S2 • E10 Jun 1, 2022
Husband and wife Joe and Loloah own and operate Boulangerie Mr. Pinchot in the Plateau Mont-Royal neighborhood of Montréal, QC. The business was originally Loloah's mother's, and after she passed away, they leased it out. When that venture didn't last, they decided to operate the business themselves to honor Loloah's mother's memory. Their fare is half traditional French pastries, such as croissants, and half traditional Lebanese pastries from their ethnic heritage. Without any additional staff, Joe, self-taught, does most of the baking, while Loloah, who works there part-time as she completes her Ph.D., primarily works front of house and does what she considers manageable kitchen duties. They are close to closing in the business as is not being financially viable. They lost many of Loloah's mother's original customers in those customers not having made the transition from owner to owner to owner, they have to compete against the plethora of other bakeries in the neighborhood, and they have the problem of not much pass-by foot traffic in being on a residential side street, the plain façade making it look like just another residential building. Steve can see that Joe is a talented baker, especially for being self-taught, but is arguably too much of a perfectionist in throwing out whatever he doesn't consider that perfection. In addition to teaching them means to bake more efficiently in a professional setting, Steve wants them to truly blend the French and the Lebanese in their product line to make them stand out from the crowd in the bakery rich neighborhood. Through it all, Steve needs to ensure that Loloah is managing, especially with the changes, in juggling the two hectic halves of her life. On the design side, they all have an additional problem of Tiffany not being able to make it to Montréal due to inclement weather snowing her "out". Having to do the consultation virtually, Tiffany has on-site assistance from her friend Heidi, who will realize Tiffany's vision of turning the space into a true boulangerie, including upping the curb appeal to make it look like a commercial business.
