This New Orleans Baker Serves Croissant King Cakes With a Side of Joy

"A buzzing bakery in the French Quarter on lively Frenchmen Street, Ayu blends local flavors with playful, multicultural influences to produce some of the Crescent City’s flakiest croissants, lavish chocolate babka knots, lacy muffuletta breadsticks, and multiple king cakes — including the Croissant City Classic King Cake that was voted best in New Orleans in the 2024 Times-Picayune king cake bracket. The open-production kitchen is part of the spectacle, and the display case is packed with whimsical pastries inspired by New Orleans and founder Kelly Jacques’ mixed heritage (she’s a quarter Chinese, Irish, Italian, and French). Standouts include the Boudin Boy — a super-crispy croissant enveloping soft‑boiled egg and tender, mild, crumbled rice-and-pork boudin (from the much-loved Best Stop) served with Lao Gan Ma chile crisp — and its vegetarian Shroom Boom counterpart. Other recommended items are the kaya bun filled with coconut‑pandan custard, the Frenchmen sandwich slathered with anchovy aioli and stuffed with tomato, mozzarella, prosciutto, green beans, and radish, chewy muffuletta-style breadsticks studded with charcuterie and olives, and decadent Nutella-and-chocolate babka knots; seasonal pastry specials also rotate through the case. Opened in 2022 by Jacques after pastry training and years working in New York, Ayu (an Indonesian word for “beauty” or “joy”) aims to elevate customers’ mood — “we’re in the business of joy,” Jacques says — by offering joyful, locally rooted baked goods presented as a kind of performance." - Raphael Brion