The French Do It Best

Alright, my initial profile story was supposed to be on Mrs. Dewson, who owns an extravagant hat store on Fillmore Street, but after waiting around for six hours for her to be my interviewee one Tuesday, with continuous hope from her assistant Myriette, she bailed. So I was forced to hit the ground running sniffing out some other potential story. It was then when I remembered a magical, petite French bakery on the corner of Fillmore and Bush streets called Patisserie Delanghe.

Patisserie Delanghe is owned by Dominique Delanghe and his wife, Marie-Jeanne, and the bakery has supplied residents the alluring confections for the past 23 years. There was something about the couple that was just as entrapping as the pastries and cakes that filled the counters. A “je ne sais quoi” quality. After sitting around in the bakery sipping on coffee and devouring a couple of their meticulous creations, I asked the couple a bunch of questions about their business.



Throughout the interview, it was really interesting because during the bombardment of questions, I couldn’t help but feel that they seemed a bit disengaged with my cause. Soon enough, I came to the realization that the couple was just a bit more indifferent with me because they were private people who didn’t feel that their stories were very newsworthy. They were both immigrants from the Loire Valley in central France and have been married for 35 years and want nothing more than a simple life together. The Delanghes had a humble country demeanor that infected me almost instantaneously.

Furthermore, the pastries were fatally scrumptious. One could tell that Delanghe was no amateur at his craft but a master of his trade. And he was happy to be doing it, which was refreshing to see because after being turned down at least twice by Mrs. Dewson and by at least two other potential subjects, my confidence hit record low.

I remember thinking before I got to this interview at the Patisserie Delanghe that, at least where I was in Lower Pacific Heights, everybody wants to do something in the world but nobody wants to talk about it. Is that just me running into this problem or are you guys getting shut out too? I had felt so defeated and worn, even the Catholic church that I used to attend didn’t want to give me something to work with. Thank God the pieces came together in the end though. And I feel lucky to have been able to count on the Delanghes for being the subjects of my profile story because I was so lost. Or as you say in French, “je suis perdu.”








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(image from Allison J.)