Here’s how to get your hands on the king cake all of South MS seems to be talking about
Dong Phuong king cakes are arriving with Carnival season on the Mississippi Coast, but you’ll need to get in line.
The New Orleans king cake everyone raves about always draws lines and sells out quickly. Dong Phuong Bakery, billed as the oldest Vietnamese bakery in New Orleans and a James Beard Award winner, has already stopped taking online orders, according to its website.
The king cakes don’t last long on shelves, either. Just ask Rudy Letellier, pharmacist and owner at Waveland Pharmacy. He’s been selling the delectable treats for years. He became an authorized reseller by begging, he said.
“I just bugged them so many years that they finally relented,” he said.
Waveland Pharmacy, at 112 Auderer Blvd., is one of only two authorized resellers of Dong Phuong’s king cakes this year on the Mississippi Coast, the bakery’s website shows. The other is Lee’s International Grocery at 917 Division St. in Biloxi.
Stocking great king cakes
Lee’s has been stocking Dong Phuong products, including its French bread, for years, said employee Vivian Nguyen. But Lee’s had to work hard to get on the list of authorized king cake resellers. This will be their second year to sell the king cakes.
The first shipment should arrive before 9 a.m. Friday at Lee’s, with weekly orders hitting the store on subsequent Fridays.
“You wouldn’t believe it,” she said Monday. “We have had 50 phone calls today asking about the arrival date for the king cakes. They’re so popular.”
So what makes Dong Phuong’s king cakes so special? The author of a New Orleans Bar Association blog rhapsodized about what sets this treat apart:
“The cream cheese icing, which is on top of both the cinnamon and cream-cheese filled cake, has a delicious saltiness that I think is really what sets this cake apart from the rest of the pack. With that said, the dough is really, really, special, y’all.”
Letellier and Nguyen both say lines form at their stores for Dong Phuong king cakes, which sell out within an hour.
Nguyen said that Lee’s will get king cakes on Friday mornings, while Letellier said the king cakes are available daily when Waveland pharmacy opens at 10 a.m. on weekdays. The exception is Tuesday, when the New Orleans bakery is closed.
The king cakes are available only during Carnival season, which this year runs from Jan. 6 to March 4.
Letellier said folks come from all over for Dong Phuong’s king cakes. His personal favorites are almond or pecan because he likes nuts, but there’s also original cinnamon, cream cheese, strawberry, coconut, almond, and durian.
