c/o KAYU
KAYU, an upscale dessert shop with locations in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and London, has opened its first U.S. outpost, and it picked the Upper East Side to do it.
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The bakery opened on November 11 at 1444 Third Avenue, on the southwest corner of 82nd Street, the company announced on Instagram. We first reported KAYU’s forthcoming arrival last October, when the contractor renovating the space shared images of the build-out.The menu leans on classic French pastries. Expect eclairs, tarts, cakes, mille-feuille, financiers and brioche, plus croissants that owner Ibrahim Al Sayed told Patch take 48 hours to make because of how the dough is laminated. The butter, cream and chocolate are shipped in from France. Some pastries work in Middle Eastern flavors like saffron, cardamom, orange blossom and Turkish coffee. One thing you won’t find is Dubai chocolate. Al Sayed said the bakery has mostly steered clear of trends and stuck with French flavors and techniques.
Al Sayed grew up in Montreal and was working in private equity in Dubai when the 2020 lockdown hit. That’s when he opened his first cafe with award-winning pastry chef Karim Bourgi. The Upper East Side shop is the brand’s biggest expansion yet. “It’s the most expensive location I’ve signed and is the biggest,” Al Sayed said.
He also explained why he passed on busier neighborhoods like SoHo and Flatiron: he wants regulars, and he wants to know them by name.
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