Pardon My French in Grover Beach continues its long-running mission of giving back to community members in need 

Twenty days after a string of destructive storms slammed San Luis Obispo County, Grover Beach-based Pardon My French Bakery decided to add more to its already-brimming plate for the greater good.

"If you donate $20, we're taking a box of pastries and putting in at least $30 worth of pastries in it," co-owner Jamie Tejeda said. "Then we're delivering it to first responders, hospitals, doctors, nurses, educators, the post office, and the city workers that have all been working in overdrive with the flooding and getting our city back to normal."

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• File Photo By Hayley Thomas Cain
• FAMILY AFFAIR Co-owners Jamie and Lalo Tejeda are the sole staff at Pardon My French Bakery, juggling logistics and custom bakes with family life.

Jamie runs Pardon My French with her husband and baker Lalo. They're a two-person business that has been open since 2016. Depending on the number of custom orders he has slotted for the day, Lalo usually comes into the bakery between 3 and 4 a.m. to prepare all the pastries from scratch. The sole baker, he mans the kitchen and front of house until 10 a.m. That's when Jamie arrives to take over customer orders and logistics. Lalo leaves for home soon after to take care of the couple's two toddlers, and Jamie stays until 3 p.m. or whenever their baked goods sell out. They deliver the aforementioned goodie boxes in their free time.

"We don't have any staff. Usually, I will go deliver [the boxes], or on our days off, we'll come in to make the boxes and he'll go take them over," Jamie said.

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• Photo Courtesy Of Pardon My French
• COMMUNITY CARE Donating $20 to Pardon My French Bakery for a Spread Love box ensures that a package filled with at least $30 worth of baked goods will be given to community members working in flood relief.

Called Spread Love boxes, they can contain some of the store's ever-changing desserts, like the seasonal peach cobbler cupcakes, apple caramel scones, and lemon poppy seed muffins, along with breakfast pastries. As of Feb. 9, the Tejedas delivered 10 boxes, and have donations for 40 boxes total so far.

Even without the boxes, the treats fly off the shelves quickly. By the afternoon of Feb. 9, the display contained a few thick slabs of cheesecake topped with lemon curd, a handful of rich slices of flourless chocolate torte, and a couple of croissants and financiers, among other treats. Most of the goods have French roots—an ode to Lalo's culinary training at Minnesota's Cordon Bleu and work experience at Michelin star restaurants.

Care packages like the Spread Love boxes aren't the first of their kind at Pardon My French. The Tejedas have tried to look out for their neighbors since they opened shop.

"We started it during COVID and it took off," Jamie said. "We saw the slump people were in and felt like we needed to do our part in trying to hold the spirits around here."

Jamie was seven months pregnant when the pandemic hit, and her doctor advised her to not interact with the public. In 2020, she didn't work from March to November, and Lalo took over completely. He juggled regular customers with daily baking preparation and orders for custom wedding cakes.

"The community came in and stepped up," Jamie recalled. "A lot of our regulars knew our story, and they didn't want anything to happen to us."

So, Pardon My French kept going during the thick of the pandemic. They shut down indoor dining and allowed customers in one at a time. The line snaked out the door and threaded through the shopping center. Back then, the bakery was open until 5 p.m. and sold out every day by 1 p.m. The Tejedas also distributed 450 boxes to first responders during COVID-19.

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• File Photo By Hayley Thomas Cain
• SPREAD LOVE Valentine's Day is Pardon My French Bakery's busiest time of the year, with baker Lalo Tejeda dishing out rose-, chocolate-, and strawberry-flavored treats like macarons.

"By donating a box, you helped a small business, and you helped the first responders. You could sit at home, make a phone call to us, pay over the phone and you've helped two people," Jamie said. "That's why we're doing it again."

Pardon My French, like many other businesses, is dealing with the high cost of inflation. Eggs, a bakery staple, ballooned in price. Jamie said that Lalo goes through 200 to 250 eggs every week. They've switched over to a local farm in Los Osos for eggs to offset the cost. Some patrons help, too.

"We have a couple of local people who have Meyer lemon trees, and they bring in their lemons for us," she said.

As of Feb. 9, the Tejedas were preparing for Valentine's Day, their busiest day of the year. Lalo triples his bakes, doling out individual cakes, cupcakes, macarons, and dessert boxes for two. Rose, chocolate, and strawberry flavors are heavy hitters that day. Jamie hopes that the Valentine's Day crowd contributes to more Spread Love boxes and said she's looking forward to revamping the bakery's menu soon.

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• File Photo By Hayley Thomas Cain
• SWEET SMORGASBORD Hungry customers can choose from a wide range of French-inspired desserts like croissants, pain au chocolate, and financiers.

"The boxes are true to my heart, I'm a giver," she said with a laugh. "We have some exciting plans for the end of the year and want to add more to our French flair." Δ

Staff Writer Bulbul Rajagopal will take two chocolate tortes to go. Try to grab one at [email protected].