Bellecour teams with Cooks for 'a bakery by day, and a cooking school by night'

The temporary collaboration between the Bellecour bakery and Cooks of Crocus Hill is dropping its pop-up status.

Six weeks after Cooks co-owners Marie Dwyer and Karl Benson teamed up with Bellecour chef/owner Gavin Kaysen to temporarily sell baked goods, coffee and grab-and-go savory items inside their North Loop retail shop, the partnership is becoming permanent. Get ready for Bellecour Bakery at Cooks (210 N. 1st St., Mpls.)

Bellecour pastry chef Diane Moua and her team are moving their kitchen from its former home in Wayzata (the restaurant and bakery closed in July) into the cooking school space at Cooks.

"It's going to be a bakery by day, and a cooking school by night," said Dwyer. "It's a great example of how two businesses have come together during a really difficult business climate to make something extremely positive. Restaurants and retail have been struggling a lot, and now we've been able to create this wonderful environment."

Expect to encounter the same line of baked goods, including croissants, pain au chocolat, kouign-amann, banana bread, cookies and Moua's signature crêpe cake. Kaysen said the biggest changes will come from the savory side, with new sandwiches, salads and a morning heritage grain bowl.

"The biggest change is that the baking will be done on site," said Kaysen. "You're going to walk into the space, and smell that incredible aroma."

Consumers will also be able to see Moua and her team at work, from both inside the building — a portion of the space will be reserved for seating — and from the sidewalk, through enormous windows.

Dwyer sees the bakery's relocation as a win for the cooking school, too.

"It's a great use of that space, and it's not hard to transition the kitchen back into a cooking school every afternoon," she said. "Baking classes have been huge for us. More than ever, people want to learn how to bake bread and make pastries, and why not do that in a real, live commercial bakery?"

Movers were already loading equipment into the space on Tuesday morning. Bellecour Bakery at Cooks is located across the street from Kaysen's Spoon and Stable (211 N. 1st St., Mpls.).

"It's really great that the bakery portion of the Bellecour brand will live on, and it's great to partner with Karl and Marie," said Kaysen. "It's also great that we can do something for the neighborhood. During the pandemic, it's gone from being energetic and vibrant into a ghost town. It's nice to have a burst of positivity."

When it reopens on Sept. 19, the bakery's hours will be 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Rick Nelson • @RickNelsonStrib