JACKSON, Miss. - The Mississippi Museum of Art and La Brioche Patisserie recently announced the opening of La Brioche at the Museum. The opening of a second location at the Museum marks a significant moment of growth for the family-owned, Fondren-based, French-style bakery.
“Opening a second location is the natural next step for us. Opening that location downtown, at the Museum, is in line with the core principles of our business. We believe that downtown Jackson has a lot of potential, and there’s been a great effort by many entities in the last several years to revive it. We want to be part of that effort, as we believe that a city needs a vibrant center to reach its full potential,” said La Brioche co-owner Patrik Lazzari.
“I could not be more thrilled that La Brioche accepted our invitation to become the Museum’s in-house dining and catering partner,” said Museum Director Betsy Bradley. “Their unwavering commitment to creating exquisite cuisine of the highest quality complements perfectly the memorable and enriching experience the Mississippi Museum of Art strives to offer each of our guests.”
Opening day for La Brioche at the Museum is Friday, February 16th, at 11 a.m. Its hours of operation will be Tuesday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The transition in dining service will result in a slight change in the Museum’s hours of operation Tuesday through Saturday. Beginning Saturday, February 17th, the Museum doors will open to the public at 8 a.m. to accommodate La Brioche’s breakfast service. The galleries, however, will remain closed until 10 a.m.
Beginning at 8 a.m., La Brioche will offer a selection of ready-made sweet and savory breakfast items. At 11 a.m., a made-to-order lunch service begins, offering a selection of sandwiches, salads, and soups, along with many of its popular desserts. The Museum location also will serve a full line of gourmet espresso and coffee beverages throughout the day and will be open late on occasion for special Museum events.
“The Museum menu will feature many of the popular pastries and delicacies we offer at our Fondren location—French macarons, alfajores, croissants, petits gateaux—but the Museum location will allow us to offer savory items from our catering menu that we don’t have the storefront real estate to offer at our Fondren location,” said La Brioche co-owner and General Manager Cristina Lazzari.
“We are very excited about our partnership with the Mississippi Museum of Art. We see ourselves as creating culinary art through our desserts and pastries, and what a better venue to showcase them than in a museum? We love the architectural attributes of the building itself and surrounding views of The Art Garden. I feel that the Museum’s mission, environment, and the art showcased there will inspire us to create artistic desserts and pastries unique to the Museum menu,” said La Brioche co-owner and Pastry Chef Alejandra Mamud.
In addition to offering daily fare to Museum visitors and downtown Jackson diners, La Brioche will handle all catering for breakfast and lunch events held at the Museum. “We are delighted to be able to offer our private event clients the wonderfully decadent menus created by La Brioche. We feel that their culinary offerings are a fabulous fit for our beautiful venue,” said Director of Museum Events Shelley Yates.