Toronto bakery that still gets lineups around the block celebrates 10 years

Since opening its doors in February 2015, Roselle Desserts has become a local fixture in Toronto's Corktown neighbourhood, known for its fluffy pastries, seasonal specialties, and community-focused attitude. 

Last month, the bakery officially celebrated a major milestone — its 10th anniversary — and reflected on a decade of success that has been shaped by a mix of hard work, passion, and constant adaptation.

Chefs Stephanie Duong and Bruce Lee, the duo behind Roselle, had long dreamed of opening their own pastry shop while working in Michelin-starred establishments in France.

The couple aspired to create desserts using the pastry skills they learned while working in some of the top kitchens in both Europe and Asia.

Originally starting with a menu that offered everything from crepes and sandwiches to soups, Roselle quickly became known for its pastry selection, including classics like eclairs, millefeuille, pavlova, mousse cake, cookies, soft caramels, madeleines, chocolate bars, soft-serve ice cream, and their much-loved cake-in-a-cup.

The dessert shop also offers a variety of cookies, with flavours like chocolate chunk, birthday, double chocolate matcha, almond toffee, and coconut pandan.

Despite their success, the road to Roselle's 10th anniversary certainly wasn't an easy one. In 2020, less than a year after opening a second location on Queen West, Roselle made the difficult decision to close it permanently and focus on their Original Corktown location instead.

"It was devastating to have to close that location, but in the end, it ended up being a better decision for us. It's changed our definition of what success is, because people always think if you're successful, you expand and have more locations," Stephanie said. "We found the opposite to be true, especially during the pandemic when everything was unpredictable."

Today, the shop operates with a smaller, more focused menu that reflects the many lessons the duo learned over the years.

"As we've gotten to know our clientele better and ourselves better throughout the years, we've honed down our menu a lot," Stephanie explained. The bakery also offers lots of seasonal specialties, such as maple-syrup inspired treats or strawberry-infused pastries to keep things fresh for customers throughout the year.

Another way the bakery is maintaining a focus on production and quality is by operating as a takeout window, rather than a dine-in shop. The bakery is only open three days a week, from Fridays to Sundays, but Stephanie says there's a lot of work happening behind the scenes that customers don't always see.

"Some people see that we're open three days a week, and say, 'It must be so easy,' but what people don't realize is that we actually work five to six days a week because we're always running errands for the shop," she said.

"What the pandemic made us realize is there were a lot of inefficiencies that we had, and to consolidate our opening days during the busiest time — which is usually weekends — just made a lot of sense for us."

Despite the many challenges posed by the pandemic and the constantly evolving retail landscape in Toronto, the couple says the shop has continued to survive thanks to its dedicated customer base.

"When we first moved in, the neighbourhood was sparse. But now there's a lot of restaurants in their vicinity, including Gusto 501 and Reyna on King, which has helped bring in more traffic," Stephanie said.

"There's definitely more development now and condos, and that's brought in a younger clientele that's more discerning. They're more willing to spend money on quality items and they can distinguish the difference between what we do, versus let's say, Tim Hortons," Bruce added.

"It's definitely gotten harder to be a retail business in the city. There's definitely more empty storefronts in the downtown, Corktown, and the Leslieville area."

For both Stephanie and Bruce, reaching this 10-year milestone has given them a source of immense pride.

"When I think of the number of small businesses in this city that have survived 10 years, the list isn't very long, so it's definitely something that makes me extremely proud. But more than anything, it made me realize that we only survived because of the community we have around us. I don't think we would have gotten through COVID if not for the support of everyone who came out every week to line up rain or shine," Bruce said.

"Every week is hard, but you look back on it and it's already been 10 years. It's an amazing feeling, but it's not something we ever envisioned when we first started," he added.

"We are so thankful and grateful for our customers, the staff, and the community that have supported us over the last 10 years. We couldn't have made it this long without them. We'll be here as long as they continue to support us."

For their anniversary, the dessert shop is collaborating with six local businesses to create riffs on their classic offerings over the next few weeks.

Roselle Desserts is located at 362 King St. E.