Pain d'Avignon's Essex Street Market Location Set to Open at the "Beginning of the Year"

For months now, the papered-over windows of the former Roni-Sue storefront in the Essex Street Market has been taunting carbophiles with the promise of Pain d'Avignon's boules and baguettes. The store, which would be the Long Island City-based wholesale bakery's first retail outlet, was originally scheduled to open sometime in the summer. That obviously didn't happen. But now, it seems the end -- and the beginning -- may be in sight.

According to a customer service rep who identified himself as Christopher, Pain d'Avignon's store is set to open "at the beginning of the new year. It's in progress, definitely." Christopher said that they'd been busy remodeling the space, which was scarcely big enough for Rhonda Kave's truffle collection. Once opened, the shop will fill an artisanal bread void in the Lower East Side, which, aside from Falai Panetteria, lacks a bakery selling something besides bialys, challah, knishes, or cupcakes.