(DANVILLE / PLEASANTON, Calif.) - After years working in technology, including a decade at Microsoft, Benoit Vialle decided he wanted something different: a local business of his own.
Today, the Maison Benoit founder measures success partly by what happens inside his Danville bakery — people gathering, meeting others and spending time in the community.
“Having this be a bit of a hub for the local community, that is really what … success looks like for me,” Vialle said.
Vialle, who grew up in Paris, came to the United States about 25 years ago to study and later work in technology. He said that a few years ago he decided to start his own business.
“I essentially decided that I wanted to have my own local business,” Vialle said.
As he pursued that idea, Vialle went to France to take classes in baking and pastry making. He said the classes helped him better understand the process and hire chefs from France who could produce the quality he was seeking.
Maison Benoit opened at 402 Railroad Ave. in Danville in January 2024.
The bakery's team includes head baker Lucile Espeillac and pastry chef Matthieu Maulun. According to Maison Benoit, Vialle spent 2023 preparing for the opening with help from his family and professional partners.
Vialle lives in Lafayette, where he said he has lived for about 12 or 13 years. He said proximity was one reason he chose nearby Danville for the business.
“Danville, in my mind, was, one, close enough, convenient from Lafayette where I live,” he said.
Vialle also believed the community would have an appreciation for French food. He said the reception since opening has been strong.
That response, according to Vialle, also created one of the bakery's earliest challenges: finding enough workers to keep up.
“From the start, we had a lot of people lining up to buy our products, and we just didn't have enough people to make the products that we needed to make,” Vialle said.
The biggest challenge, he said, was growing the team quickly enough to respond to demand.
The bakery later gained recognition beyond Danville. In June 2025, Maison Benoit won the Grand Prix at the Best Croissant San Francisco competition.
Maison Benoit was one of 10 Bay Area finalists in the competition. A professional jury conducted a blind tasting, evaluating the traditional croissants on appearance, aroma, structure and flavor. Backhaus placed second in the Grand Prix and Maison Nico placed third.
For Vialle, however, success also means independence and creating a place for people to gather.
He described customers coming into the bakery smiling, meeting other people and making the business part of the community.
“Having this be a bit of a hub for the local community,” he said, “that is really what … success looks like for me.”
The business is also a family undertaking. According to Maison Benoit, Vialle's four children have helped with production, sales and clearing tables. His wife has contributed to the bakery's website and operations and has advised on areas including human resources and finance.
Now Vialle is preparing to bring the concept to another East Bay community.
Maison Benoit plans a second location at 337 Main St. in downtown Pleasanton, in the former Bank of America building. Recent reports put the anticipated opening in early 2027.
Vialle said the Pleasanton bakery will include its own production operation rather than relying solely on products made at the Danville location.
“The idea is to do something very similar in Pleasanton where every product is made locally at the bakery,” Vialle said.
The business is building another production lab in Pleasanton, he said, with the goal of making products fresh there each day, as it does in Danville.
For Vialle, the next step is an effort to reproduce what he has established in Danville in a new community.
“Essentially the same thing,” he said, “but just in a new town.”
Maison Benoit
Location: 402 Railroad Ave., Danville
Timings: Open daily, 7 a.m.–4 p.m.
Contact: (408) 618-1683
If you have questions, comments, or concerns regarding this article or our coverage, please contact us at harry@lead4earth.org.
Photographs
Benoit Vialle, founder of Maison Benoit Bakery, in his bakery
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