Alon Balshan left Israel in 1986, traveling to the United States on a one-way plane ticket with, as he says, "$500 and a backpack." After a short stint in New York, he came to Atlanta, where he worked at Engleman's Bakery and Murphy's Restaurant before opening his own small gourmet market and pastry shop, Alon's Bakery, in Morningside in 1992. Since then, Balshan has expanded the business to include an impressive selection of artisan cheeses, prepared foods and fine wines. The family's newest venture is a bakery and market in Dunwoody, complete with a chocolate-making room. Alon's original location, even after 16 years, still has the friendly feel of a mom-and-pop place. Longtime regulars line up to buy Atlanta's best artisan baguettes or treats like the decadent banana cream tart. You also can grab a juicy roasted lamb sandwich for lunch or get a coffee and a buttery, just-baked croissant for breakfast.

You pretty much opened Alon's on a shoestring, didn't you?

The bakery was a miracle, I would say. I budgeted what I could, and the rest was kind of given to me. A bakery has a lot of equipment, and every single piece of equipment I bought was used. But I worked very hard to build the place. I laid all the brick and tile. And I built my dessert and pastry case.

But now, after all this time in Atlanta, you've become one those people, like Madonna, who's well known enough to have one name. So, how does it feel to be Alon?

Your saying that is funny [laughs]. I wish my wife could hear that. My wife, Janine, always teases me about that. She was a teacher. She's always saying, "What do you mean Alon? It's Alon Balshan. You don't just say, Alon. What do think, that you're Madonna?"

Janine has become a big part of Alon's, but is it challenging, working together so closely all the time?

She's an anchor. She's the people person. She's the one who walks around and makes sure to greet everybody. But it's very challenging working together sometimes. After all this time, we've gotten to the point where it's finally settling in. Basically, the business grew to the point that I needed to deal with some things and she could deal with other things, so we each have our own corner now.

Cocoa Barry has chosen you as one of its Chocolate Ambassadors. Does that mean that you get to be Atlanta's Willy Wonka?

Well ... [laughs] not really ... Barry Callebaut is the biggest chocolate company in the world, and they use you as an ambassador, which is sort of a sales rep, if you will. You go out and do demos and make chocolates and desserts. We use their chocolate in all the mousse that we do and the cookies that we make. And now we have the specialty chocolatier thing in Dunwoody. But one of the things that's the most fun is to be able to educate customers.

What are your favorite things to do when you eat at home or when you dine out?

The past few months at home have not been very easy because we've been so busy. So for the most part, we've been relaxing. But usually, we like to entertain. I have an authentic brick oven I built in my back yard, and I'll fire up pizzas and grill outside and invite friends over and have some wine. That's what I like to do. We don't go out much, but I love going to Joel. That's one of my favorite places, hands down.

> Alon's is at 1394 N. Highland Ave. N.E., 404-872-6000; and at Perimeter Mall, 4505 Ashford Dunwoody Road, 678-397-1781. www.alons.com.