Stephanie and Marcel Remillieux are opening Fleur de Lys, a French gourmet store and tea salon in a few weeks at 15th Street and Trinity Drive. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.comStephanie and Marcel Remillieux want to share their love of France with the local community. They are opening Fleur de Lys, a French gourmet store and tea salon in a few weeks at 15th Street and Trinity Drive.
“This idea came from what we know … we want to bring something new and something we know very well to the town,” Marcel told the Los Alamos Daily Post during an interview Tuesday in their new store, which is undergoing extensive renovation at 1460 Trinity Dr. “We want to keep it small and give it a European style atmosphere like those small grocery stores you find in France with quality products and excellent service.”
The French country-style ambiance will offer French pastries, baked baguettes and regular and chocolate croissants and traditionally prepared dishes and soups. These items will be brought in fresh early each morning from Clafoutis in Santa Fe.
“Part of our excellent service will include home delivery and people also can shop us online and we’ll prepare their order for pickup,” Marcel said.
The couple said they have heard many people in the community say they wish they could find the gourmet products they are used to that are available in larger cities in the U.S. and many places overseas.
Stephanie explained that they intend to create a cultural center in their new space to offer people a full cultural experience about the flavor and history of the products they sell – the vast majority of which will be imported directly from France.
“We want people to ask us questions about the food products we offer, the ingredients and where they come from in France,” she said.
The southwest region of France has a Spanish influence and the northeast region has a German influence and the products they offer will reflect that, she said. They will carry everything from French cookies to patè to cheeses and “most everything French you can think of in terms of food”.
The new space will provide a comfortable bistro style seating area where people can sit and enjoy teas and pastries, prepared dishes and soups. There also will be a separate room where diners can watch French cooking shows on a large screen TV while sipping their tea.
Fleur de Lys will carry high quality French teas associated with the Château de Versailles in France where everything is grown naturally, Marcel said.
The plan is to open in the January-February timeframe with the hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
Marcel was born on the French island of Corsica and Stephanie in Paris. They are both physicists and met in grad school at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. The couple moved to Los Alamos in 2013 when Marcel went to work as a post doc student in geophysics at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where he is now a staff member. They have three children with a fourth due any minute.
For more information about Fleur de Lys, email fleurdelys.bonjour@gmail.com or call 540.838.1248.
