Ayu Bakehouse is a cozy nook in the French Quarter known for its exceptional pastries, from buttery croissants to inventive savory options, all served with a side of friendly vibes.
"Ayu Bakehouse offers a variety of enticing pastries, including the Croissant City Classic King Cake, featuring layers of croissant, cinnamon, cream cheese, and traditionally colored sugar sprinkles. They also offer a chocolate babka king cake and The Queen Bee, made with burnt honey cream and candied local citrus." - Ashley Day
"Ayu is one of the best new bakeries to open in New Orleans in recent years, wowing with its savory pastries, beautiful tartlets, baguettes and loaves, and holiday-themed baked goods. Mardi Gras is no exception, with Ayu’s version of king cake making a splash since its debut. The traditional is croissant-like: flaky, sweet, and buttery, and laced with a swirl of light cinnamon cream cheese filling. It’s a particularly great option for those who aren’t a fan of the white globules of icing on top — Ayu’s is simply coated with purple, green, and yellow raw sugar. King cake shipping preorders are now open." - Beth D'Addono, Clair Lorell
"Frenchmen Street’s Ayu Bakehouse is one of the best bakeries to open in New Orleans in the last few years — it has concocted one of the city’s favorite new king cakes, as well as savory croissants, fruit tarts, chocolate babka, and more. The bakery goes all out with gift-giving options around the holidays (including an adorable gingerbread house kit sold in-store), but our pick is for this festive 12-pack of handcrafted marshmallows. Available in classic chocolate, pecan praline, and red velvet flavors, giftees need only pour boiled milk over one hot mallow for the most delicious cup of hot chocolate ever." - Clair Lorell
"This quaint corner shop with a mellow vibe is one of the best new bakeries in New Orleans. Sample savory pastries like a muffuletta breadstick and a shroom broom; pick up seeded sourdough and crusty baguettes to accompany meals; and top it all off with sweets like a kaya bun, croissant, and chocolate chip cookie — everything is excellent. Sandwiches rotate and include a seasonal vegetarian option, and during Carnival season, the bakery serves one of the best new king cakes in town." - Eater Staff, Clair Lorell
"Ayu is the most exciting bakery in the city. It’s easy to get hyped about the creative treats here, like the coconutty kaya buns, cheesy crawfish croissant sandwiches, flaky parm and chive biscuits, muffuletta breadsticks, and sweet-savory jalapeño cornbread cookies. Our advice: go early, try whatever special they’re doing (the satsuma curd-filled BaYule Log was so good, we’re haunted by it not being on the menu full time), and order as many pastries as you can convince yourself is acceptable. They have a couple of tables outside that are ideal for snacking, drinking one of their on-point lattes, and gazing out on to Washington Square." - megan braden perry
