Sarabou Bakery, which specializes in French-style breads and pastries, recently opened on Center Avenue in Westwood.

The shop offers pastries, cakes and French and Italian bread made fresh daily. They also have lunch items like soup, salad and sandwiches.

The journey to opening his own shop has been long for baker Aboudramane Kone, who opened it with his wife last month. Kone, who is originally from Ivory Coast and trained as a baker in France, moved to the U.S. 13 years ago to flee political turmoil that put his life in danger.

When he arrived, he couldn't speak English.

"It was very difficult for me," Kone said.

Kone took ESL classes and landed a job at a Dunkin Donuts in New York. After six months, he found a job at "a real bakery," Make My Cake in Harlem. Over the next few years, he got positions at several different bakeries, mostly around the city. He also got married five years ago and moved to Bergen County with his wife, where they decided to open a bakery of their own.

"I'm going through the American dream," Kone said.

In the future, Kone said he hopes to grow Sarabou to add more locations in New Jersey — they also looked at Ridgewood and Englewood before settling on Westwood — and the city.

In addition to the fresh foods made daily, Kone said they can prepare food for events and customers can order any kind of cake or bread.

Sarabou is located at 301 Center Ave. in Westwood.

Have a question or news tip? Contact editor Jim Leggate at Jim.Leggate@patch.com, or find us on Facebook and Twitter. For news straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.