Behind The Scenes at La Tour Bakehouse

7/4/2017 0 Comments

Behind The Scenes at La Tour Bakehouse

Have you tried any of the baked goods from La Tour Bakery? Chances are you have and you didn't even know it. Whether you shop at Foodland, Whole Foods, visit any hotel on Oahu, travel with Hawaiian Airlines or have ordered Papa Johns pizza, you're enjoying the fresh baked result of the labor of the Lam family.

An amazing story of struggle, hope and determination brought Thanh Lam to Hawaii from Vietnam, now his empire (which started in the mid-80's when he launched Ba-Le sandwich chain) is being perpetuated by his sons and a handful of expertly educated bakers and chefs. I recently joined the Hawaii Society of Business Professionals, and every month they conduct behind the scenes tours and field trips, if you may, to unique and special locations. For my very first off-site event we visited the La Tour Bakehouse in Iwilei. It was there I met Brandon Lam, one of Thanh's sons who is tasked with many operational duties along with management and sales, and he gave us an overview and tour.

It was fascinating to hear his insightful stories, moments of pride and tales of how La Tour came to be and the inspiring message of what it mean to chase your dreams.

The facility was originally the old Weyerhaeuser warehouse along Nimitz Highway and had been remodeled and renovated to make way for the new bakehouse and other retail shops, restaurants and store fronts. The expansion into this 80,000 square-foot location meant more room to create artisan baked goods, organic breads, fresh croissants, cookies and other goodies. Since it's inception, La Tour Cafe has become synonymous with macarons. And it's interesting to note, they make 6,000-8,000 macaron shells everyday and sandwich them by hand. With 5 La Tour Cafes on Oahu, and about a dozen Ba-Le's remaining, business continues to boom. Lam's son says they also have plans to expand to the mainland as their speciality furikake honey puffs and other treats have become popular they need to work on supply and demand.

It was a treat to meet with the team, tour the facility and also enjoy lunch in the cafe afterward. La Tour is a great spot for delicious, healthy and generous meals at affordable prices. When in the area stop by for some macarons, artisan breads or the delightfully delicious palmier cookies.