Brooklyn Heights is home to a mix of small businesses and residential buildings, but one destination combines the best qualities of the two. Enter L'Appartement 4F, a bakery by day and partial wine bar by night founded by husband-and-wife duo Gautier and Ashley Coiffard.
The couple first met in 2016, though their culinary journey began in 2019 when Gautier started making sourdough bread (and eventually croissants) for himself, Ashley, and their friends. While looking at wedding venues in France—and listening to a podcast episode of How I Built This—Ashley became inspired to sell Gautier's baked goods, even though he'd only been at it for a short time.
In early 2020, Ashley launched L'Appartement 4F's Instagram, and the duo made their first sale in March. ("It was kind of forced. I made my coworkers buy his bread and everything!" Ashley says with a small laugh.) However, the pandemic's arrival upended their plans. After a few months of navigating the new norm, they started up again in June, launched their first menu, and "the rest is history." Ashley quit her then-finance job to focus on growing the business with Gautier, who'd been working as a software engineer. A year later, they signed the lease to their now-beloved first brick-and-mortar.
Since opening the bakery's (physical) doors in May 2022, L'Appartement 4F has become a home-away-from-home for many. You’ll often find a line of city dwellers clad in suits or work-from-home garb, on the phone with loved ones devising their final orders, or sifting through their hauls from neighboring establishments like Books Are Magic. The most eager of the bunch will crane their heads over the crowds, hoping to glimpse the bakery's front window to survey the remaining inventory of croissants, cookies, and sourdough loaves. Once inside, guests will take in the wafting scents of baked goods and the pleasant chatter emanating from the second floor, where, under the gaze of quaint paintings (with a shimmering chandelier in view), they'll have a chance to sit down and indulge.
There is something to be said for the wait that often accompanies L'Appartement 4F, as patience is part of the business's ethos and pays homage to a lifestyle that Gautier was accustomed to growing up in France. However, for Ashley, it was a learning curve. She credits their many visits to France (and witnessing Gautier's family life) as a necessary detail in learning to slow down—and translating those values to L'Appartement 4F. "When I first met Gautier, I had a very American mindset," she admits. "I would eat on the go. I didn't really understand the importance of sitting down and having a meal, turning my phone off, and enjoying what was in front of me."
Laura Huertas
Laura Huertas
Ashley and Gautier initially launched the business from their apartment—4F. Though not the same address as the bakery, the small, ordinary moments within its walls contributed to the (emotional) foundation that L'Appartement 4F is built upon today. "When I first met Gautier, before the baking, he was really into film, and he was actually writing a screenplay," Ashley reflects. "I wanted to write a screenplay about a chef," Gautier adds when I ask more about the project. "There was a story of a chef falling in love with a food critic, and she doesn't know the food critic is coming to her restaurant. I remember working on that just before the bakery. I guess I was [already] in the food world—my mind was there for some reason, but I don't think I ever finished it."
"During the pandemic, when he was baking, and I was helping him, he would pull down a big projector, and we would make it look like a movie theater," Ashley continues. "But basically, we were rolling croissants and shaping bread while watching movies. We would watch every Nancy Meyers film back to back standing while shaping mini croissants." (These days, the duo counts Meyers as part of L’Appartement 4F’s clientele.)
Listening to Ashley and Gautier, it's clear that their partnership is rooted in trust. A smile emerges in Ashley's voice when I ask them how they care for each other amid growing professional obligations. "I really like to do things in a certain way, so it's hard for me to give up control," she says. After feeling under the weather recently, Ashley shares that Gautier stepped in to handle some of her usual tasks. "The next day, he cooked my favorite Persian dish that my grandmother makes. It's called ghormeh sabzi, and it takes a lot of time. He spent all Sunday making me stew, cleaning the apartment, and just telling me to relax, which was really nice. I was very emotional the whole time." She sighs, but not before nudging her husband, "Gautier, feel free to say how I care about you!"
He lets out a little laugh and replies, "The fact that we work together was a transition at first because we went from never seeing each other to seeing each other every single minute of the day. Even though we have very different ways of working, we decompress together at the end of each day and talk about all the small moments. I couldn't do it with anyone else."
There is a cinematic element to Gautier and Ashley's relationship that could be the groundwork for a Meyers rom-com: Boy meets girl. Boy and girl fall in love—work a lot and bake even more—and eventually bring their dreams to life. Luckily for us, L'Appartement 4F is a story rooted in fact, conviction, and a lot of care. With their new Manhattan location on the horizon—and a continued commitment to building the business with intention—that love story is getting even better.
Laura Huertas
Courtesy of L'Appartement 4F
Ashley, you also attended nursing school, and I'm curious to hear how you define care. How has it been a through-line throughout your work, and how has it sharpened as you grow L'Appartement 4F?
Ashley Coiffard: “I was in nursing school when we first started. I was working at my finance job just to put myself through nursing school, and when I quit my finance job to focus on baking, I was studying for the boards. I passed right away. I took some time off between working at my last job before applying for a nursing job just because I was, again, having a lot of fun baking with my husband. I went into nursing because I genuinely love helping people and making people happy. I’m a people pleaser to my core—but it's not just about customer service; it's more about hospitality. I love welcoming people into my life and making their days better.
“I was actually a school nurse during the pandemic, and it was a younger population: K-8, all boys. It was hard to leave that job because I loved helping them and their families, especially during such a scary time. But I knew I needed to help [Gautier] with the bakery because I'm more organized, and the bakery needed that at that point. I didn't want to give up that sense of caring and nurturing a community, but I felt I could do that just with the bakery instead of the school. It was definitely hard for me to give that up.”
Care and quality remain top of mind for you today. In the vein of slow living or slow food, how do you think L'Appartement 4F fits into that framework?
AC: “Making bread and croissants by nature takes a lot of patience. You need to respect the process. You can't rush anything. It's been really interesting to watch Gautier perfect his craft.
“When you put so much effort, time, and money into the ingredients and you finally get a product you're very proud of, that makes it so much better. Watching people really enjoy the croissants and eat them the way we've intended is rewarding. Going into it, I was telling Gautier—at least where I'm from—my mom would get things in bulk, and not that there's anything wrong with it, but it's very different than Gautier's family who will go more often to the supermarket and get things daily or semi-daily. Watching that experience of slower living where they're not in a rush, sitting down, and enjoying their food, I wanted Americans to also get out of their house, pick up their daily bread, and live a little bit slower.”
Are there any questions or ideas that you want your customers or community members to consider about their relationship with food and gathering?
AC: “When we started selling our croissants, we had a waiting list and had to schedule pickups and deliveries, which made it interesting. People would say, ‘I'd like to pick it up on Tuesday because I have a party on Thursday,’ and we would say, ‘Well then, no, we're not selling you the croissants on Tuesday because they're meant to be eaten on Tuesday and not saved for Thursday.’ I don't know if that's because we're so used to preservatives [but] with our goods, they're meant to be enjoyed the day of. I want people to reconsider how they plan their meals and how they consume things.”
How have you learned to make time and energy for simplicity, small personal goals, or hobbies amid all of this professional growth?
AC: “One thing that I am doing for fun has been pilates. I've been really enjoying low-impact weights, and I feel like it takes me out of my head for at least an hour a day. That's been really nice.”
Gautier Coiffard: “I signed up for a triathlon and need to practice! I've been swimming. We've also been doing long walks, which we started during the pandemic. It's really nice to try to leave our phone at home and walk wherever in the city. I also like coming back home and cooking just for us.”
Do you have any rituals or resolutions for the season?
Ashley Coiffard: “This year in particular, I have a very big resolution for myself and the bakery: to say no. Last year, I said yes to many things, including events and collaborations, and just wore myself a little too thin, which spills into my relationship with Gautier. This year, we've found power in saying no to certain opportunities (no matter how exciting or enticing they are) and putting our mental health first. I guess that does tie into slow living because we've already said no to some pretty big opportunities (that if you told me I'd be saying no to while we were baking at the apartment, I would've said that's crazy)! But it's given us our power back and allowed us to come home, make dinner, and go on those long walks that Gautier mentioned. We're making space for those things by saying no to other things.”
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.