On Saturday and Sunday mornings, dozens of people line up along Lincoln St. in Newton, vying for Lakon Paris Patisserie’s coveted weekend specialty croissants.
The bakery, which opened its doors to the Newton community in November 2020, has seen an explosion in business since a March Boston Magazine article detailed its expansion to Coolidge Corner in Brookline.
“Brookline is just a really good like, neighborhood,” store employee Tammie Satrawaha said when explaining the business’ decision to open its second location. “We’ve always wanted to be a part of like, that community.”
Store owner Urupong “Kope” Kharuharat said the success and high demand of the business prompted him and his wife, Vichaya “Jenny” Kiangkaew, to open a second location.
“I feel like it’s also a good opportunity to kind of tap into the Brookline market as we are continuing to grow,” he said.
Lakon’s everyday menu features classic croissants and pastries with the most popular croissants being plain, chocolate, and almond, according to Satrawaha. On weekends, Lakon sells a variety of specialty croissants, including a caramel ring croissant and strawberry cheesecake croissant.
“For weekends, the ring croissants are really popular,” she said. “We have chocolate, caramel. Now we have lemon meringue and pistachio.”
The drink menu features espresso beverages, tea lattes, and other drinks. Though croissants are Lakon’s speciality, Satrawaha said the coffee is high quality, featuring espresso beans used in North End restaurants and bakeries.
“I would like to add that our coffee is really good,” she said.
Following the opening of the Brookline location, Urupong said the next stop is to move the bakery operations to a commissary kitchen and increase production by upwards of seven times its current levels.
“We can scale accordingly to kind of keep up with the demand,” he said. “We’ve been kind of steadily growing, but right now it’s to the point where we can’t even keep up with the demand itself between the two locations.”
Urupong said he hopes to maintain Lakon’s values and standards while pursuing any future endeavors.
“Our vision is to grow Lakon but, at the same time, at our own pace,” he said. “What I’m trying to do is to carry out Jenny’s vision, continue building our brand and customer service, as well as the quality of our products.”
Once the commissary kitchen is established, Urupong said he is excited for what Lakon’s future entails.
“I feel like in the next three to six months, you’ll see us growing significantly,” he said. “I think a few other storefronts are coming.”
Satrawaha said she hopes that Lakon can increase the quantity while maintaining the quality of the products.
“I hope that as we grow, we can always keep like, the quality of our pastries,” she said. “Also … our branding and who we are.”
Expressing similar feelings, Urupong said that preserving quality is the most important factor in mind as Lakon continues to grow.
“Quality over quantity,” he said. “We don’t want to compromise that.”
Lakon Paris Patisserie is located at 1169 Walnut St. in Newton and 1410 Beacon St. in Brookline. The locations are open Wednesday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
