Moni Ghosn just couldn’t satisfy his cravings for authentic French baked goods – so he teamed up with well-known personal injury attorney Joumana Kayrouz to open Chez Pierre et Genevieve in Bloomfield Hills.
Named for Joumana’s French bulldogs, Pierre and Genevieve, the shop offers a mouth-watering selection of hand-crafted artisan breads, breakfast pastries, baked goods, tarts, sandwiches and a variety of seasonal pastries. Everything is tres French: the chefs, the flours and other ingredients, even the ovens and packaging come from across the pond. And the results?
Magnifique!
The pair took a leap of faith and opened the bakery at Maple and Telegraph in May 2020, right in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. It quickly took off to become a huge success.
Moni lived in the south of France for almost 30 years and then in New York before moving to Michigan about five years ago. Craving the French products he’d loved since childhood, he kept asking around to find some when finally someone told him about a local French patisserie. He visited this beautiful, small hidden jewel shortly before it closed, Le Petit Prince, and loved it, but knew the area still needed a full-service spot with a large variety of French products.
Birmingham Life: How has business been since the opening?
Moni Ghosn: Business has been very good, crazy good. We are busier than we can even keep up with. We were able to thrive because we stayed open during the pandemic and had a lot of curbside business. We didn’t have a choice but to succeed. Being a to-go business helped, a lot.
BL: How are you able to hire chefs from France?
MG: In France, living the American dream is really still a reality. There is no French dream, just an American one. Chefs in France make so much less than in America. So finding chefs to come to Detroit isn’t an issue. The only issues are borders, restrictions and visas right now. I believe things are getting better. We had three chefs at one point and now we have two. We are waiting for one more.
Given the grand success of the bakery, Joumana and Moni are now opening a French bistro next door that will offer the same authenticity as the bakery. It will include its own unique menu with French-imported wood ovens for pizza, authentic French wine and beer, cheese products, crepes and other French dishes with a bonafide French bistro feel. It will have limited seating and focus on quality and carry-out. They will soon be hiring a specialty pizza chef solely for the Bistro and are hopeful that today’s notorious supply-chain problems are soon resolved – they once had to wait six months just for flour from France!
When entering the bakery you feel as if you’ve been magically transported to the City of Lights. “Everything we sell,” Moni said, “down to the Italian illy coffee and products makes you feel as if you’ve just entered a true épicerie in Paris. Both Joumana and Moni were a pleasure to interview. They were gracious enough to allow me to taste a cup of coffee that was like no other. The rich taste and smell along with the incredible ambiance of the bakery made me feel like I was truly in France. If you have the chance, come and try it—you will not be disappointed.
Bon Appétit!
