Brooklyn bakery Bien Cuit is opening its first Manhattan location in December, along with a new high-end commissary kitchen to service its growing roster of restaurants and retail outlets.

The bakery, which opened in Boerum Hill in July 2011 and has since been named to multiple best-of lists for its artisan breads and pastries, is taking storefront space at 35 Christopher Street in the heart of the West Village.

Bien Cuit is also launching a 5,000-square foot kitchen space in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, to ramp up production for its already wait-listed private label business, which it intends to grow selectively to maintain less than 100 clients. The bakery currently provides bread and pastries for such prominent locations as Gramercy Tavern, Union Square Café, Quality Meats, Corton, Joe’s Coffee Bars, Murray’s Cheese Shop and North End Grill.

Bien Cuit got a big lift this fall from the Partnership for New York City Fund, which has recently given the bakery a generous loan for the warehouse/wholesale business. It’s one of the first food companies supported by the Partnership (founded by buyout legend Henry Kravis), which funds community-based businesses in New York with potential for economic benefit and job creation.

Bien Cuit was recently named one of the best eateries in New York by Food & Wine, and the only New York bakery chosen by Bon Appetit in a round-up of the best baguettes in the US. 

Bien Cuit is owned by Zachary Golper, former executive baker at Philadelphia’s Le Bec Fin, along with his wife Kate Wheatcroft.