Today we’d like to introduce you to Ariel (Jun) Dupra.
Hi Ariel (Jun), can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Merlyn’s Patisserie started as a dream and vision around the early 2010’s when my sister and I talked about how it would be nice to have some type of upscale Asian bakery around Traverse City, Michigan, which the city was lacking at that time. We always look forward to going bigger cities such as Chicago and Grand Rapids as that is the only place to get anything Asian pastries. My sister stayed in Traverse City and worked as a pastry chef in a bakery in Suttons Bay for about 9 years and i travelled the country about 6 years to work with some great chefs, cooks and establishments including Wolfgang Puck’s flagship restaurant, Spago Beverly Hills in the year of 2015-2017 in supervision of his Executive Pastry Chef Della Gossett.
I was laid off from my head baker job in Chicago when covid happens in 2020 so i decided to go back home in Traverse City for good. With my sister’s 14 years of professional culinary experience and my 12 years, we finally decided to follow through on our vision. With enough preparation and resources we finally launched Merlyn’s Patisserie to the public in Traverse City farmers market in May of 2022. I remember my sister being very worried if people will even come and buy our products. Spoiler alert, there was nothing to worry and we sold out on our first 2 farmers markets! We are so thankful to be a part of our very supporting community of Traverse City and we look forward to many more years of serving them!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As with everything in life, nothing is perfect. Overall we’ve been blessed to be in a position we are in as a business. We are still currently a 2-person team with a little bit of help from our Mom and some of our families doing the simple things such as cleaning or picking up things we needed for the kitchen.
Demands have been through the roof since we opened and we definitely are at a point that we cannot do everything ourselves anymore and we need to find some help. We will be doing this next year once we move in our own location next year!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Merlyn’s Patisserie?
We are a family owned (brother and sister) small bakery business located in Traverse City, Michigan. We currently do not have a brick and mortar and have a commercial kitchen around the city where we make all of our products and offer preorder pick up on weekdays. We are currently in two farmers markets. Fridays in Elk Rapids and Saturdays in Traverse City.
We are an Asian-French Patisserie specializing in high end pastries. Northern Michigan has been saturated with the same bakeries serving the same products so we thought that one way to separate ourselves from the rest is to play to our strengths and backgrounds. The idea is to combine complex base pastries that people already know such as croissants, macarons, milkbreads, doughnuts, etc. and mix it with Asian flavors such as tropical fruits and vegetables, and ube (purple yam) to name a few.
We are known for our croissants and macarons. We take pride in our croissants and all of our products but we are most proud of our hospitality. Not to get too deep but I’m a firm believer that business is about people. Having good products are important but how you make customers feel through your service is what people remember most about you. At least that’s my opinion with my experience. Through our journey as a culinarian, we mostly are on the back of the house and don’t see the people we make the food for. That’s why we love being in the farmers market seeing and serving our customers in person, asking how they’re day is going and what they thought about our new products. It’s what makes all the hard work worth it.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
I got into Audible when i was living in Los Angeles. Driving the “High Way to Hell” ,I-405, pretty much everyday to work I’ve listened to some great books including “Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action” by Simon Sinek and “The Art of Not Giving a F*ck” by Mark Manson
Cooking/ Baking book wise, I love Jeffrey Hamelman’s “Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://merlyns-patisserie.square.site/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/merlyns_patisserie/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/merlyns.patisserie
