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An outpost of a popular bakery in the Ferry Building is losing its lease, the owners said Tuesday.
Le Marais Bakery owners Patrick and Joanna Ascaso announced the “sudden and unexpected” news in an Instagram post. The pair opened their offshoot Grande Creperie in the Ferry Building in spring 2022. They said they were “given a commitment for a new lease” in January, then heard from building management in April that they no longer fit the historic food hall’s “cultural mix.”
“This sudden decision is going to make things very difficult,” the owners wrote.
The bakery’s lease will end June 30.
Jane Connors, general manager at the Ferry Building, refuted the bakery’s claims in a statement, saying the lease was always short term. “We are simply letting it expire rather than renewing it,” Connors said.
She added that management wants to make the marketplace “more accessible in the evenings” and will announce a new tenant who fits that bill soon.
Known for its Brittany-style sweet and savory crepes, Grande Creperie was open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and until 4 p.m. Friday through Sunday.
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The bakery received an outpouring of supportive messages on Instagram. “This is terrible news,” wrote one commenter. Another described it as “an extraordinary and horrible loss.”
The owners describe a quickly shifting attitude from management. The Ascasos invested their savings into renovating their Ferry Building space during the pandemic, they wrote, at a time when much of the food hall sat empty.
“We have always been told we’d be a ‘longstanding tenant,’ that they have the greatest respect for us, and we always reached target earnings,” the owners wrote. “We struggle to understand how our space could be offered when we had been given a new lease, when we transformed it into a beloved gathering spot with lines out the door.”
Le Marais retains two locations in San Francisco and two others in the broader Bay Area.