La Farm Opening New Downtown Bakery
Cary, NC – La Farm Bakery has been in Cary for almost two decades but the popular source of French and European bread in the Triangle announced it will open a second location to start operation by the end of the year.
Careful Planning
While La Farm has enjoyed success in Cary with its bakery, owner and master baker Lionel Vatinet said they purposefully took their time before opening a second spot on West Chatham Street.
“Quality of service and quality of product is important to us so that is why we took our time to make sure we could expand and keep that up,” Vatinet said.
Vatinet, a James Beard Foundation “Outstanding Baker” semifinalist who runs La Farm with his wife Missy, said this kind of patience has always been a part of the bakery. La Farm opened in 1999 and then waited another 10 years to add on a café and in-store dining.
“We’ve been in business for 17 years. We have been slow bloomers and we have wanted to focus on growing at a pace where we can keep up our quality,” Vatinet said.
Lionel Vatinet, La Farm’s master baker and owner
Room to Operate
The plan is for La Farm to open its production bakery by the end of 2016 and then attach a café and retail bakery in 2017. But while La Farm is opening this new spot, Vatinet said they are not abandoning their established location in Preston Corners.
“We are not moving,” Vatinet said. “We’re all here to promote Cary.”
Vatinet said the main goal with the new production bakery is to focus on what La Farm does best.
“We always keep in mind and we want people to keep in mind that we are best know for our bread-making,” he said.
But as the popularity of La Farm has grown and more stores, markets and restaurants have asked for their bread and that has driven Vatinet to expand.
“We are very at peace with where we are now but we need more elbow-room,” he said. “But I had to wait for the right time. I’m not going to make more than we can handle and diminish the quality.”
As La Farm grows, Vatinet said they want to grow the way they connect with the local economy.
“We want more ways to continue to work with local farmers and grain. We want to find ways to promote NC farmers and business.”
The new production bakery will be at 220 West Chatham St.
Story by Michael Papich. Photos by Tamara Lackey and Mark Petko, courtesy of La Farm Bakery.
