If you are in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn any time soon, we suggest you drop in on La Table Exquise, a French bakery at 370 Tompkins Avenue (between Putnam and Madison)
which serves sugar free French baked goods that will make your taste buds and your blood sit up, take notice and say thank you!
Founded two years ago by Chef Sebastian Chaoui, (above) and managed by Mylene Mirande, his wife, the pastry lounge added much needed flavor and life to a neighborhood which boasts the highest rates of diabetes in the country and, according to the USDA, is a “food desert” because of its lack of fresh and healthy food for residents.
How bad is diabetes in Bed Stuy? If you count 100,000 people in the neighborhood, 48.1% of its residents would be diabetic, according to statistics released by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Bed Stuy also has one of the hightest foreclosure rates in NYC, even though prior to 2008, the hood was experiencing a resurgence. Back then, brownstones were tipping the scales at $1 million, bed & breakfast joints were popping up and Chris Rock was talking about his time there in the ’80s on his show “Everybody Hates Chris.”
The high real estate dash did not usher in green markets or fresh-food living though. For green market variety products, residents would have to trek about two miles to almost the edge of Fort Greene if they ever left their block. SuperFood Town, one neighborhood supermarket bordering Bed Stuy and Crown Heights, sitting on the corner of Fulton Street and Brooklyn Avenue, is a ten minute or more walk from La Table Exquise. It offers some relief, but prices there break banks as well as EBT cards. Ditto corner fruit stores where specialty foods are both imported and overpriced.
Such bleak statistics did not prevent Chef Sebastien, who trained in Paris at the Maitre Corbeau and was chef at the Lower House of The French Parliament, from opening his health conscious bakery, which occupies a the street corner adjacent to one of BedStuy’s famed brownstones.
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“BedStuy reminds me of the south side of Paris, the 13th Arrondisment, where I’m from,” Sebastien, 36, told us when we visited him for brunch two weeks ago.
La Table was pulsing with energy and chatter that Sunday afternoon, filled with young and older African-Americans from the area who sampled croissants, baguettes, yogurt, couscous, omlettes, freshly squeezed juices and tarts served buffet style on crockery that screamed home style familiarity.
FYI: Brunch is from 11 to 3 and is Prix Fixe. See some of the spread after the break!
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Many of the ingredients used by Sebastien, a private and corporate caterer of celebrity studded events as well as a member of the culinary class for more than 20 years, like his father before him, are fresh; and also imported from Paris. Whatever is unused is given to the community instead of thrown away. All are sugar free.
“I decided to open my patisserie in Bed Stuy because I wanted to bring my fresh, sugar free pastries to a community that needed them,” the Selita Ebanks and Russell Simmons caterer explained.
Sebastien made vegan dishes for some of Simmons’ events, a few of them for the first time. “I made vegan chocolate cups sprinkled with gold dust for him,” Sebastien enthused. “Russell is like Oprah; he opened doors for me! I was very excited by the opportunity he gave me.”
For Selita Ebanks, Sebastien created delectable dishes which were fresh, light and in season.
Vegan chocolate cups sprinkled with gold dust, made for Russell Simmons.
“I am very flexible,” Sebastien said, explaining that he’d never worked vegan until he met the mogul.
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“I work with the seasons and I try to work light,” explained Sebastien in a flavorful Parisian accent. “I never say no and I give the best quality. Consistency is the key.”
Sebastien is very consistent and relentless in promoting his patisserie and the catering business he uses to keep his bakery’s doors open. Whether its corporate events, a private dinner for two or two thousand, he gives his all in his creations which are always flavorful and light. He uses the best ingredients for his tarts, the natural sugar found in fruits. That means you can stuff your face and still feel light and energetic after chowing down.
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“If someone gives me a chance, I take it. It was a choice I made to come to Bed Stuy. I’ve been offered opportunities to leave but I stay because this is something I’ve always wanted to do. I work for the community and the neighborhood’s response is good. When I first opened, I gave away things for free for two months. Bed Stuy is beautiful!”
After the break, see the interior of Le Table Exquise!
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Interior of La Table Exquise seats about 25.
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A mouth watering quiche by Chef Sebastien. GlobalGrind sampled dozens of these for a tasting yesterday and we were floored by Sebastien’s presentation. Trays were stacked with quiche’s, tarts, creamy desserts, prosciutto on baguettes, vegan and traditional, all were made fresh hours before our 12.15 PM tasting.
