You might not be able to smell it yet, but by October, the aroma of fresh baked bread will waft through the doors of 525 Wakarusa Drive, Suite B.
Tous Les Jours, a French-inspired Korean bakery, is opening in the defunct Blue Moose restaurant location this fall.
A franchise, Tous Les Jours also has a location in Overland Park. Owner Seung “David” Ahn says there’s a chance the Lawrence location could be ready for customers in September, but October looks more likely.
Tous Les Jours’ menu features items customers might view as traditionally French, but with a “little bit of Korean flavor.” Some items include kimchi croquettes, red bean donuts and snow pea pastries.
The bakery-cafe will provide an atmosphere for savoring and relishing, rather than a grab-and-go setting, Ahn says.
In coming months, Ahn is also opening 92 Chicken, a Korean fried chicken restaurant, two doors down from Tous Les Jours in what was the University of Kansas Bookstore’s Uniquely KU location.
How soon 92 Chicken opens depends on whether and how quickly the city approves a rezoning request.
“We are in the process of rezoning,” Ahn says. “It just depends on how long that takes.”
92 Chicken will provide a Korean version of fried chicken.
“You’ve got regular fried chicken, garlic soy, garlic spicy, red hot, curry — usually flavors you don’t see in the other American fried chicken,” Ahn says.
When 92 Chicken opens, its menu will include traditional American fried chicken as well as Korean versions, like snow onion, which is fried chicken topped with sliced raw onions and a mayo-based sauce. Appetizers will include calamari, gizzards and dumplings, expanding Lawrence’s Korean-based food options.
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Lawrence Lowdown is a feature on developments around town. Have a tip? Let us know.
Chansi Long (she/her) reported for The Lawrence Times from July 2022 through August 2023. Read more of her work for the Times here.
