Life is Service: Djamila Bakour x La Recette Patisserie

“I didn’t know the word ‘hospitality’ until I came to the United States. Where I’m from in Algeria, whatever you have, you share it. That’s just how we live.

After I graduated from NCCU, I didn’t have a job. I’m not even sure I looked very hard. I just knew I wanted to create something of my own. That something turned into cupcakes, baking them at home and selling them at Fadi’s cousin’s restaurant while Fadi worked a mix of retail jobs and a finance job where he quickly learned staring at a screen for 10 hours a day was not for him.

I still remember the feeling when I started selling baked goods. The joy of making something, putting it out into the world, and having someone buy it. Not long after, we got an order for 135 cupcakes. It was a disaster. The icing separated, and I don’t even want to describe how our one-bedroom apartment looked. Despite the disaster, we kept going.

I took my time building La Recette. We started with OfferUp, then the farmers market. Slowly but surely, we grew, first beyond friends and family, and eventually into spaces like Cocoa Cinnamon and beyond. There was never a plan B. I just wanted this to work. Maybe that’s stubbornness, or maybe it’s a deeper faith that kept me going. I spent hours on YouTube University. Learning. Failing. Trying again. And then I went back to Algeria to study with a local pastry chef, Chef Baba. Seven weeks nonstop. It was about technique, yes -French pastry, structure, flavor, authenticity - but also about something more. It was about returning to my roots. Understanding where I came from and what I wanted to share with others. It gave me the language and skills to express myself authentically.

At any given time, if you look around La Recette, you’ll see people from every walk of life. Black, Asian, Muslim, Indian, White, Latino all gathered in one space, sharing food, coffee, and building connections. There’s a warmth here that invites deep conversations, the kind that happen between strangers over coffee, croissants, and danishes. That’s what makes this feel like more than a pastry shop. It’s a space that holds people and truly connects them.

I arrive here at 6 a.m. Those quiet hours are my favorite, me, the oven, my croissants, the dough. I listen. I shape. I let it speak to me. It’s grounding in a way nothing else is. Then the doors open, and people come in. They taste something we’ve made, they smile, talk, and laugh. And that’s it. That’s when you know you’ve built something meaningful.

There’s an Arabic saying: ‘One hand cannot clap alone.’ We can make the most delicious pastries in the world, but without the La Recette team and community, it means nothing. I didn’t grow up knowing the word hospitality. But I know now that it is my calling.”

- Djamila Bakour
@larecettepatisserie

Photo series: Life is Service
Pt 14.
Photographed + Interviewed by: Jordan Abdur-Ra’oof @shotbyjbot

Location: 4823 Meadow Dr, Suite 115, Durham, NC 27713
(Tucked behind the shopping center, just follow the drive toward the loading area and you’ll spot La Recette).