Photo by John Lynch / SOC Images.
Walking along Broadway in Bayonne, you’ll find a variety of foodie options: Italian, Asian and, now a French bakery that also sells traditional Brazilian snacks.
Bayonne’s new bakery Izzy Macarons specializing in French confections has made 216 Broadway its home since March.
The business, which was nine years in the making, is owned and operated by Izabella Moura, who had her first macarons back in 2016, when she first moved to the United States from Brazil and inspired this journey.
“I ate one at a farmer’s market in Bryant Park and fell in love with them,” she told Slice of Culture.
By 2017, Moura was learning recipes and making her own, but it took her time to get where she is today.
“It was a process of making them and getting better,” said Moura. “The way they look now is not the way they looked back then.”
For the first few years, baking macarons was just something she did on the side while working at restaurants in the city—baking mainly for her friends and family.
It was not until 2020, that Moura officially made her passion into a business.
“I wanted to have a bakery, but I didn’t think I was actually going to do it. I was comfortable being a bartender,” she explained.
But when the Pandemic hit, she decided to open up an Etsy store, which immediately took off.
“A lot of people were staying at home and supporting small businesses at that time. I made a lot of sales in my first month, and I even had to hire someone to help take calls and deal with customers.”
The business has only continued to grow, and after years of working out of commercial kitchens, Moura felt the time was right to open her own permanent space.
Moura has also developed her own recipe for macarons, which uses coconut ganache instead of buttercream, to ensure they don’t melt or break in transit.
Macarons are baked fresh daily, with some of her most popular flavors include Vanilla, Salted Caramel and Nutella.
The bakery also offers many custom designed macaron that can be personalized. The spring flowers and teddy bears are some of the most popular, and now that she has her own space, she also feels that she will be able to get more creative.
While macarons are what she specializes in, the bakery also serves coffee including their signature salted caramel latte, which includes a salted caramel macaron on top, being one of their most popular sellers.
“Everyone comes looking for macrons but then they see that [the latte],” said Moura. “Then try it and end up coming back.”
You can even find some traditional Brazilian snacks as well, such as pão de queijo, a type of cheese bread which is a popular breakfast snack in Brazil.
Cookies filled with broken up macaron shells are another popular item. Macaron cakes are also offered through their website.
Now that Moura has her own location, she has been enjoying the experience of getting to see customers face to face.
Moura also has a passion for art and has enjoyed being able to display her work, like the macarons, but also the paintings which adorn the walls—most of which was done by her and her boyfriend.
She also has plans for the future, including taking part in the Bayonne Farmer’s Market and hosting weekend events to show people how macarons are made.
“I love having a nice space for the customers,” said Moura. “The community has been very supportive.”
Izzy Macarons is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
