Samara Opens Beau Jour De Ma Vie French-Style Bakery With Open Kitchen

Samara held a soft opening for Beau Jour De Ma Vie - also operating as De Ma Vie - Feb. 28–March 1 at 7787 Leesburg Pike in the Idylwood area of Falls Church, offering an open-format kitchen, pastries, gelato and prepared crepes to a storefront that seats roughly 80 guests. The ground-floor space measures about 2,600 square feet and includes two interior dining rooms for about 50 patrons plus outdoor seating for roughly 30.

Samara is credited as the bakery’s baker, creator and lead designer; her father, property owner Adel Kebaish, provided development support and described the concept as intended to bring a Parisian-style lounge to an area he called short on places to gather. “The idea came actually, from my daughter, who is an artist… She wants to build a nice lounge, because this area doesn’t have any place that people can simply have a conversation and entertain each other,” Kebaish said. He added that Samara “did her homework, and she thinks it’s going to be good for the area and good for her business.”

The menu and website materials list classic French items alongside savory fare: croissants, macarons, éclairs, Crepe Suzette, Gateau au Chocolate Fondant, gelato, French Onion Soup, Creamy Pumpkin Soup, Grilled Chicken Sandwich, Smoked Beef Sandwich and beverages from espresso to matcha latte. Kebaish said a rotating program will introduce two new items each week: “Two items will be added every week from different locations, from Italy, for example, from the Middle East, from Portugal. So, she’s going to add two items every week and replace them with another item.”

Equipment procurement was part of the buildout: the project listed a rotating oven from Sweden and a WMF coffee machine from Germany among needed deliveries. Earlier planning targeted a late August or September opening while awaiting an occupancy permit and those specialty pieces; the soft opening held Feb. 28–March 1, and a community article about the opening appeared March 3.

The site occupies a former Mint Cafe hookah bar that appears to have left in 2024; before that the address housed a United Bank branch and the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a change in use for the property in 2020. The building’s second floor contains commercial offices and Smile Studio dental clinic, whose signage had been removed for code-related issues; Kebaish plans a new digital sign to feature all tenants on the property.

De Ma Vie lists hours as Monday–Friday 9:00 AM–8:00 PM, Saturday 9:00 AM–9:00 PM and Sunday 9:00 AM–7:00 PM on its site copy, and visibility from Route 7 and the I-495 interchange should bring a mix of office workers, local residents and students from nearby Marshall High School. The bakery promoted the soft opening with an Instagram post that read: “BEAM Hour Iド六 De Ma Vie كووراد Cole knch Fich Bakery Be Jour De Μα Vie French bakery & café сл Opening February 28th & March 1st FREE.”