When Frank Lloyd Wright opined that all of the loose ends of the world tipped on its side would land in LA, he must’ve had someone like chef Romuald (Romy) Guiot in mind. It takes a special kind of transgressive soul to gain expertise in the ways of traditional French Patisserie, and it takes a special kind of mind to leverage that expertise to open a vegan bakery in Pasadena.

Guiot had all the makings of someone destined for culinary greatness on the Parisian high streets. He was born in Châlons‑en‑Champagne, France as a fourth-generation pastry chef dating back to his great grandfather. The formal training was all there, and the many accolades would soon follow as Guiot forged his craft in some of the best restaurants in France and around the world. 

But in that grand tradition of those who traveled west to forge a new universe and identity, Guiot wasn’t satisfied with his assumed role. First it was his appearance on Food Network’s Spring Baking Championship, where the chef abruptly walked off the Season 8 finale in objection to a challenge centered around sprinkles. Next, he would assume the task as manager of the famed Porto’s Bakery where he could impart his many years of European pastry wisdom on new, Cuban soil.

His pièce de résistance, however, wouldn’t come until Guiot was able to open his own shop: ID-Eclair. Any passers by claiming that they could tell all of the exquisite, expertly crafted pastries in the window were in fact 100% vegan, would be lying. It is not only the staple croissants and pain au chocolates but cakes, cookies, truffles, and even jarred desserts.

And if that wasn’t enough, Guiot even found the inspiration to open up La Cave—an intimate wine bar next door to ID-Eclair with small plates and hand selected drinks to accompany the pastries. We caught up with Chef Guiot to discuss his recent business ventures, as well as his inspirations, backstory, and newfound life in California. 

What inspired you to open a vegan patisserie? 

It has been a long, long road. But my first inspiration was my brother-in-law, because he’s vegan. And each time we were doing family parties, birthday parties, stuff like that, he couldn’t eat any pastry. And I said, “Okay, I need to think about something and start working on it. I need to start doing tests and trying new recipes.” And I just discovered that you can do so many things —so many good things—and it quickly became something very concrete. 

Was there any worry about veering so far from tradition with this new venture?

There was a lot of worry about going in this direction, because it’s forgetting everything I’ve learned for almost 30 years now. It’s like, “Okay, we abandoned the butter, we abandoned the eggs, and we are making pastry. Are you going crazy? Did you fall on your head? What’s happening?” But after some time, you step in and the more you are looking at ingredients and products, you just discover you can do a lot of things. It’s just that it takes you more time to find the right combination to get what you want, but it’s there. 

Customers who don’t know that what they’re eating is vegan—are they usually surprised to find out?

Yeah, the customer who doesn’t know, and we talk with them later and ask, “Oh, did you know everything was vegan?” They are very surprised. Especially with the morning pastries: the croissants and sugary croissants. Because they get the flakiness, they get the fattiness. We have something that is very, very close.

What about LA in particular made it suitable for ID-Eclair? 

Yeah, I think LA is one of the best cities for a vegan business. Because there’s the earthy side, with people knowing what they want to eat and what they’re looking for. I think Pasadena is perfect for that too. Because for me, Pasadena is like a European city in LA. It’s small, and everybody knows everybody. It’s family. People are very open minded. They are ready to try things, to eat things and discover something better. And they are always looking for healthier food. 

Were your businesses impacted by the recent fires?

Yeah, we opened just before December 26. And about one week after opening—the fire [broke out]. It’s crazy. So, it was a very, very hard time for a lot of reasons, but especially for the community around us. We stayed open, we tried to help where we could. To support people with a place to be. If they needed Wi-Fi, they needed to work or if they needed to meet. So a lot of people were happy to find us, but it was a hard time.

Transitioning to La Cave—can you tell me a bit not only about the inspiration for a wine bar, but how important it was to have a spot connected to ID-Eclair?

So, as a pastry chef, I’ve worked in a lot of different types of places, but my best time was in restaurants. I was able to work in very high-level restaurants in France but also in Monaco. And when I was working in Monaco, my best friend was a sommelier, and we were working a lot—pairing wine and dessert and stuff like that. And a dream, a real work dream, was to open a wine bar where I paired the desert with the wine. But it’s hard to run a wine bar. People don’t need to drink wine all the time, but they need to drink coffee every morning. So, running the business end can be hard, but it’s worth it. For me, it’s more of a place where I can play, where I can create, and where I can bring exciting things to my customers. 

You’ve spoken about passing culinary knowledge through generations. What was the influence and impact your grandfather had on you? 

I think the most important thing was respect. Teaching me how to respect product first—all kinds of product—and to always take the best. But it was about respecting people, too. He was from a generation where you learn to stay quiet, you learn to listen, and you learn to get the maximum you can from the people around you. I think it’s the generation with the most knowledge. So they tried to share it with us, and that’s really something. Man, when I think of him, it’s really the starting point. And for me I know that everything you get, every bit of knowledge you get, you need to share it. Because if you don’t share it is going to be lost at some point in time. And that’s the idea—to drop it to someone else and continue the cycle.