La Tour Bakehouse Marks 40 Years with New Retail Location
(Partner Content) Now through November, owner Thanh Lam is donating all sales from his bakery store to charity.
Photo: Marisa Heung
Thanh Lam, owner of the ubiquitous La Tour Bakehouse, has just opened his first retail bakery location. And he’s encouraging everyone to come and shop—but not for the reason you think.
In celebration of a milestone 40th anniversary, Lam is offering Hawai‘i the most generous deal we’ve ever seen: Now through November, 100% of sales made at La Tour’s retail location will be donated to charity.
But what’s the catch? Believe it or not, there is none. This is an idea born from one man’s generosity, as well as his struggles. Forty years ago, La Tour Bakehouse was Ba-Le, a little sandwich shop in Chinatown where Lam humbly sold banh mi with French bread, country-style pâté and ground sausage, all made by Lam himself. Plenty of hard work went into building La Tour into the tour de force it is today, but Lam places the reason for his success on those who have fallen in love with his bread. “Hawai‘i made us grow,” he says. “Now I want to give back, to say ‘thank you.’” He plans to send the donation to Hawai‘i Community Foundation, which will then allocate the funds to local nonprofits in need.
Photo: Aaron K. Yoshino
In addition to its charitable promotion, La Tour Bakehouse will also be giving away a special 40th anniversary tote with every $40 purchase made at its retail store, which sits just a few doors down from La Tour Café on Nimitz Highway. Designed by Hawai‘i artist Kelsie Dayna, the tote is big—large enough to fit one of La Tour’s famous French baguettes, along with a few other loaves—and has a small inner pocket for keeping your phone, keys, wallet or extra La Tour pastry.
Photo: Aaron K. Yoshino
Lam will also be debuting a brand-new trio of Vietnamese manapua, a fitting lineup for La Tour’s milestone birthday: It’s a simple comfort food he used to sell in his Ba-Le days, and one of the items that earned rave reviews from the late John Heckathorn when he wrote about him in HONOLULU’s February 1987 issue. The manapua comes in three flavors: purple sweet potato, vegetarian and—our favorite–meat, made with ground pork, a slice of lup cheong and a hardboiled quail egg.
La Tour Bakehouse, open daily 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., 888 N. Nimitz Highway, Suite 102, (808) 847-4600, latourbakehouse.com, @latourbakehouse
