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What would native speakers call a couple who runs a pastry shop?

In France, the one in the pair that makes the pastries would obviously be called pâtissier if a man, and pâtissière if a woman, but so would be referred to as their companion who tends store, even though they are not directly involved in the pastry making.

And so, a couple of French pâtissiers presenting their occupation well might say something along the lines, "Nous sommes pâtissiers à Bordeaux" (We're 'pâtissiers' in Bordeaux)" or "Nous avons une pâtisserie à Bordeaux (We run/operate a patisserie in Bordeaux.)"

My second question is, is there a particular word or phrase in English to refer to the patissier's wife who tends store and, as such, doesn't participate directly in the pastry making? Would calling her patissière fit the bill?

pâtissier, pâtissière nm, nf

(artisan de bouche) pastry chef n; patissier n

Le pâtissier fait des gâteaux. The patissier makes pastries WordReference English-French Dictionary © 2016

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    We don't even have a word for patisserie, which is why we use the French word in the first place. So I can't see we're likely to have a special word for the man who owns such a place, let alone his wife (regardless of whether she helps out with the business).
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Jan 30, 2016 at 18:06
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    Around here the guy's called "Otto". I forget his wife's name.
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Jan 30, 2016 at 18:39
  • @FumbleFingers Then, would "pâtissière" for "pâtissier's wife" be easily perceived by native speakers, considering that the term "pâtissier" in English is apparently used for both a male and female pastry chef? "She's a renowned Scottish pâtissier (pastry chef)" vs. "The pâtissière (pâtissier's wife) was assaulted in her shop as she waited on customers"
    – Elian
    Commented Jan 30, 2016 at 18:46
  • @Elian: I know French, so there's at least a chance I'd notice the feminine form. But it would never occur to me that you might mean the "pastry-maker's wife" as opposed to someone in that line of business who just happened to be female. Incidentally, if you're going to treat patisserie and derivatives as "English" words, they shouldn't have accents.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Jan 30, 2016 at 18:53
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    @FumbleFingers Indeed, "pastry chef" sounds more to me like one who works in a Michelin-awarded restaurant or the like. I'd suspect "patissier" might be a better fit for an artisan selling their pastries from a shop.
    – Elian
    Commented Jan 30, 2016 at 20:38

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"What do you do?"
"We own a pastry shop in Bordeaux."

That said, the word patissier is in use in English-speaking regions (pronounced "pah-tiss-yay"):

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/p%C3%A2tissier

"Pastry chef" can be used as well.

That said, pastries are also made by bakers. Here's what Wikipedia has to say on the subject:

A baker is someone who makes, bakes and sells breads, rolls, biscuits or cookies, and/or crackers using an oven or other concentrated heat source. Cakes and similar foods may also be produced, as the traditional boundaries between what is produced by a baker as opposed to a pastry chef have blurred in recent decades. The place where a baker works is called a bakery.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baker

For those of you ... uh ... ye of little faith! Stone Street, New York:

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More:

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Here's what's inside:

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    @Tom: I beg to differ. We're a country of 300 million-plus souls. To be sure, the philistines constitute a large portion of the population, but there are other people living here who have constitutional rights and personal preferences whose opinions and votes are equally important; never mind that people who actually run things don't give a shit about either group.
    – Ricky
    Commented Jan 30, 2016 at 19:45
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    I am reasonably educated and understand patissier, but I don't think most Americans would. Pastry chef is a perfectly good term; a little less "haut" might be pastry maker or pastry baker (just to distinguish to bread baker, although many do both.)
    – Steven Littman
    Commented Jan 30, 2016 at 22:08
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    @Ricky--Are you British? If so, you should understand that we just don't encounter the word patissier in the US. Patisserie, sometimes. Usually, the place is pretentious, overpriced, and in a neighborhood that appreciates that combination. We sure do have lots of pastry shops in the US. One of my favorites in NYC is Ferrara's, which calls itself a bakery. One reason this is so is that in the US, most bakeries sell both bread and cake, and there is no need for a separate word for bread shop and pastry shop.
    – Steven Littman
    Commented Jan 31, 2016 at 11:50
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    @StevenLittman: Are you telling me you've never been to Financier? The one downtown? On Stone Street? Come on. You're pulling my leg.
    – Ricky
    Commented Jan 31, 2016 at 12:01
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    @HotLicks Absolutely. The point about pattisiers in France is that every little town has them, not just places like Manhattan Island, and the West End of London.
    – WS2
    Commented Jan 31, 2016 at 18:56

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