Our Story · Est. 1922

A hundred years on Saad Zaghloul Street.

One family. One counter. One city that grew up on our cakes.

In 1922, a Greek confectioner named Cleovolous Moustakas — trading in Alexandria since 1907 — opened a small patisserie on Saad Zaghloul Street. Word of his éclairs, his candied almonds and the ice-cream flavours he invented spread across the Mediterranean pearl. Soon, the royal palace was calling.

We baked the coronation cake for King Farouk in 1937, and his royal wedding cake to Queen Farida in 1938. For decades since, we have served Egypt’s palaces, ministers and statesmen — and, far more importantly, the families of Alexandria.

The original Patisserie Délices storefront in old Alexandria, with staff in white coats and passersby in period dress

The hundred years

A timeline of sweetness.

1907

A Greek confectioner at Ramleh Station

Cleovoulos Moustakas, a Greek confectioner, begins trading on the Corniche at Ramleh Station — a bakery, pastry shop, chocolaterie and salon de thé all at once, with machines for dragées and a signature dandourma ice cream.

1922

A French visitor gives us our name

The legal papers are finalised and the shop is formally established. The name is born the same year: a French guest, tasting the pastries, calls them “une merveille de délices” — a marvel of delights. Délices it has been ever since.

1937–38

By royal appointment

Délices bakes both the coronation cake and the wedding cake of King Farouk, and caters Greek, Italian and French receptions across the cosmopolitan city — the beginning of a long service to Egypt's palaces and statesmen.

1952 →

A city's living room

After the revolution, even President Nasser's family keep celebrating at Délices. The café becomes woven into Alexandrian life — coffee after Greek funerals, special pastries at Christmas and Easter, wicker chairs outside to watch the world go by.

Today

The same family, the next hundred years

Still owned and run by the founding Greek family — grandson Ioannis Antoniou keeps the legacy, the 1920s recipes still made by hand. A working museum on-site holds a century of history, and millions now follow along online.

What never changed

One family since 1922.

Since 1922 the same family has stood behind this counter: the family that founded the shop. The recipes are the ones written down in the 1920s, the counter is the same marble, and the name over the door belongs to the people behind it.

Family since 1922 — the founding family

1937

By royal appointment — King Farouk's coronation cake

100+

Years of hand-made recipes

The Délices Archive

The paper trail of a hundred years.

Heritage is easy to claim and hard to show. Every object below is real, on display in our flagship on Saad Zaghloul Street.

The storefront, 1920s — Patisserie Délices on Saad Zaghloul Street, staff in white coats at the door. — **The storefront, 1920s**Patisserie Délices on Saad Zaghloul Street, staff in white coats at the door.

The original price board — Hand-lettered under the founder's name, C. Moustacas. — **The original price board**Hand-lettered under the founder's name, C. Moustacas.

By royal appointment — The gilded crest — the coronation cake of 1937 and the royal wedding cake of 1938. — **By royal appointment**The gilded crest — the coronation cake of 1937 and the royal wedding cake of 1938.

The glass shop sign — The original painted-glass sign, still intact. — **The glass shop sign**The original painted-glass sign, still intact.

A century of registers — Every cash register the shop has ever used, in order. — **A century of registers**Every cash register the shop has ever used, in order.

The office Remington — The typewriter that wrote the orders for the palace. — **The office Remington**The typewriter that wrote the orders for the palace.

A Sono Cairo record — Music from the salon in the years after the revolution. — **A Sono Cairo record**Music from the salon in the years after the revolution.

The museum wall — Photographs, signs and letters — a hundred years, kept on the wall. — **The museum wall**Photographs, signs and letters — a hundred years, kept on the wall.

The family list

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From our family to yours

“For more than a hundred years, the same family has stood behind this counter in Alexandria. We baked for your great-grandparents and your grandparents; we made the cake at your parents' wedding. It would be our honour to serve your family — and, one day, your children's children. That is the whole of our ambition: another hundred years of belonging to you.”

— The Antoniou family · Délices, since 1922