Belle’s Bread: Sweetest Shop in Japan Marketplace The French-inspired Japanese bakery is celebrating its 10th year By Nicole Rasul | Photography by Rachel Joy Barehl
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t Belle’s Bread, a Japanese bakery in northwest Columbus, the aroma of sweet-meets-savory greets the nose immediately upon entry. The shop’s plethora of breads, pastries and other confections—more than 45 in all—are baked in-house daily beginning at 4am. There’s a bit of something for every palate, from Instagram-worthy Nutella-filled kitties to sophisticated, flaky croissants that rival those hailing from the best French patisserie.
nerstone of Takenaka’s complex and remains one of the most loved and lauded Japanese fine-dining options in Columbus.
Pre-pandemic, the shop’s seating area buzzed with a United Nations of guests vying for space to savor coffee, tea and baked goods. These days, however, tables and chairs are put away and French music chimes in the background while guests in face masks queue to pay for to-go fare. Construction is underway to house additional retail products, including sandwiches, in the former dining space.
Takenaka hails from Japan and emigrated to the U.S. in 1972, settling in New York City. It was there that he met his wife, Francoise, a French immigrant. An entrepreneur at heart, Takenaka wished to open a restaurant and researched locations for his potential business in his new homeland. He stumbled on Columbus and, after studying the region’s demographics and business environment, he and Francoise moved west. Marysville’s Honda automotive plant and its significant Japanese expat population supplied a bevy of first customers. Now, more than 30 years later and with an American populace swept off its feet by Japanese cuisine, Takenaka’s businesses are consistently booming, embraced and treasured by the Central Ohio community.
Hailed in 2018 as “one of America’s best Japanese bakeries” by Food & Wine magazine, Belle’s Bread was launched in 2011 as the fifth business (there are six in total) at Japan Marketplace at Kenny and Old Henderson Roads. The sprawling slice of Japan is the three-decade-old brainchild of Takashi Takenaka and includes several Japanese restaurants, a grocery, the bakery and a gift shop. Akai Hana, the enterprise’s first institution, opened in 1987 as Restaurant Japan. It’s the cor-
“It’s a nice combination to have both of them in charge of this place since it incorporates their backgrounds,” says Mika Lecklider, the Takenakas’ daughter. She’s the manager of Belle’s Bread, which borrows traditions from France and Japan. Though bread has a long history in Japan, the root of the options vended in most Japanese bakeries today can be traced to a baking culture that exploded in the country after World War II and was heavily inspired by French technique.
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SPRING 2021
