Today we’d like to introduce you to Mathieu Jourdan-Gassin.
Hi Mathieu, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I came to Atlanta for the Olympics in 1996 and immediately loved the local vibe, the kindness and openness of the people and their true hospitality. It was easy to understand the potential of this (sleeping beauty) city as to become a leading vibrant capital for the new South and a major national metropolitan center. I was sold, excited to be part of this renewal and to call Atlanta home. Originally from Nice in the South of France, I moved from London to opened with two partners ANIS BISTRO in Buckhead and PASTIS in Roswell. My wife, Heather was born in Decatur and is a true Atlantan, she graduated from the GA state Hospitality program and obtained her Master’s degree from The Portfolio Center in Creative copywriting. My career took me back to France in the mid 2000’s where I worked in large scale event production (think global sports tournaments, political & cultural events and Corporate new product release) there I discovered a new way to do Food & Beverage and embrace a new professional path that actually took me back to Atlanta in 2014 to work for Fifth Group Restaurants were I integrate the leadership team as Director of Operations for both Bold Catering and Bold Design. While living in France, Heather had developed a design concept store named CABANE (treehouse) where she showcased new designers home & lifestyle products from top European design houses.
We wanted to bring Atlanta some French flair in the culinary arena but didn’t want to do a traditional bistro, French food was present in all menus and had become mainstream through Steak frites, charcuterie, aioli, Nicoise and many other iconic dishes. We wanted to develop a food idea that showcased a unique French culinary theme that had not yet been standardized or seen everywhere. Pastries came naturally has a niche that Atlanta had yet to develop and bring to a true contemporary level, next was finding the best location to do just that< this is where we met the Jamestown people and opened our first store at Ponce City Market in 2016. We featured 35 pastries, 20 flavors of macarons, 20 artisan chocolates and a curated mix of French inspired lifestyle retail items going from a selection of French floral honeys, jams, linens, cooking & travel books, cookies, oils and many more unique and exclusive items. Heather’s had worked her magic and we were immediately adopted by the community! Fast forward to 2021, we fought during the pandemic to keep our staff employed, created the first delivery service out of Ponce City Market and embarked in building three new shops and moved our production kitchen to the Emory area!!! We opened an outpost at the cool BELLYARD new boutique hotel, followed by a true French Cafe & patisseries at the Interlock (both in the Westside) and we will open this fall in the Buckhead Village District. We feel humbled and blessed to have the opportunity to keep Atlanta eating our desserts and look to the future with pride as the city that adopted me in 1996 is definitely become what we dreamed it would be!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The road wasn’t never smooth but Heather and I are passionate about running our business and really think about how to improve it 24/7. We also got so much love from the community that becoming ‘Atlanta’s sugar dealers’ is extremely gratifying and fun. We dedicate our free time to our daughter who is 15 and are big time homebodies, the rest is work, work, work and we juggle between new recipes, keeping our locations supplied with fresh daily made fresh and delicious desserts and making sure we can meet our customers and keep in touch. Our staff is like family, we actually have a very low turnover and have had the happiness to be with the same loyal team for years. Dealing with the pandemic was so tough, we didn’t know what or how long was this crisis was going to last and with what consequences, the work, our world was literally changing every week…we had a monthly plan and honestly considered all options. We used our savings to get our delivery service up and running on Instagram and delivered from Lake Lanier to Peachtree city for eight months… it was the most humbling, crazy and challenging experience but we got to bring a little happiness to people’s homes during the shutdown and it was quite emotional at times. Baking birthday cakes and delivering it to ‘zoom parties’ or delivering boxes of macarons to a parent or grandparent sent from their kids who were on the other side of the country became daily routines, we checked on people and made them happy with our desserts. We are now back to full operations and learning how to adapt and serve our customers in a new world with always the same expectations of better food, better service and gratitude!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
We are an authentic French Patisserie (pastry store/bakery), proudly offering over 30 types of classic French Pastries, 20 types of Macarons and 20 artisan chocolates. We also serve European-style sandwiches, candies, cookies, espresso coffee, organic teas and now wines (who doesn’t want chocolate cake and champagne?). We are a family business, all our pastry chefs are from France and we love to customize cakes for special occasions. We have three locations soon a fourth will be opening in Buckhead (Sept. 2021). All our products are made daily and with the upmost care as to transcribe a true French authenticity. We like to think that our mantra is: ‘Take a 10-minute break to experience St Germain’s products and fly back to France!”. We pride ourselves in offering the best products, with the best staff and in the best locations. We think that good food is not enough, it has to be served with love and our Cafe & Bakeries need to feel like a small voyage to France, it is all about being true and authentic and do it with pride and kindness. Food is love and love comes from the family Sunday meal, sharing at the end of the desserts is when the connection happens between the generations, we just love that idea of sharing & loving.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
Sunday family meals in my home in the South of France. I learned about food from my grandmother, my dad and my mom. It was always a big Mediterranean-style affair with lots of laughter, emotions and love. The food had an emotional, regional, cultural and seasonal meaning, there was always a story behind every ingredient or recipe. We talked, we laughed, we lived… and did it all over the following Sunday.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@stgermainbakery.com
- Website: www.stgermainatl.com
- Instagram: @stgermainbakery
