Orly’s Patisserie   

By Anni Caporuscio

A rainbow of macarons and a tempting array of colors of baked goods.

Orly’s Patisserie in Puhi is beautiful yet homey, sophisticated yet accessible. It has the feel of a fancy patisserie but also that of a hometown bakery. Familiar labels are displayed, such as Kaua‘i Roastery’s coffee among others, and artisanal loaves are strewn carefully as purchasable décor.

Orly Patisserie’s grand opening celebration was Oct. 17. In this charming patisserie, you will find pastries such as scones, muffins, cinnamon rolls and more. They have croissants in 10 different ways, artisanal breads, macarons that are chewy, with the right amount of sweet, all in delightful colors. They make cream puffs, cheesecakes, desserts I couldn’t name and too beautiful to just merely eat.

What distinguishes a patisserie from a bakery? French pastries and the presence of a master baker.

Meet Orly Yadao. He was terribly busy on their Grand Opening, but he still took the time to speak with us at length about his experiences as a baker. He is kind and humble about his life-long education. I was particularly inspired when he said, “I wanted to not settle for security but settle for opportunity,” while speaking about choosing which place to work that would give him the best chance to learn something new.

Orly Yadao and his daughter, Kirsten Yadao who manages the front of the house. Their bakery held its official grand opening on Oct. 17 and are already wildly successful in bringing exotic bakery pieces to Kaua‘i.

Orly’s long history with baking has been moslty in hotels on Kaua‘i and in Las Vegas. He started as a dishwasher at the Westin on Kaua‘i in 1989. A back injury led him to a new job in the bakery, where he was fascinated at the things he could do. The resident pastry chef saw his interest, work ethics and enthusiasm, and gave him a chance. His work ethic drove employers to seek him out and advance his education.

While studying at Kaua‘i Community College, Orly went to Honolulu for an exhibition of a German baker who made art pieces with sugar and chocolate. From then on, he knew what he wanted: to make art with sugar. Even now, when speaking of sugar, his eyes ignite, his once steady hands gesticulate and he sits forward. He is an artist and his medium is sugar. It was admittedly difficult to learn this trade on Kaua‘i, where the humidity can easily cause any sugar sculpture to sag. Yet, his biggest desire was to create the sugar and chocolate pieces, even though everyone told him it’s too humid on Kaua‘i.

His opportunity came in Las Vegas in 1998. There, he worked at an impressive collection of hotels and resorts, including MGM, Bellagio, Paris, Luxor, where he became the assistant pastry chef, Hyatt, where he became a supervisor, the Rio, and more. He got his chance to work with sugar , and was largely self-taught in various “chocolate rooms,” which I understand as a pinnacle of resort bakery rooms in which they create the show pieces and garnishes. He found his medium and the studio to perfect his art.

This is just a delicious fraction of what they can do at Orly’s Patisserie. Among his many accolades, Orly was a competitor on the Food Network on the Cookie Wars, Halloween Wars and the Sugar Dome. His pastry chef, Fred Isla, was also featured on the Food Network in The Chop, The Christmas Wars and more.

While on the Mainland, Orly always thought of Kaua‘i. He eventually returned to work at the Hyatt in Po‘ipu and then at the Club at Kuku‘iula. But he still dreamed of his own business. He wanted to be more creative and to connect with his customers. In restaurants you only get the negative feedback. At his own bakery he gets to see the reaction of his customers and share his passion of art through baking.

Orly works with many local flavors such as guava, mango, coconut, pineapple, banana, lilikoi, and has found an unexpected ally in ube, a purple root that brings a very Kaua‘i flavor to cheesecakes, macarons and everything else.

Find Orly’s Patisserie in the Hokulei Village Shopping Center in Puhi, at 4454 Nuhou Street, #507. Call them at 378-4343 to inquire about their seasonal creations.

• Anni Caporuscio is a food, coffee and book lover. She can be found walking her dog Wilson at the Kapa‘a Bike Path, or crushing enemies at the Kapa‘a Hockey Rink during roller derby season.

To say “cream puff by the thousand” is not a joke. These fly out of the case in neat packages of fluffy pillows of pastry and creams featuring the flavors of Kaua‘i. Tip: try the lilikoi and the ube.

Orly’s has a cold case of grab-n-go items and drinks to have with your treats. They also feature Kaua‘i Roastery coffee.