A crowd of people gathered at the corner of Vermilion St. and Lee Ave. on Saturday to welcome downtown Lafayette’s newest business — a small-batch bakery called Sugar Du Jour.
Owner Heather Steven, a retired teacher who spent 15 years in the math department at Acadiana High School, said that she started baking biscuits with her grandmother when she was just two or three years old. She founded Sugar Du Jour as a cottage business that reflects her lifelong passion for baking, with a focus on sweet dough pies, cake squares, wedding cakes and other treats.
The shop at 415 Lee Ave. is her first brick-and-mortar, and Steven created a cozy space perfect for doing homework, meeting friends or simply relaxing with coffee and a confection — the kind of bakery that feels like an extension of home.
“It was always in my heart to be downtown, because I wanted to be accessible to a lot of people,” said Steven. “That’s my thing. I want to reach as many people as possible and have them feel the love and joy that we give.”
Sugar Du Jour’s grand opening was attended by community leaders, government officials and Steven’s large family, who helped her manage a line that stretched down the sidewalk after the ribbon cutting. Customers said that they were hoping to try items like her red velvet or Biscoff butter crunch cake squares before they sold out…