6 September 2024
Le Ponce is open and serving tartines, chouquettes, croissants, and Applied Arts coffee
A long-awaited cafe and bakery from French bistro stalwart Cafe Degas opens today, September 6, in New Orleans’s Bayou St. John neighborhood. Called Le Ponce, it’s serving up ham and brie tartines, chocolate croissants, and chouquettes at 3133 Ponce de Leon Street.
The small shop has been in the works for some time after owners purchased the building formerly home to Fair Grinds Coffeehouse in 2022. It’s held a few test runs since, popping up during Jazz Fest 2024 and most recently during the neighborhood’s annual Bastille Day block party. It joins a group of neighborhood favorites known for fueling Jazz Fest attendees and serving as gathering spots for Mid-City residents, located on a bustling block just a few doors from the popular tandem of 1000 Figs and Swirl wine bar.
The opening menu is succinct but exciting. French pastries include the aforementioned chouquettes, also known petits choux (light, airy puffs with custardy insides and covered with crunchy pearl sugar bits); regular croissants, and chocolate croissants. There is a ham and brie tartine, jam baguette, and quiche Lorraine, as well as a build-your-own breakfast sandwich that includes an option of house-smoked Comté, brie, or garlic herb goat cheese paired with ham, bacon, or andouille with a fried or scrambled egg on croissant or baguette.
For coffee, Le Ponce is serving custom blends from Applied Arts coffee roasters, one of the best new roasteries in town. A long list of coffee drinks including a cortado and flat white can be made iced or hot (and are reasonably priced, with large coffee drinks running between $4.50 and $5.75). Applied Arts, which sells its coffee at Crescent City Farmers Market and is located in the Bywater neighborhood, is working on opening its own coffee shop as well.
Located on a gorgeous tree-draped block of Esplanade Avenue, Cafe Degas has been one of New Orleans’s defining French restaurants for nearly four decades. Jacques Soulas and business partner Jerry Edgar opened the restaurant in 1986, naming it based on its proximity to the Degas House, where Edgar Degas lived during his several-month stint in New Orleans. It’s famed for its open-air dining room with a pecan tree growing in the middle; jovial, familar service; and a consistent menu of classic French brasserie food like mussels and frites, escargot, French onion soup, and a seasonal soft shell crab dish.
Le Ponce is open daily from 6:30 a.m. until 3 p.m.