BUFFALO, N.Y. — Camille Le Caër was born in Brittany, France, a rugged region on the French coast known for its crêpes.
Had he not been an hyperactive kid, he might not have had the love of pastry he has today.
"I got into a lot of trouble in school, a lot of fighting," Le Caër says as he kneads a ball of brioche dough on the table of his Hertel Ave pastry shop. "I went to my grandmothers for a while and learned how to read a cookbook."
Country eating in France is nothing like suburban eating in the United States. At an early age, Le Caër learned to use all of the crops in his grandmother's garden for creating a variety of dishes to prevent food waste. He'd make jam from berries and didn't think twice about eating the rabbits that would attempt to raid the rich spoils of her garden.
"One of the first things I did was a blackberry pie," he recalled. "I love blackberry."
Le Caër got his start as a savory chef at the age of 14, when most teenagers are running rampant on the streets looking for various avenues of mischief. Instead, Le Caër was working in the kitchen of a Ritz Carlton.
"I went into the kitchen and was hearing all these stories that the chef was crazy, two people already quit that day," Le Caër said. "I went to a guy in the back and told him all the terrible things I'm hearing. He said don't worry and gave me a hat and a jacket. I walked out and by the time I got to the dessert cart, everyone was saying 'hello chef.' I turned around he was putting his jacket on, it was the chef."
It was the first lesson in leadership that Le Caër learned, and the respect the title of chef commanded throughout a kitchen.
Le Caër found his calling eventually, transitioning from savory cooking to pastry.
"I first fell in love for (savory) food," he said. "But I love the exact science of pastry. There's no deviating, you have to be exact. You have to proof for the right time, bake for the right time. Otherwise, it's no good."
Le Caër apprenticed in a small bakery in Brittany, France for about a year. By the time he was 18, however, he needed to move on. He had learned everything he was going to learn.
"He told me I've done everything, just go to Paris now," Le Caër said.
At 18 years old, Le Caër grabbed his knife, kitchen jacket and begged and borrowed his way to Paris. He slept in an apartment of a relative in the south of Paris.
The city is a quintessential destination for fine cuisine, but its pastries are world-renowned. Le Caër likely could have found a job at a small patisserie anywhere throughout the city, but he had one specific place in mind.
In 1730, Nicolas Stohrer was a pastry chef to Stanislas Leczsynski, Duke of Lorraine, former King of Poland, and father of Marie Leczsynksa, who married Louis XV of France (French family trees are complicated). Stroher established his pastry shop at 51 rue Montorgueiland and today Stroher is the oldest patisserie in Paris, which puts it in the running for oldest worldwide.
"I went to the bakery, knocked on the door, the Chef answered and I told him I'm supposed to start today," Le Caër laughed as he reminisced. "I told him I have my knife and there's no way you're going to tell me no. He told me to go in the back and grab a jacket."
Le Caër said he washed and prepared dishes for three days straight, each day for 18 hours.
"It was the most intense training I've ever had in my life," he recalled. "But at the end of the third day the Chef said to come back tomorrow, you got a job."
How did Le Caër make it to Buffalo? It makes no sense for a qualified French pastry chef to come to Buffalo, let alone open up his own shop.
As is often the case in life, love does a number on you.
"I met my wife in 2013 in New York City." Le Caër said.
Le Caër had been brought to the Big Apple to run a kitchen and learn the American way of running restaurants. Upon meeting his wife, they had their first daughter. His wife was a Lockport native, so it only made sense to move home.
"We moved home, and I worked at a few restaurants," he said.
Le Caër ultimately got the itch to open his own pastry shop, and with some encouragement from the owners of Lombardo's. Le Caër assembled a team, begged and borrowed wherever he could to rent the space at 1416 Hertel Ave.
"That fridge was a gift from Martin Cooks, that table we got at Savers," Le Caër said as he pointed out all the things his friends donated or they thrifted by opening day.
"We were totally overwhelmed on opening day. We didn't have enough people, we only had Square readers and cash," he said. "We ran out of food by one in the afternoon. The second day by noon."
Open for a little longer than a year and a half, Pastry By Camille has become a staple on Hertel Avenue. A popular destination during the Women's World Cup and a growing go-to-spot for Bills games with an incredible brunch menu, lobster roll and tv's for their outdoor patio.
Camille Le Caër is living the American dream. A French native who emigrated to the United States, found love, established a business, and actively gives back to the community.
Except his future is uncertain.
"I'm still waiting for my green card," he said in a frustrated tone. "I own a legal business, have two children and am still waiting on the whole green card process. It's so hard to run a business without being able to get any sort of credit. It makes it very stressful."
In the meantime, Le Caër wakes up every morning to unlock his pastry shop and fill the awakening Hertel Avenue with the aroma's of France - a refreshing way to wake up in the City of Good Neighbors.
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