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Cinnamon rolls from Jane Dough (Photo by Ash Daniel)
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Focaccia by Jane Dough (Photo by Ash Daniel)
Jane Dough
Jane Lukas, the “unidentified female baker” behind Jane Dough (Photo by Ash Daniel)
As Jane Lukas, the culinary force behind microbakery Jane Dough, stands in front of a spread of her rustic boules, baguettes, sweet and savory focaccia, and cinnamon buns, it seems the 30-year-old is exactly where she’s meant to be. Lukas, however, says, “I played volleyball my whole life, and that was always the goal.”
Growing up, athletics instilled in her a commitment to structure and the understanding that practice pays off. Lukas would find those same principles apply to baking. After graduating from Loyola University in Maryland, she attempted an office gig, but corporate life — sitting still, in other words — wasn’t for her. “I’m a very physical person,” she says.
She decided to relocate to New York, where she attended culinary school and began managing a French bakery. When the pandemic struck, she moved back in with her parents and, like many sequestered at home, began baking. Posting weekly menus online under the alias Jane Dough, Lukas unofficially started her business.
Moving to Richmond in late 2020, she landed at Italian restaurant Lost Letter. But at the beginning of this year, Lukas says, “I hit a point where I thought I could either keep working in a restaurant or try [making a go at Jane Dough].”
She converted her garage into a quiet production space and committed to baking full time. Lukas says her parents, both artists, set an example by following their passions. “It was so cool to grow up and to see people doing what they like to do,” she says. “I love creating something with my own hands and the sense of accomplishment it brings.”
Lukas’ breads are on the menu at Chez Nous and sold via The Farm Bus and the Richmond Grower’s Market. She also offers delivery and weekly pickups at Celladora Wines.
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Pastry chef Kendra Noel of Petit Four (Photo by Ash Daniel)
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Jambon beurre sandwiches at Petit Four (Photo by Ash Daniel)
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Espresso and chocolate chip cookies and canelés at Petit Four (Photo by Ash Daniel)
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Milk bread French toast with strawberries at Petit Four (Photo by Ash Daniel)
Petit Four
Over the years, restaurateur Donnie Glass has been steadily and organically growing his family of French-inspired businesses. The story begins with Grisette restaurant in Church Hill, followed by wine bar Jardin and oyster-driven venture Beaucoup, both in the Fan.
All three share a rustic aura and serve as places where Glass’ crew of longtime employees can develop professionally. Another common trait: a reliance on housemade bread.
When a space next door to Jardin became available, Glass saw an opportunity to establish an official bake shop and commissary-style kitchen to supply all the restaurants. Open since April, Petit Four is the Parisian-inspired bakery they were waiting for.
At the helm of bread and pastry production is pastry chef Kendra Noel, who joined the team at Grisette three years ago. Noel, who says she has always had a sweet tooth, found her calling through a pastry course she took after graduating from James Madison University.
“For the first time in life, I thought, ‘Can I do this for work?’” she recalls.
She enrolled in Johnson & Wales University and began her career working in bakeries and hotel kitchens in Denver, Seattle and Philadelphia before returning to Richmond. Described as methodical, patient and persistent, Noel has since been making breads and desserts for Grisette, Jardin and Beaucoup.
Petit Four is currently operating as a Saturday-only bake shop, with expanded hours on the horizon. Selling out of a window on Lombardy Street, Petit Four has been slinging sourdough breads and baguettes, jambon beurre sandwiches, croissants, canelés, rye cookies, and pretzel twists.
Noel says of Petit Four’s offerings, “They’re not too precious, just good ingredients, good technique and a good end product, very much leaning on the European and French influence of walking up to a very unassuming back door of a bakery and just getting the most amazing baguette you’ve ever had.”
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Tra My Anderson of Le Petit Morceau at the RVA Big Market (Photo by Jay Paul)
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Brown butter chocolate chip and chocolate crinkle cookies by Le Petit Morceau (Photo by Jay Paul)
Le Petit Morceau
instagram.com/lepetitmorceaupatisserie
When Tra My Anderson speaks about baking and Parisian pastries, there’s a sense of romanticism, an adoration for the practice and art. This fall, the University of Richmond graduate, 23, plans to debut her French bakery, Le Petit Morceau, at 1421 Bainbridge St. in Manchester.
Adopted from Vietnam at 6 months old, Anderson was raised in Farmville. Instead of going to day care, she spent time with her Luxembourg-born grandmother, Catherine. A pivotal force in Anderson’s life, the matriarch was known for making escargot and quoting cookbooks. She savored life’s simple pleasures.
“My earliest memories are spending the day with her,” Anderson says. “We would pick fresh fruit and vegetables from the garden and prep them in the kitchen. I was like her sous chef. She taught me how to bake, too.”
But it was an immersive year spent with a host family in France during college that sealed her fate. Living above a bakery, Anderson says, “was just really a magical, life-changing experience; I think that’s the core of what studying abroad should be. So, I decided on [French baking] as my niche, and I ran with it.”
After returning to Richmond, Anderson started vending at the South of the James Market in August 2022. The name of her business is a reference to a French novel her grandmother mentioned often, “In Search of Lost Time.” In the book, the narrator talks about the inextricable connection between food and memory, and after eating a little piece of madeleine, he is transported back to his childhood.
“[My grandmother] would tell me that the smell of cinnamon would remind her of that, like what we were doing,” Anderson says. “Little piece translates to le petit morceau.”
Using organic ingredients and sourcing flour from Sub Rosa Bakery, Le Petit Morceau will offer French pastries such as croissants, cookies, galettes and danishes, in addition to drinking chocolate, sandwiches and coffee.
