In the early 1980s in Dallas, Patrick Esquerré said he could feel a "croissant wave" hitting the city. A what?
A trend where people liked good bread, he explained. Esquerré, who was from France and found himself missing the finer things from home, scored a lease on Mockingbird Lane in Dallas with the help of "Mr. Marcus" (his friend Stanley Marcus, of luxury shop Neiman Marcus, whom he later called "my American father.")
Esquerré had decided that women in Dallas needed a bakery and cafe to buy croissants and good bread. "And when a woman gets what she wants, you know what she does?" he asks. "She talks."
That's the short version of the story, but soon, he launched casual French bakery La Madeleine near Southern Methodist University in February 1983. Esquerré remembers "Mr. Marcus" describing La Madeleine as an "authentic, French country bakery," and Esquerré took his words seriously.
But La Madeleine also added a few items for a specifically American audience. Take La Madeleine's Original Caesar. It isn't French, and in fact, when Esquerré's mother flew in from France to help test recipes, she "had never heard of Caesar salad," he explained. She begrudgingly helped perfect the salad dressing as she stood in the kitchen on Mockingbird Lane, wearing high heels and Dior, Esquerré remembers.
Soon, 25 percent of sales were for that famous Caesar salad, and it's still a popular dish.
(You can surely guess another popular one: La Madeleine's Tomato Basil Soupe.)
Over the years, La Madeleine has hosted parties for American chef Julia Child and actress Liza Minnelli. In an especially funny photo, Esquerré once "knighted" former Southwest Airlines CEO Herb Kelleher with a baguette.
Thirty-five years after it was founded, Esquerré still visits the original La Madeleine, though he's no longer involved in the day-to-day operations of the chain. He has a favorite table: a sturdy, small spot that's been in the restaurant since the beginning.
On Friday, Feb. 23, La Madeleine celebrates its 35th anniversary. From 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the original bakery at 3072 Mockingbird Lane in Dallas, a pop-up market will feature French businesses such as Bisous Bisous Pâtisserie.
All morning and afternoon at all La Madeleine bakeries, customers who have the app will receive a free mini tart.
When Esquerré thinks of La Madeleine, he remembers other words Marcus used to describe his French bakery: fresh and busy. "This is what we are!" Esquerré says.
