by Ebony L. Morman
Before Vicente Bakery & Bistro co-owners Sam Chappelle and Yerman Carrasquero signed a lease, the couple sat outside of their current storefront on South Boulevard and counted.
“Weekends, 50 to 100 people an hour, just on that side of the street,” Chappelle recalls. “Weekdays, less. A little less.” It was their way of determining if the location had potential — watching the rhythm of the block, foot by foot, head by head, hour by hour.
At the time, foot traffic felt like everything, and the logic seemed sound. But now, with more time and experience in Charlotte, that mindset has changed.
“I think maybe foot traffic doesn’t matter quite as much as I thought,” Chappelle says. “Charlotte is a driving city.” The fact that people travel up to an hour to get their hands on the bakery’s buttery pastries proves just that.
Still, there’s something irreplaceable about being in South End, one of Charlotte’s most walkable neighborhoods, and near the bustling Rail Trail.
“If even just one in 10 people are going to give us a try, that’s enough,” Chappelle says.
After two-and-a-half years, that hypothesis has rung true, especially on weekends when Vicente sells nearly 1,000 croissants — its signature pastry — a day.
NO CUTTING CORNERS
Back in 2023, the shop could barely produce 300 croissants daily. But adding staff, along with a new proofer and refrigeration area, changed all that, significantly boosting production. These days, they’re less likely to sell out before noon, despite the long lines. While that makes it a bit easier for more people to get the Vicente experience, Chappelle is keen on preserving quality without sacrificing the nuances of the process.
“We have to really carefully increase production, because we can’t just make more croissants,” he says. “Our croissants proof for eight to 10 hours overnight, so I have to know the day before what’s going to be ready for the next day.” It’s a lengthy process — about 36 hours — that includes mixing the base dough, laminating it with butter, chilling, shaping and baking it off.
Customers get to witness part of that process thanks to the bakery’s workshop aesthetic. Part of the partners’ original vision included showcasing how much hands-on effort is put into the product. They also wanted to shy away from a cutesy coffee-shop vibe, leaning more into an industrial feel for the 1,800-square-foot space.
The production-kitchen setup sometimes garners statements like, “Wow, you’re really cutting out the dough.” Chappelle’s response: “Yeah, it’s a real bakery.”
AN EARLY PASSION FOR BAKING
In bakeries where everything — including quiches, coffee cakes and empanadas — are made from scratch daily, things take time.
“If we rushed it, it wouldn’t taste right and the texture wouldn’t be as good,” Chappelle says. “The fermentation, which is another word for proofing, basically gives it the flavor that you really can’t duplicate in a prefabricated product.”
Creating complex pastries is a long way from one of Chappelle’s earliest food experiments. At 10, he wanted pancakes for dinner, and his parents, who weren’t fans of cooking, gave him the green light. Using a boxed mix, he let his imagination run wild.
“I remember putting Halloween candy in my pancakes, thinking that was the most amazing thing in the world,” he says. “Not very nutritious, and they looked really ugly, but that’s something I remember very fondly.”
After starting out as a statistician, Chappelle switched paths and attended the Culinary Institute of America in Napa, California. Later, he gained hands-on experience in Argentina, working at hotels and catering for embassies under a Swiss-trained chef known for precision and large-scale production. There, he learned how to prepare thousands of croissants, empanadas and other items for high-volume events.
INSPIRATION FROM ALL OVER
Chappelle describes the products at Vicente as artisanal, fresh and unique, with influences from all over — just like the owners. Carrasquero, who runs the front of the house, and Chappelle, who’s responsible for the kitchen, have roots in Venezuela, England, Boston and beyond, with a diverse team working behind the scenes.
Whether it’s their dulce de leche croissant (a nod to Carrasquero’s Venezuelan roots), the tomato harissa pastry (inspired by a friend from North Africa), or the coffee roll (a riff on a cinnamon roll that’s made with brioche dough and scraps of croissant dough), each item is layered with personal stories, cultural influences and a commitment to quality.
Then there’s the kouign-amann, a technically demanding pastry that originated in Brittany, France. It’s like a caramelized croissant, made with sugar laminated into the dough and more sugar on the outside, which forms a crunchy coating when baked.
“They’re pretty messy [to make] but delicious,” Chappelle says. “You can’t really find them almost anywhere, so people really seek them out.” SP
