Brownsville restaurant brings piece of France to Valley

BROWNSVILLE, Texas ( ValleyCentral ) — Bonjour Brownsville! Nothing sounds better than having un Pain au Chocolat while sipping on a cafe latte .

Jolie Petite, located at 1105 E. Adams Street, has opened its doors to bring a piece of France to the Rio Grande Valley.

The restaurant features a chic , Parisian aesthetic with a side of couture and cuisine for its customers to enjoy.

Mary Ramirez Soto, owner and chef of Jolie Petite, was motivated to open her French restaurant after a romantic honeymoon with her husband across Europe. She said while in Paris, the love city of the world, she fell in love with the food, culture and environment.

However, there was one special dish that inspired Soto to change her career path to chase her dream and passion.

“After we visited the Louvre, we walked into a little restaurant across the street and we had the best Crouque Madame ever, after that experience I had to make one as special as this one,” Soto said. “I was banking for almost 16 years and during the center of the pandemic, I decided to go to culinary school and go for my passion, which is cooking.”

She added, during her time in culinary school, she studied in Colorado and graduated with honors.

“I told myself, you know when it’s the right time to follow your dreams, so I did and I went for it,” Soto said.

Soto said, she knew what type of restaurant she wanted and food she wanted to create but coming up with the restaurant’s name was a creative process.

She said she went from writing different names to going into a restaurant name generator website until one day she decided to google her childhood nickname translated into French.

“I didn’t know what to do, I knew I wanted something that represents me, so one day I googled Chiquita Bonita in French and the translation is Jolie Petite ,” she said. “ Chiquita Bonita was my nickname from my grandparents, who passed away, they are very inspirational to me to this day because they came from nothing, created their businesses and were hard workers.”

While creating a vision for her restaurant, Soto said she wanted to add a Locks of Love wall, inspired by the well-known attraction in Paris, to keep in the restaurant forever.

She added she wanted to create a unique and unforgettable experience for customers when they add their personalized locks to the wall.

Customers who order their signature cocktail, the French Kiss, are given a heart-shaped lock and a poem, written by Soto’s sister, along with the cocktail.

“My sister knew this was going to be a signature cocktail so she said, you know we should do a poem along with the cocktail, and take it to that extra level, so when I say Jolie Petite is full of creativity it’s not only me it’s so many people, it’s a whole team,” Soto said.

Soto makes sure her customers enjoy their experience at her restaurant and takes it to the next level by having an open window kitchen so customers can see their food and pastries being prepared as well as having fresh ingredients every day.

She added, that she wanted the Valley to be able to taste French food close to home, without having to travel far.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KVEO-TV.