SCOOP: Popular Voilà Pastry & Café near Huntington Metro to close this summer

Voilà Pastry & Café near the Huntington Metro is planning to close this summer.

The well-liked neighborhood, French-inspired bakery in Huntington Station Shopping Center on N. Kings Highway is shuttering in July, a cafe employee confirmed to FFXnow.

“We decided to not renew our lease after July due to an ongoing unworkable issue with the landlord,” a restaurant spokesperson told FFXnow via email.

The leasing company and landlord A.J. Dwoskin corroborated this as well.

“We are disappointed [Voilà] is leaving,” Chief Operating Officer Tom Regnell told FFXnow. “But we were unable to come to terms on a new agreement.”

There’s already a “for lease” sign hanging above the bakery’s door.

When asked whether Voilà might move elsewhere in Fairfax County, the spokesperson said the team has “not found a suitable location yet, but will notify our customers via social media about our future plans.”

Voilà opened at least a decade ago, according to Yelp, and is owned by pastry Chef Mimi Mekdes. She learned the art of pastry baking and decorating from her mother and grandmother, per the website.

“To this day, they are her greatest inspiration. Her grandmother went to a French school in the early 1900’s; she cooked, baked, crocheted, knitted, and more, and always presented the finished product with the word ‘C’est Voila,'” it reads.

Mekdes began her career in financial management before having children and rediscovering her passion for baking. She attended L’Academie de Cuisine in Maryland prior to opening this shop.

Of the 202 reviews on Yelp, nearly 70% give the small, local bakery five stars.

“Nestled in the center of a run of the mill strip mall, this little slice of heaven is a must visit,” one reviewer said last year. “Seriously, if you blink you will miss this place, which is a shame because its a true hidden gem.”

“A magical place that transforms you from Alexandria Virginia to Paris with just one bite,” reads another from 2021.

The area around the Huntington Metro station is in the midst of a major redevelopment. A much-discussed comprehensive plan was approved late last year.  The Arden — a 126-unit affordable housing development — opened earlier this year, and a mixed-use apartment building adjacent to the station called the Aventon will start leasing this year as well.