Carlos Sanchez of Tournesol Bakery in Covington is proof that the American dream is still alive and attainable today.
Sanchez fled El Salvador’s brutal civil war in 1990, settling in Los Angeles with the help of an older sister who lived there. Although he had been studying civil engineering in El Salvador, he was forced to take a dishwashing job due to his lack of English. However, the bright, ambitious young man quickly began to acquire cooking and baking skills to get ahead. He eventually married and started a family.
When his son was 2 years old, Sanchez’s young wife was diagnosed with lymphoma. In less than a year she was gone.
A move to New Orleans brought a much-needed change. For four years, Sanchez worked in construction, but the girlfriend who would become his wife, Linda, knew his real love was baking.
Unbeknownst to Sanchez, Linda submitted his resume to Chef Dominique Rizzo at La Boulangerie who hired him immediately. Working alongside Rizzo, making baguettes and croissants, Sanchez knew he was learning how to craft the very best.
When Rizzo sold La Boulangerie to Donald Link, Sanchez became an important part of Chef Maggie Scales’ new team there. Sanchez’s skills were lauded by the Southern Food and Beverage Museum when he competed and won first place for Best Baguette in 2017 and Best Croissant in 2018.
Sanchez and Linda married, adding another son and a daughter to the mix. When Linda was hired to teach Spanish in a Northshore middle school, they fell in love with the St. Tammany Parish lifestyle and relocated.
Although Sanchez continued to work on the Southshore, a new dream had begun to blossom in their hearts — a bakery and café of their own.
When the perfect location in downtown Covington became available, the two fearlessly cashed in retirement savings, borrowing what they could to make their dream a reality. Even the pandemic didn’t stop them.
“I am not a person who gives up,” said Sanchez. “If I can walk and move my hands and have the strength, I will succeed. There is no other choice.”
Tournesol Café and Bakery opened on South Tyler Street in June 2020, giving Covington a new place to gather. Named for Linda Sanchez’s favorite sunflowers, the bright sunny café is open from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. on weekdays providing a perfect spot for early morning business meetings, intimate lunches and an ideal after-school hangout for high school crowds.
“It makes me happy to know parents are comfortable having their kids here,” Sanchez said.
Along with classic French pastries, in a nod to his El Salvadoran heritage, Sanchez also serves hand pies filled with beef or guava and cream cheese and a remarkable tres leches cake. Just as for every South Louisiana bakery, king cakes also play an important role. Utilizing his award-winning croissant dough, Sanchez created a babka-style twist with cinnamon filling, topped with purple, green and gold sugar. Just as he learned from Dominique Rizzo at La Boulangerie, he also offers an authentic French galette de rois (French king cake) with a real feve and a porcelain baby instead of the typical plastic favor.
Tournesol’s challah is popular for Friday Sabbath dinners — a fact that prompted a local rabbi to come calling for unleavened bread. Sanchez proceeded to craft more than 200 pita-style breads for the rabbi’s congregation to enjoy with lamb for Passover.
Sanchez himself is a man of great faith. As a member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, he keeps Sabbath by closing Tournesol on Saturdays, something most modern business owners might eschew.
“I have some employees who ask for Sunday off so they can go to church so I respect their faith too,” he said. “This is the beauty of the U.S.A. — you have freedom of religion. That’s what makes this nation so great. It’s entirely based on freedom.”
Poppy Tooker has spent her life devoted to the cultural essence that food brings to Louisiana, a topic she explores weekly on her NPR-affiliated radio show, Louisiana Eats! From farmers markets to the homes and restaurants where our culinary traditions are revered and renewed, Poppy lends the voice of an insider to interested readers everywhere.
Catch Poppy Tooker on her radio show, “Louisiana Eats!” Saturdays at 3 p.m. and Mondays at 8 p.m. on WWNO 89.9 FM.
