Le Saint Levain • luh sahn luh-VAHN

I got an earful when we relocated our family to Jacksonville from Paris, but there was one thing my wife couldn’t live without: her baguette, eaten daily, the way the French do. She’s lived with type 1 diabetes for nearly 30 years and told me that eating bread and baked goods in France was always easier on her blood sugar.

The breads we found here weren’t cutting it. They’d bloat us, fill us up before we’d even started our meal, and leave us tired afterward.

Turns out flour isn’t just flour. French flour is milled differently than American flour — crafted for slow fermentation, similar to sourdough.

This became a nonnegotiable: either she got her bread, or we were buying a one-way ticket back to France.

So we started importing flour from France, and I began baking it for her myself. Every not-so-casual mention of one of her favorite treats…

Did you know banana bread is my favorite dessert?

Remember those madeleines near Montmartre?

My mom used to make the best red velvet….

….grew the menu into what it is today, with a French flair, bien sûr .  

I loved giving my wife this one thing back. Mostly, I loved that she didn’t have to sacrifice her happiness for her health.

Merci, for trusting us with your carbs.

Stéphane