Lauren Ellis wanted a good croissant.
After years of studying, working and eating her way through other cities, the Detroit native returned home with a particular appetite. She wanted laminated pastries—the buttery, layered dough behind croissants and Danishes—and more room to explore what they could become.
“I just wanted to eat croissants, and there weren’t a lot of options for that,” Ellis says.
I just wanted to eat croissants, and there weren’t a lot of options for that
Walter Pat’s Bakery Cafe became her contribution: seasonal pastries, creative flavors and a business carrying her grandmother’s name.
Getting there took her far beyond Detroit.
Ellis attended baking and pastry camp at Chicago’s Kendall College before studying at the Culinary Institute of America. Her career brought her into bakeries, resorts and fine dining, with stops in New York, Sydney and Chicago. Each experience gave her something to bring back.
Australia, especially, expanded her understanding of what life in hospitality could look like. She remembers receiving benefits and four weeks off while working as a pastry cook. Traveling also introduced her to unfamiliar foods and broadened her palate.
She loved Sydney. She missed her family.
Eventually, Detroit brought her home.
That distance changed how she experienced the city. Leaving had introduced Ellis to people, flavors and spaces beyond the predominantly Black community she knew growing up. Returning meant seeing Detroit with both familiarity and a wider perspective.
She speaks openly about the tension of a changing city: appreciating new energy and investment while questioning who can afford to build a future here.
Finding a space for her own bakery has been harder and more expensive than she expected. Her original business plan imagined a building much sooner.
In the meantime, she has built through wholesale relationships with metro Detroit cafés and Saturdays at Eastern Market. Market days give her a chance to experiment with seasonal croissants and Danishes—and connect directly with the people buying them.
Behind those pastries is the less photogenic work of entrepreneurship: managing people, staying organized, filing taxes and finding energy for another task after an exhausting day.
“I learned that if you have a village, you can keep going.”
Ellis is candid about still learning.
She is just as candid about wanting to stop.
“I’ve tried to quit several times, and no one lets me,” she says.
That support has become one of her clearest lessons in business.
“I learned that if you have a village, you can keep going.”
Her next ambition is a small space shared with three other women, where she hopes to expand into savory food, breakfast sandwiches and coffee. A larger staff could also give her something she wants: more mental room to create.
She already has ideas waiting.
For now, Walter Pat’s continues through the relationships Ellis has built, the customers who seek her out and the community that reminds her there is a reason to continue.
She traveled to develop her craft. In Detroit, she is learning what it takes to sustain a business around it.
Find Walter Pat’s Bakery Cafe at walterpats.com and follow its social channels for current offerings and market appearances.
Filed under