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Washington state’s first Paris Baguette quick-service restaurant is set to open in early 2023, courtesy of a local businessman and restaurateur hoping to recapture some of his past.

Paul Liu, who immigrated to the Seattle area with his family from South Korea when he was 10, developed a fondness for the internationally recognized neighborhood bakery-café on frequent trips back to the country. When he learned that Paris Baguette was looking to enter the Washington market, he jumped at the chance.

“Every time my family visits Korea, you can’t walk five blocks without seeing a Paris Baguette location, and we all have developed a fondness for its pastries and cakes,” says Liu, noting that the bakery was founded in South Korea. “There’s a location close to my in-laws, and when we visit, we’re there multiple times a week. The taste and smell brings back memories.”

Liu, who grew up working in his family’s restaurant business and has operated several restaurants himself, plans to open more Paris Baguette locations on the Eastside, adding that the market here “has a very high demand for Asian-inspired pastries and cakes.”

Paris Baguette has more than 100 locations across the U.S., but Liu’s franchise is only the second in the Pacific Northwest.