Pedro Ulloa prepares fruit tarts on Feb. 10 at Le Croissant French Bakery in Greenwood. Ulloa opened the bakery to bring authentic French pastries and bread to central Indiana.
Powdered sugar, creamy cheese, rich chocolate and flaky crust beckoned.
Behind the curved glass display case, trays packed with French delicacies teased customers standing in line at Le Croissant French Bakery in Greenwood. The sheen of chocolate glaze covered dozens of eclairs. Plates of quiche sat laden with cheese, spinach and other savory ingredients.
Danish heavy with blackberries, blueberries and strawberries all swimming in cream cheese were arranged next to powdered sugar-dusted chocolate croissants.
In Le Croissant, owner Pedro Ulloa has created a Parisian paradise unlike any in central Indiana. A lifetime experience of baking has given him the skills to create authentic French treats that have locals in a frenzy.
People arrive before the bakery opens each morning, and keep coming until the last croissant of the day is sold. The response has validated a long and difficult road for Ulloa.
“We’re offering something that no one else has,” he said. “What we’re trying to do here, everyone is responding, and they love it.”
Fifteen minutes before Le Croissant opened its doors Thursday morning, people were lined up, milling around and peering in the window in anxious anticipation.
Ulloa and his team finished the final preparations for the day’s delights. Once every tart, danish and croissant were set out and ready, the doors opened.
Southside Indianapolis resident Rebekah Hamm had come with her son, Mason, to load up. They were first in line, something they had learned was necessary to get the best selection.
“It is unlike everything else that we have in the city, especially on the southside. It’s been such a nice change. Everything is delicious, and they sell out fast,” Hamm said.
Le Croissant opened in Greenwood’s Vista Run shopping center in early January. But the journey to that opening has been long and winding for Ulloa.
He had come from Mexico to live in Southern California, where in the 1980s, he was working for a café in Los Angeles. His job was preparing the raw ingredients for chefs to make the various dishes served in the restaurant. In his early 20s, he moved his way up to various positions, until making his way to a French bakery.
At first, he was putting paper on trays to bake the baguettes for the bakery. But over time, the bakery’s head chef asked him to serve as his assistant. He learned to mix the dough, weigh it and form it into 24-inch baguettes, sometimes making more than 700 a night.
“This guy was very fast; he knew what he was doing. So I learned from him,” Ulloa said.
When the head chef moved on, Ulloa was put in charge of the bakery. The work was brutal — sometimes 14 or 15 hours a day, going years without a raise. He was in the process of getting his citizenship papers, so he was unable to leave.
But through the toil, his skills blossomed as he mastered more and more French food.
“I don’t think about the time. I don’t think about the money. I just keep going — work, work, until you have the papers,” he said.
Once his citizenship papers were in hand, Ulloa moved on to another job. He left California, finding work in North Dakota before coming to Indianapolis, where his daughter lives. He painted steel beams, did construction and baked pre-made bread. It was common for him to sleep in his car for months at a time.
But his dream of opening his own French bakery never faded.
“You have to do different types of work to see which one you should follow,” he said.
Following a car accident during a visit to California, Ulloa was able to put away a portion of the insurance settlement that would be the foundation of the bakery. He purchased mixers and other equipment, but had to store them until he found the right location for his vision.
Late last year, he found just the spot. Le Croissant was born.
Everything is handmade inside the Greenwood bakery. Ulloa and his team start in the early morning hours to prepare for the day’s rush, which starts at 10 a.m. They roll croissants, put icing on eclairs and adds fresh fruit to the tarts.
Typically, they start out with about 30 different types of bread, pastry and quiche each day.
“We don’t make Mexican break. We don’t make American bread. It’s all French,” Ulloa said.
The weeks since opening have been a whirlwind, and the Le Croissant team is still catching up to the demand that they’ve found in Greenwood.
But to have made such an impact on people has been as delicious as his food, Ulloa said.
“All of the customers, since we’ve been here, say this is the best bakery of Indianapolis,” he said.
