Viral bakery with loyal following permanently closes Toronto location
A Toronto bakery known for its inventive Vietnamese-inspired desserts has officially shut down one of its locations.
LA LA Bakeshop, founded in Toronto by partners Brian Tran and Harry Pham, along with their friend Michelle Pham, first opened up in the summer of 2021 and quickly became known for its nostalgic yet creative approach to signature Southeast Asian flavours.
Menu items include cakes in a variety of flavours, like pandan sticky rice, salted egg, Vietnamese coffee, taro, and durian, as well as mini cakes, roll cakes, croissants, and buns, in flavours such as crème brûlée, matcha, and pistachio.
In a message shared to its Instagram page, the bakery's team announced that its Annex shop, located at 346A Bloor St. W., was due to close on Nov. 17. The team expressed gratitude to its customers while acknowledging how bittersweet the news felt, although they redirected patrons to the other locations and hinted that more information would come soon.
As expected, reactions to the closure were immediate, with longtime customers sharing their heartbreak online.
"All the best. Sad cause my durian cake is not within reach downtown anymore. All the best for what's coming next for you guys," one person wrote, while another customer commented, "Noooooo. I'm so sad I didn't get a chance to come in one last time. Your lava buns were some of my fav desserts!"
Despite this closure, LA LA Bakeshop continues to operate internationally in Ho Chi Minh City and New York City, and continues to run its Scarborough location at 3272 Midland Ave. B-127 and Waterloo shop at 130 King St. South.
While the closure represents a huge loss for the Annex neighbourhood, the bakeshop's farewell might not be final. On the same day as the shop's shutdown, the bakery posted a cryptic message and shared a video showing the team painting and prepping what appeared to be a new storefront.
Although the comment section was filled with requests to open a downtown location, it looks like we'll just have to wait and see what LA LA Bakeshop has planned next.
blogTO has reached out to LA LA Bakeshop to inquire about the reasoning behind the closure.
Fareen Karim
