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It’s been an exciting ride for Gautier and Ashley Coiffard, the married couple behind viral bakery L’Appartement 4F, known for many things including its mini croissant cereal.
Back in 2019, Gautier, who was born and raised in France, started making bread in their Cobble Hill apartment (unit 4F, of course), and by March 2020, the Coiffards sold their first batch of bread to Ashley’s co-workers at a bank in New York. Fast-forward to a global pandemic that led to ingredient shortages, their marriage and well, life, and the couple opened a storefront in Brooklyn on much-talked-about Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights, less than a year ago.
Today, the duo took to Instagram to announce that L’Appartement 4F is officially crossing the Brooklyn Bridge and opening its first Manhattan location.
“We just signed the lease so stay tuned while we build this location with more knowledge and wisdom than the first time,” the founders wrote on social media. “Ending the year with optimism and full of love for our community, both in real life and online. Brooklyn Heights will always be our baby but excited to bring our croissants to Manhattan.”
Although no official address has yet been announced, the Coiffards offered some clues: the space will be in the West Village, taking over James Beards’ former apartment, a fact that the couple interpreted as “a sign.”
We, of course, did some investigating.
According to the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project, Beard lived at three different addresses in Greenwich Village throughout his life, including a rowhouse at 119 West 10th Street that he bought back in 1959.
In the carousel of pictures that the owners of L’Appartement 4F posted on Instagram alongside their opening announcement there is an image of the couple in front of a storefront with, you guessed it, the number 119 on it. It appears that the first L’Appartement 4F bakery in Manhattan will be on West 10th Street between Greenwich Avenue and 6th Avenue.
Fun fact: while signing the necessary paperwork, Gautier also noticed that the address used to be home to a bakery. Talk about serendipity.
No word yet on what exactly the Coiffards will be selling in Manhattan but, given the extreme popularity of their delicious croissants, we expect more of the same across the river.
Last year, we asked people if the bakery was worth the wait:
@timeoutnewyork Is @L’Appartement 4F worth the wait?? #lappartement4f #pastery #bakery #food #nyccomedy #nycbucketlist #nycthingstodo ♬ Aesthetic - Tollan Kim