Acquired Taste

Let them eat croissants have had burgers char broiled, burgers fried, burgers every which way. Now they are looking for something completely different." So says Mel King, manager of Vie de France, a cafe and bakery in Washington, D.C. In city after city and in-suburban shopping malls around the U.S., the croissant, a flaky pastry that has long been a staple at breakfast tables in France, has become the hottest new entrant into the $31 billion-a-year fast-food industry.

Croissant outlets range from trendy restaurants to chains of cafes like California's Croissants USA. The leading American croissant maker is Vie de France, based in Vienna, Va., a French bakery chain that is 65% owned by the Grands Moulins flour-milling firm of Paris. Vie de France opened its first outlet in Rockville, Md., in 1972. Turnover limped along at about $4 million annually until 1978, when the company started a major marketing program for croissants. Now the company sells 950,000 a week from its bakeries and from 18 retail stores in 13 cities. Vie de France also markets its goods through independent grocery stores, bakeries and gourmet shops. Revenues this year are expected to be nearly $30 million.

American-style croissants are more than just a fancy-sounding name for bread and butter. In addition to the traditional, or plain, variety, which usually sells for about 800, devotees can buy $2.50-plus croissants stuffed with everything from fruit preserves to ham, cheese and even beef bourguignon. "I was just looking for a cup of coffee and a doughnut, but I ended up with coffee and an apple croissant," said Stephen Fudge, a Canadian tourist in San Francisco. Added his enthusiastic companion, Susan Wood: "I'd take a chocolate croissant over a Big Mac any time."

Croissants first appeared in Vienna, Austria, in 1683, when the city's bakers created the distinctively crescent-shaped pastries to commemorate the barricaded city's successful stand against a besieging army of Ottoman Turks. The shape of the pastries was derived from the crescent emblem on the Turkish flag, which the Viennese citizens, in effect, symbolically devoured by driving off the Turks. The U.S. boom was started when Vie de France and other stores began making sandwiches with croissants. Says Michel Rebeilleau, manager of Au Croissant Chaud in Washington: "Ten years ago was ze time for ze crepe. Now it is ze time for ze croissant."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.