WRITTEN BY JORDAN KOSSUTH
Le Bon Macaron is a delicious extension of the love Kelly Toland has for French culture and cuisine. While attending Albion College, Kelly studied French and art, and jumped at the opportunity to study abroad in France for a year. Upon her return to Michigan in 2008, she was debating a career in teaching, when her father shared an advertisement from the local newspaper about a bakery for sale. Kelly and her mother, Wendy Kobus, bought the space and opened A Piece O’ Cake, a bakery specializing in – you guessed it – cakes! About a year into their East Lansing business, they added macarons to the menu. John Kobus, Kelly’s father, would come in once a week to make the delicate and charming French treats – an instant favorite.
The macaron is a meringue-based dessert dating back to the 17th century. It gained popularity in cities across France, creating many variations, but the basic concept remains the same – crisp, delicate shells with a soft, chewier interior. Around the 20th century, Parisian pastry makers began sandwiching these shells around a flavored buttercream or ganache filling, opening a new world of flavor possibilities. The recipe used by Le Bon Macaron has been perfected over time in collaboration with their mentor, a native French pastry chef.
In 2012, Kelly was married and relocated to Grand Rapids, and as a result, closed their East Lansing bakery. The family continued to bake macarons as their shared interest continued to grow, selling them at Fulton Street Farmer’s Market. It was not long before their loyal customers started inquiring about the possibility of a retail or café setting for Le Bon Macaron.
IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME
Kelly had always envisioned a brick & mortar location on Cherry Street – she loved the atmosphere of the neighborhood and knew the aesthetic would lend itself well to their brand, with its exposed brick and rich architectural history. In 2015, Kelly’s dreams came true when they subleased a small space in the East Hills’ business district.
The addition of this café transformed the business overnight in ways they couldn’t have imagined. What had initially begun as a hobby has since grown into a wonderful business adored by the local community and involving the whole family.
At this point, all the baking was done in a 200-square-foot kitchen in East Lansing. John Kobus was baking through the night most nights, and it was days before he was able to come to Grand Rapids and see the new store in person. Kelly remembers days where her parents would meet them halfway between Grand Rapids & Lansing to hand off more macarons to meet the store’s demand.
As demand continued to grow, they hired employees and bakers in the Lansing kitchen. Kelly’s sister, Chelsea Adriaansen, who had just returned from teaching English abroad in France, joined the family business as the manager of the Cherry Street café. Chelsea is also the social media guru for Le Bon Macaron – and can be credited for providing drool-worthy photos and content on a regular basis.
Le Bon Macaron has continued to adapt & evolve – in 2017, they opened a second café in Ann Arbor, and in February 2021 took a major leap of faith in the middle of the pandemic by purchasing new equipment from Italy and opening a baking facility in Grand Rapids, where everything is now centralized. With this new facility, they can make 2,500 macarons each day – with room to grow as they settle into their new space and tools.
Le Bon Macaron’s café on Cherry Street in downtown Grand Rapids. Photo courtesy of Le Bon Macaron.
A FRENCH ESCAPE ON CHERRY STREET
Kelly visualized the design of the cafe to be a very intentional extension of the French cafes she had visited during her time abroad. This influence can be seen in their cabinet wainscoting, cast iron tables, and bentwood chairs.
Le Bon Macaron Café offers French press coffee & espresso from Rowster Coffee, with all syrups for their drinks made in house. On a warm summer day, their French & Italian sodas made with hand-crafted fruit puree are sure to cool you off. On average, they rotate 30 different flavored macarons each day in the store – if one flavor sells out, there is always another waiting to take that spot.
The choice of smaller tables and limited seating is purposeful as well. They love seeing people meet in the café to catch up and converse, read books, and enjoy an escape by disconnecting from the busy digital world.
The family wanted to build a relationship with their customers, and Grand Rapids has provided a great community for them – a city with arms wide open to small businesses & food.
A look inside Le Bon Macaron’s café on Cherry Street in downtown Grand Rapids. Photo courtesy of Le Bon Macaron.
A LOOK BEHIND THE SCENES
With the baking facility opening in Grand Rapids, the family can now be more hands on in the baking, as well as the flavor development process. With Chelsea managing the Grand Rapids café, she has a good idea of what flavors are the most popular. Their brother, Johnny, spends most of his time in the baking facility and, as he oversees flavoring the macarons, has a major hand in the development process as well – so thank goodness they all have great taste!
The baking process is very intentional, and requires sticking to a schedule, as they need to bake based on shell color. This is also taken into consideration when developing new flavors. Shell colors and decorations are chosen to compliment the flavors, as well as to differentiate between them, or to add seasonal flair. For example, one of their more popular flavors, Cake Batter, is made in a green shell with red & green sprinkles when December rolls around.
The macaron shells are both simple and complex – with a crunchy delicate outside, and soft inside. The batter consists solely of sugar, almonds, and egg whites, with coloring added to color the shell. In the past, the family would hand-pipe each macaron shell, baking one tray at a time – limiting their daily output. With the new equipment, the batter is made and then piped out by a depositor. They can now bake a full rack each time – about 15-20 baking sheets!
Each macaron is still filled by hand using piping bags. While the same buttercream base is used, the flavorings are added at this stage to create their many different macaron flavors! For example, in their Lemon Macaron, lemon curd is added to the buttercream, (yum) and in the Chocolate Macaron, ganache is added (double yum)! Let’s be honest – these macarons are a work of art. They’re almost too pretty to eat – almost.
FAMILY FAVORITES
Le Bon Macaron offers well over 100 different flavors to try! Many of these are seasonal, and some are rotated in and out based on demand.
With so much variety, it’s easy to see why each family member has a different favorite!
CHELSEA ADRIAANSEN
Honey Lavender, featured in the Fruit & Floral Collection among their most delicate & intense flavors
JOHNNY KOBUS
New York Cheesecake, from the Desserts Collection, this macaron is filled with buttercream mixed with cheesecake pieces and topped with dried blueberries & graham cracker
KELLY TOLAND
Violet, a vibrant violet macaron shell filled with – you guessed it – violet flavored buttercream!
JOHN & WENDY KOBUS
Salted Caramel is Wendy’s macaron of choice (one of their most popular flavors!) and featured in their Signature Collection. John’s go-to is the Margarita, filled with lime curd buttercream, a part of their Cheers! Collection.
THE SIGNATURE COLLECTION
This collection features the classic flavors you might find in France – flavors like chocolate, vanilla, salted caramel, lemon, and pistachio. The Signature Collection is their most readily available in the retail setting – and can be found in an endcap freezer at Bridge Street Market. Kelly says it is just a matter of time before they have other collections ready to sell in stores!
Le Bon Macaron first got involved with Capital City Market through the Michigan State University Products Center. Kelly received an email about a new neighborhood grocery store focused on bringing fresh, affordable, and local products to Lansing, and their search for local vendors to feature. Le Bon Macaron was first sold in Capital City Market and, after finding success, spread to their Grand Rapids counterpart – Bridge Street Market.
Kelly says that shopping at Bridge Street Market has reinvigorated her love for grocery shopping and praises the variety of items she has found there, from Meijer brand to specialized items from smaller makers. And when looking for a delicate and flavorful pastry with personality, look no further than Le Bon Macaron!
Le Bon Macaron can be found locally at Bridge Street Market or in their café at 951 Cherry Street SE.
All photos featured in this post are courtesy of Le Bon Macaron.