Yusel Montelongo cuts the layered dough to make croissants in the kitchen at L’Boulanger Maison du Croissant.
Yusel Montelongo cuts the layered dough to make croissants in the kitchen at L’Boulanger Maison du Croissant.

Maison du Croissant, naturally, specializes in baked goods, croissants in particular but also doughnuts and breads. The menu also includes a few breakfast and lunch items like fried or scrambled eggs and omelets, empanadas, burgers and sandwiches

There are a handful of small tables crowded in the small space, which is filled with Parisian touches, but most customers leave the premises with their bounty. Buduen estimates that 80 percent of the business is takeout, either customers grabbing a bite to eat before work or bringing baked goods home or to the office or clients taking advantage of the catering menu, which includes croissants, doughnuts and empanadas.

The business also supplies baked goods to bakeries, cafeterias and restaurants around Miami, like Cachito Coffee and Bakery in Miami Beach and Aventura, among others.

Buduen said they dream one day of working out of a larger, sit-down restaurant, but the current space fits their immediate needs, and rent, as always in Miami, is a huge concern.

Yusel Montelongo checks the layers on a freshly made croissant in the kitchen at L’Boulanger Maison du Croissant.
Yusel Montelongo checks the layers on a freshly made croissant in the kitchen at L’Boulanger Maison du Croissant.

“We’d love to have a big place, as big as we can,” he says. “But we did some research, and we didn’t have any competition around us. Everybody else is downtown or in Miami Beach or in the Gables. This location was a good opportunity for us. A small location but a small rent.”

Buduen said the idea to open a bakery bubbled to the surface shortly after he met Montelongo about eight years ago (their wives were friends). But the story started long before then. Montelongo, who grew up in Pinar del Rio in Cuba, wasn’t one of those kids yearning to make magic with flour, eggs and sugar. His grandfather was a baker, but Montelongo was drawn to arts and languages and wanted to be teacher instead.

It wasn’t until he realized he couldn’t make enough money teaching that he joined his grandfather to learn the business of baking.

Croissants on display at L’Boulanger Maison du Croissant.
Croissants on display at L’Boulanger Maison du Croissant.

Montelongo emigrated to the U.S. in 2012 and got a job at a Chinese restaurant. When that closed, a French baker at the Fontainebleau offered him a job, and he never looked back. He went on to work at Faena Hotel in Miami Beach and later for Puerto Rican pastry master Antonio Bachour at his Coral Gables restaurant.

Montelongo knew a lot about basic baking and had a lot of recipes from previous jobs, but Bachour, famous for his gem-like, gorgeous desserts, opened his eyes regarding presentation.

“I had the foundation,” Montelongo says, “but he showed me the beauty.”

Yusel Montelongo, who has worked at the Fontainebleau, Faena and Bachour, has just opened L’Boulanger Maison du Croissant.
Yusel Montelongo, who has worked at the Fontainebleau, Faena and Bachour, has just opened L’Boulanger Maison du Croissant.

Now, he puts those lessons to work at L’Boulanger Maison du Croissant, where croissants are the specialty, from almond and Nutella to ham and cheese and pistachio (they range in price from $4.70 for a plain to $6 for something more elaborate). Croissants are the most complicated item to make on the menu, Montelongo says, a three-day process that’s heavily dependent on temperature (croissants, unlike people, prefer maximum humidity).

“It’s easier for us when it’s hot,” he says. “In the winter weather, everything changes.”

After the partners maxed out credit cards and borrowed money to open the shop, Montelongo stays busy filling orders. But he welcomes the work.

“We dreamed about working for ourselves,” Buduen says. “We talked about making our own stuff for years. Now that dream has come to reality.”

L’Boulanger Maison du Croissant is now open near Westchester.
L’Boulanger Maison du Croissant is now open near Westchester.

L’Boulanger Maison du Croissant

Where: 3025 SW 107th Ave., Miami

Hours: 7 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday

More information: 786-254-7225; also available on UberEats, Door Dash and Grubhub