Sweet Lady Jane is finally coming to Larchmont.
“With fingers and toes crossed, we hope to open the Larchmont bakery by the end of the month,” Julie Ngu, the new owner of the company, told the Buzz.
We caught up with Ngu (pronounced “new,” the “g” is silent) earlier today as she was driving from the Calabasas location. As of yesterday, Ngu said proudly, all four locations, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Encino, and Calabasas are now open. She’s working on plans to re-open Melrose which was gutted and undergoing a renovation when the company closed last year.
“Every time we open a bakery, there is a customer on the other side of the door sharing a story with us about how this was their birthday cake for ten years, or it was their wedding cake and they wanted one for their first anniversary, the stories are so wonderful,” said Ngu.
Ngu and her husband bought the shuttered bakery from a bankruptcy trustee after the company abruptly closed late last year citing high operating costs. Ngu is the CEO of Pacific French Bakery, which has four locations throughout Los Angeles and is known for its various Central American pastries.
Ngu is very excited to open the Larchmont Village bakery.
“I love Larchmont Village,” Ngu told the Buzz. “You forget you are in LA when you are in Larchmont, there’s a wonderful small-town charm about the street.”
Ngu has known about Larchmont for year. As a native of San Gabriel, she has lived in lots of parts of the city including downtown and Santa Monica where she resides now.
The Larchmont bakery is smaller than most of the other locations so it will be more grab-and-go for cakes and other Sweet Lady Jane signature treats like fully decorated cupcakes, brownies, and lemon bars. Ngu is trying to work out all the details including offering a limited menu with some of the brand’s most popular items like curried chicken salad and turkey chili. She told the Buzz she’d love to apply for a permit to have tables and chairs outside the front of the bakery.
Ngu purchased the bakery’s intellectual property, and its old recipes and has hired 25 former employees, including the head baker, who worked with founder Jane Lockhart thirty years ago.
“I am so excited to be on Larchmont. I respect all the bakeries,” said Ngu. “I think they are more bread-forward and we are more cake-forward so it’s slightly different.”
We asked Ngu how she was holding up given the whirlwind of activity and press attention.
“I am nervous and excited at the same time,” Ngu told the Buzz. “I am also humbled and grateful for the support, we have poured our life savings into this and it’s like a dream come true.”
This made me a little emotional! Congrats to the new owners and thank you for rescuing one of our LA faves. We will be delighted to pop in soon and often.