French dip sandwiches of wagyu beef served with a rich, beefy au jus; macarons reflecting the colors of the rainbow; and the popular whole-grain puffs are just a few reasons to frequent La Tour Cafe locations around Oahu.

About the business: Brothers Brandon and Trung Lam founded La Tour with Rodney Weddle, now a chef and partner in the Aina Haina location. They were backed by a wealth of knowledge gained from growing up in the Ba-Le Sandwich Shop business established by their father, Thanh Lam.

The first restaurant the brothers opened was a Ba-Le at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, while enrolled at the school. Four full-service La Tour restaurants are found in Iwilei, Pearl City, Aina Haina and Kapolei. A Windward Mall outlet called LTC sells pastries, selected sandwiches and other La Tour offerings that don’t require a full kitchen. You can expect to see more LTC locations over time, Brandon Lam said.

The company also encourages its chefs to flex their creative muscles through catering. From office lunches to fancy engagements, the chefs prepare everything from casual food to fine-dining feasts, Lam said.

About the food: La Tour serves European-American food with Asian influences. The restaurants offer artisanal dishes and products made with quality ingredients, Brandon Lam said. Specialty sandwiches, paninis and burgers are served on rolls, baguettes and slices of bread all baked by the affiliated La Tour Bakehouse, while soups, salads and flatbread pizzas are all made from scratch.

La Tour Cafe’s macarons have been a draw for 10 years, and each location has at least 12 flavors each day. The company bakes 6,000 shells daily, making 3,000 macarons for the shops. Buttery kouign amann pastries were introduced roughly 18 months ago. The flaky pastries, plain and in tropical flavors, are baked at least twice daily. The now-familiar puffs, found at many retail stores, are also sold at the shops.

What to order: A top-seller is the French dip, but also highly popular is a hoagie that incorporates Vietnamese pho ingredients, hence its name: Pho-ggie. A pastrami dip is a twist on the classic, and the cheesesteak gets some crunch from crisp potato strings. Other choices include burgers, paninis and flatbread pizza, soups and salads.

Macarons can be purchased by the dozen or more to share, though they also are available individually, as are the many other pastries offered fresh daily.

Brandon Lam checks the cold-brew coffee for flavor each time he visits a location, to ensure the quality of that and other specialty coffee drinks La Tour serves.

How to order: Place your order at the counter, take a number, then find a seat. Dine-in customers in Kapolei also can visit La Tour’s first full bar. For takeout, especially at peak times, Lam recommends online ordering, through the website or the La Tour Cafe app.

Grab and go: Parking is plentiful at most La Tour locations, though the Iwilei store’s lot can be tricky. The entrance is off Alakawa Street. Go straight behind the building to get to spaces on the Diamond Head side and in front of the building. Improvements are planned to the parking lot connection between La Tour Plaza and Lowe’s Home Improvement to allow for smoother flow between properties, Lam said.

—

Dishes travel well in La Tour’s new eco-friendly packaging

The introduction of new serving ware doesn’t normally rate news coverage, but this is different.

La Tour Cafe’s new dishes are dual-purpose — they can be used to serve dine-in and takeout customers — but are far from typical plastic-foam clamshells.

Made from sustainable wheat straw, the trays and tops were co-designed by La Tour and Colorado-based Eco-Products Partners Inc., which manufactured the “dishes” specifically for the food La Tour serves.

“La Tour Cafe is truly ahead of the game here,” Sarah Martinez, Eco-Products’ marketing director, said in a statement.

The tops, embossed with La Tour’s name, include vent holes to allow steam to escape so sandwich rolls, burger buns and the like won’t get soggy, and they have contours designed for stacking, to help keep multiple takeout orders from sliding around.

The wheat straw trays and lids are grease-resistant, freezer- and microwave-safe, and commercially compostable.

“By offering a dine-in tray that can also serve as a takeout container, we’re simplifying life for our customers and for our employees. And we’re reducing waste at the same time,” said co-founder Trung Lam.

Grab and Go focuses on takeout food, convenience meals and other quick bites. Email ideas to crave@staradvertiser.com.