Rise to the Occasion

When Joseph Poupon opened his bakery 25 years ago, he had no idea he would become synonymous with French pastries and masterpiece cakes in Baltimore. Today, Pâtisserie Poupon (820 E. Baltimore St., 410-332-0390; also, in Georgetown, D.C.) goes through about 300 dozen eggs, 150 quarts of cream, and more than 800 pounds of butter each week to produce its croissants, macaroons, pains au chocolat, and other delectable confections. Poupon has been baking in the U.S. since his arrival from France in 1974, first in New York, then in D.C. His friend Fernand Tersiguel (who created his own mark here with his eponymous restaurant) helped him get started in our city. "Baltimore wasn't too expensive, so we could create quality right from the beginning," Poupon says. Now, after all these years—and mountains of ingredients—he still prides himself on the basics: working with the dough, he says.