Just months after Bay Area baker Chantal Guillon retired and bid a heartfelt au revoir to customers, her macaron business is back.

French pastry chef Patrick Lassaque and his manager wife, Lubna, who met while working at the Wynn Las Vegas hotel, have purchased the company and relocated to San Francisco.

Lubna and Patrick Lassaque, longtime fans of Chantal Guillon, now own the macaron business. He’s a pastry chef; she’s been in the hospitality business. (Photo courtesty of Chantal Guillon) 

“Chantal had lots of offers but always knew that we wanted to continue this journey and insisted on keeping her name and recipes,” Lubna told the Bay Area News Group. “So here we were, selling everything in Vegas to fulfill our final desire, to be business owners.”

Guillon burst onto the San Francisco dessert scene in 2008 and four years later established a shop in Palo Alto.

She wrote to customers that she has every confidence in the Lassaques, noting “their desire to continue Chantal Guillon’s legacy, baking your favorite macarons, using the same recipes, same quality ingredients, same ‘savoir-faire’ and passion with the same team that worked all those years along with me.”

To wit, Lubna says: “Our macarons are made with the best California almond flour, essences from France, handmade with love, right here in SoMa, San Francisco, the Paris of the West.”

Their hand-crafted macarons, other sweets (Cruncy Tuiles Cookies, Sea Salt Caramels) and teas are available four days a week at the Howard Street shop, and six days a week at the reopened Palo Alto location on University Avenue.

In an FAQ for customers, Guillon posted questions she thought customers might ask of the new owners, including: “Will they continue Chantal Guillon’s Salted Caramel macarons?”

“Oh Oui,” she responded, “the same addictive, delicious, & popular flavor, will be the first to come back on shelves. Along with your other favorites, Red Velvet, Creme Brûlée, Earl Grey, Raspberry Lychee, Lavender Blackcurrant, Passion Fruit, Italian Pistachio, Tahitian Vanilla, Persian Rose and Chocolate, to name a few.”

Lubna Lassaque said Wednesday that they’ve already added new flavors: a Sparkling Champagne macaron and a green Matcha, with shamrock or leprechaun imprints for St. Patrick’s Day.

Both Lassaques bring years of international experience to the venture. He has been a pastry chef in Paris, Nice, Marseilles, St. Tropez, St. Barts and London, and also worked with chefs Alain Ducasse and Mark Ehrler in Monaco and Cancun. She was in hotel management roles with Sheraton in Dubai, Starwood and Mandarin Oriental in Boston and Kimpton in both Boston and New York before landing at Wynn and Bellagio Las Vegas.

Details: Open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday at 444 University Ave., Palo Alto, and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday at 1309 Howard St., San Francisco. www.chantalguillon.com