About Us

Café Dear Leon is a close-knit, family-focused operation that was founded by Cheolsoo Lee, Sungae Lee, and Min Kim. We treat the Café as an extension of our family. The “Leon” in Café Dear Leon’s title comes from the name of Min Kim’s first child. Like writing a letter to a beloved child, the bakery itself is an endearing message to the Café’s guests, and our own way of expressing love. Through exceptional service, warm hospitality and quality products, we strive to serve heartwarming and memorable moments to our guests.

Café Dear Leon’s mission is to create a unique and intimate place for the Canton community, and to serve our guests with wonderful and delicious products. We celebrate the artisanal and romantic essence of French boulangerie using classical techniques and seasonal ingredients, but also innovate and reinvent with the inspiration from our own roots.

FAQ

You may have heard that we operate a bit differently from other cafes– let us explain:

Within our limited space, we do our best every day to offer our products and services at the highest standard. To achieve this, we created our bake schedule with the intention of providing the best experience possible for you, our guests!

What is a “bake schedule”?

Our goal is to serve our guests the freshest baked goods possible. To achieve this we operate on a time sensitive bake schedule where certain items are baked and sold at different hours of the day. Our current bake schedule pastry “drops” are at 6am, 7:30am, 9am and 11am.

Click here for this month’s bake schedule.

How do I make sure that I get the item I want?

Always check our updated monthly bake schedule to coordinate your visit. We always suggest showing up as close to the scheduled time as possible because we offer a limited quantity and once we are sold out, that is it for the day!

How often does your menu change?

We are always experimenting with new flavors and ideas- in order to keep things fresh and interesting, we update our menu monthly. However, there are certain staple items that will always stick around such as our Ham & Cheese Croissant, Almond Croissant, Blueberry Creamcheese muffin and our famous Tamago Sando (among others).

While our monthly updates are usually smaller, you will notice a more dramatic change in our menu seasonally. Our intention is to highlight our favorite flavors from each season and to continue to use the freshest ingredients possible. And don’t worry, we always try to bring back seasonal favorites from years past!

Do you accept phone orders or set aside items before they sell out?

We honor a first come, first served policy. This means it is not possible for us to accept phone orders or pre-sell items before your arrival. We often have a line of guests who are waiting to buy pastries and it is most fair to sell our pastries in-person only.

We do, however, offer online ordering for beverages only. If you place a beverage order please call the cafe when you arrive and we will make your drink at that time to ensure it doesn’t sit for any amount of time. If you wish to add pastries to your order, you will need to wait in line or come inside.