So far, LeStourgeon has had little trouble balancing his two worlds. "They pay me well to answer the phone and develop some recipes," he says of Fig & Olive, estimating that he devotes two to four hours a week to what he considers a consulting job. He's credited as the pastry chef on Fig & Olive's menu, but when he visits its kitchens, he says, he has the strange experience of working with a staff he's never met.
Hen of the Wood cook Owen Spence is the one who proposed that Little Sweets supply the Maple Street café, where he's a regular customer. When LeStourgeon brought samples, Maglianero co-owner Giovanna Jager was bowled over, remembers general manager Corey Goldsmith. "She was really into Balthazar. She didn't know that was where Andrew had worked. When she tried them, she was like, 'Wow, these are a little bit familiar. They remind me of Balthazar.'"
As LeStourgeon helps manage Little Sweets and learns from the business-driven Fig & Olive brand, he's begun thinking about starting his own dessert company. "I'm almost ready for a business of my own," he says. "I'm not yet. I have some things in myself that I need to iron out. We all have demons, and there are a couple left in me that I need to get to know a little bit better before I ask somebody for a quarter of a million dollars."
Since I was a little girl, dessert has always been my favorite part of a meal. Nothing used to make me more excited than seeing a delicious piece of cake or an ice cream sundae making its way towards me. Now it's my turn to share my passion and create that excitement for others.
At Little Miss Sweets NYC, we specialize in Puerto Rican & NY style gluten free desserts. Living with Celiac disease, I understand how difficult it is to enjoy the same things as everyone else. My love for sweets has allowed me to find the most delicious ways to create all my recipes without sacrificing taste and texture.