IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: A version of this article was originally published by ThoroldToday on April 19.
Oh, how time flies! A little over a year ago, French bakery JC Patissier on Front St. was struggling to open its doors — and now they are celebrating one year of business with a party next Saturday, April 29.
“We’re having a little event,” says owner Zahra Anzza, in an interview with ThoroldToday. “From 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. we will have cake, we will have coffee, and everyone is welcome to come share the moment with us.”
Anzza says it’s been a thrilling year for the French bakery.
“It’s been really, really good, and hectic and everything you can describe it with,” she says. “We never expected to get that welcome from the costumers. It’s very, very nice to the point that it’s overwhelming and we just feel very blessed.”
Now that JC Patissier got a foothold in the local community, they've started organizing monthly dinners, outside of their usual opening hours.
“It’s the idea that we offer something more,” Anzza says. “We have a dinner, a drink, with some live music. This is like a community thing.”
The bakery has gotten other businesses on Front St. involved, to supply decorations or food, turning the dinners into events that promote downtown Thorold.
“For an idea to be developed like that it was actually awesome,” says Anzza. “When we set it, everybody wanted to participate. People received it really well.”
Planning the event takes quite a bit of time and work, says Anzza.
“That day will actually be a long day for us,” she says. “But you do it and you don’t feel tired. When you see people are enjoying it, it makes you feel good. You’re doing something that people like and appreciate, so it’s good.”
Throughout the past year, the menu at JC Patissier has changed and evolved.
“We see from the day-to-day and the week-to-week, what goes and what doesn’t go,” says Anzza. “We like it because it challenges us too. You are trying this and you are trying that and it’s endless. That’s what we like. It’s not boring, it’s all the time moving.”
So what will the second year of business bring for JC Patissier?
“Keep on working hard — that’s the first thing,” says Anzza. “Trying to keep the standards up, keep customers satisfied. Because you know what? We are here because the people like us. They like our concept, they like our product and they keep on complimenting it. We cannot deceive them. Now we have more pressure, so we have to keep things up and we cannot slack.”
JC Patissier will celebrate their one-year anniversary on Saturday, April 29, between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
To buy tickets to one of the bakery's dinners, keep an eye out on their social media accounts.
