Madame Gateaux is located at 2034 Danforth Ave Toronto, ON M4C 1J6 (647) 352-0763 and I conducted this interview with owner Noel Yim in April 2013
As soon as I saw this store front, it called me. It said, Suzie, this is the store of your dreams, you must come in! So of course I took a photograph of it and then ran away. I am notoriously fiscal so it surprised me when I could not stop thinking about it.
Eventually I scoped the place out, bought some of the coolest stuff for amazing prices and knew I just had to ask the owner if I could interview her about the store and cooking classes. Lucky for me, Noel Yim said yes!
The Interview
Suzie the Foodie: Okay, could you tell me a little bit about Madame Gateaux? How long have you guys been here?
Madame Gateaux: We open more than 2 years now, this is our starting of the third year.
Suzie the Foodie: Nice, so you’ve gone through the hard part, the first couple of years.
Madame Gateaux: The first couple of years are always really hard because it’s like “Should I stay? Should I go?”, you know?
Suzie the Foodie: Yeah.
Madame Gateaux: And this year will be the third one, and would be the time to make the decision on whether it’s worthwhile to stay with the open spot for people to walk in.
Suzie the Foodie: Right.
Madame Gateaux: Because for me, I like to shop to see the actual product. I don’t like to buy just online.
Suzie the Foodie: No, it’s not the same is it?
Madame Gateaux: Yeah, so that’s the idea of having this place that people can in to look at the actual product and pick it up when they like it really. But an open store front is quite a challenge.
Suzie the Foodie: And you also have classes?
Madame Gateaux: Yeah, like now there is somebody doing the two-tier fondant covered cake.
Suzie the Foodie: Oh, nice! Two-tier, impressive.
Madame Gateaux: So, our original idea was to have all these classes and my idea was to have more catered to the working class; that every day they are doing the same job and then they want to do something on the side as a hobby for fun.
Suzie the Foodie: Okay.
Madame Gateaux: So the class is more of a nighttime or weekend, so when they finish their work they can come and relax and take a class for the fun of it.
Suzie the Foodie: That’s nice.
Madame Gateaux: So now this kind of class that I have is pretty flexible, so people can book a time and say if they want to enter a class with their daughter or just the whole family, or a bunch of friends. They can book it whenever they want a time, and if the instructor is okay they can go for it.
Suzie the Foodie: I gather this neighbourhood is very family driven? So that’s probably a good thing about this neighbourhood?
Madame Gateaux: When I first opened in the neighbourhood, I didn’t know much about it but I liked it because it’s quite quiet. This is more of a specialized store, so I didn’t worry too much on that it has to have a lot of traffic.
Suzie the Foodie: Right.
Madame Gateaux: Most people come here because they specifically like to do all this art about cake, so they come and look for the items. And the after that, I find that this neighbourhood is very family orientated.
Suzie the Foodie: Right.
Madame Gateaux: I have a lot of mothers with the little carriage, for pick up day for their cupcakes for their family or friends.
Food Trends
Suzie the Foodie: Well I saw that you have a class on miniature cupcakes, because those are really popular.
Madame Gateaux: Yep.
Suzie the Foodie: It’s funny how we went from cakes to cupcakes, and now miniature cakes.
Madame Gateaux: Oh, yeah. Last year was a bit of a turning point because this…did you ever hear of a business voucher on the website, half-price?
Suzie the Foodie: No.
Madame Gateaux: They do this, I don’t know what they call it, a coupon or a card so you can buy a class for half the price and you come and have the class done here.
Suzie the Foodie: Right.
Madame Gateaux: So we did quite a lot of cupcakes, especially the chocolate cupcake because people like the taste of it.
Suzie the Foodie: Of course!
Everything-Is-Supplied Baking Classes
Madame Gateaux: We quite did a lot, about 400-something students went through.
Suzie the Foodie: Really?
Madame Gateaux: Yeah, it got our name out there and helped quite a bit. So now there are more people that know that we are here. The good thing about my classes is that I don’t need people to buy things in here, everything is provided.
Suzie the Foodie: That’s nice.
Madame Gateaux: They come and enjoy it, and if they’d like to buy something to try at home they are welcome to do so; but if not they can just take their product and go home.
Suzie the Foodie: That is great. I took a cake decorating class out West and I had to buy everything and it was crazy expensive.
Madame Gateaux: My students say so to me also, they say “Oh, wow? I don’t have to buy anything? When I take this cake class I have to buy almost $400 worth of everything but the class only charge $20, but by the time they sell everything…”
Bread-making Classes?
Suzie the Foodie: That’s so true. I’m curious, do you do courses on any kind of bread making, or anything like that?
Madame Gateaux: Bread making, originally the first year I put bread making in the schedule. But I found the amount is so low.
Suzie the Foodie: Really?
Madame Gateaux: So after that there was no point to tie up the baker to be here all the time, for one or two people. When it comes to bread making, you really can not have just one student.
Suzie the Foodie: No, and it’s a long process. It’s not something you can really do in an hour.
Madame Gateaux: Yeah, I feel so sorry for him because it’s like 4 hours long and he has to try and entertain his students. Because the proofing takes like around 30-45 minutes. Baking is fine, it’s just like 15 minutes or so.
Suzie the Foodie: It’s true, you are really just sitting around. That would be really hard to keep it going for that long.
Madame Gateaux: So now I basically cancelled all the bread classes, because of the demand. People are more into cupcakes is one of them, and French Macarons is the other one.
French Macarons
Suzie the Foodie: That’s really popular isn’t it?
Madame Gateaux: Yeah, a lot of people come here for it.
Suzie the Foodie: That’s one I haven’t tried yet, so I’m really interested. I’m living in the East Coast and they consider macarons like drop cookies, and I’m like “No, I don’t think that’s what I want.” And then I see these beautiful French Macarons and I’m like, “That’s what everyone is talking about!”
Madame Gateaux: They are different colours, and ganache fillings….
Suzie the Foodie: Ganache fillings? Oh….
Madame Gateaux: Yep. The French Macarons is probably the most popular class that I have in here.
Suzie the Foodie: That’s interesting.
Madame Gateaux: Yeah, because it’s hard to make it at home sometimes if you never really learned the right process. You can say “why is my macaron oval shaped?” and you somebody can’t get it right.
Suzie the Foodie: Do you find that it’s a food trend right now?
Madame Gateaux: It’s been on for a while, but I think for ladies they like the look of it: colourful and feels quite light. And not too guilty if you take too many of it. Cupcake on the other hand I’m not quite fond of it because it is quite heavy and all the icing on and fondant covered.
Petit Fours
Suzie the Foodie: That’s very true. Do you do things like petit fours with fondant too?
Madame Gateaux: I do have that on. Right now it’s also more of a private class; if people request it I’ll do it. Because that one is quite a long process and you need a bit of skill to tell the truth, because they are quite small. The traditional petit fours have marzipan on it and a very thin layer of cake, so there are quite a few layers and you have to have the patience to get it all together. Not everyone likes to learn that.
Suzie the Foodie: Yeah, especially for a tiny little cake thing that you pop in your mouth.
Madame Gateaux: I do mousse cake, that’s another one that people always like to learn because people can always take everything home.
Suzie the Foodie: Of course.
Fondant Cake Art
Madame Gateaux: And the fondant cake art, because people can just learn how to cover a dummy cake with fondant so they can at least feel the fondant, and how to do some flowers on it. My price is quite reasonable, compared to a lot of places, you are looking at $80 a class and most people are quite into it nowadays.
Suzie the Foodie: Right.
Madame Gateaux: At first, I think people are skeptical, because I’m a new company they think “Are you going to take my money and close the door?”
Suzie the Foodie: Oh, wow.
Madame Gateaux: So now this year I’m starting to have a lot of individual class, because people have the faith on us because we have been here for 3 years. So we are not running anywhere.
The Location & Word of Mouth
Suzie the Foodie: So you’re happy with the location now?
Madame Gateaux: The location is not actually what I really have the concern on, it’s that if people know us or not. People into this art, they didn’t even know we are here, because I’m not going to pay money to do advertising on the website every single month.
Suzie the Foodie: Right.
Madame Gateaux: So most of them, if they are really doing a search, they will find us. But you would find that we are way down on the pages. But I have no interest in doing a lot of advertising in order to get the name out there.
Suzie the Foodie: So it’s mostly from people telling each other.
Madame Gateaux: Yes, word of mouth most of it. I have people doing a lot of order at home, so they know us here. I sell some of the stuff here in bulk, so they make a lot of money in comparison to going to the West End. Most of them say that if they do cupcakes, they say they have to buy about 75 pieces of the cupcake liner for probably $1.50; but I sell 1,000 for $7.50.
Suzie the Foodie: Wow.
Amazing Tools for Fantastic Prices
Madame Gateaux: So they are pretty happy with the pricing, right?
Suzie the Foodie: Absolutely!
Madame Gateaux: And I go a bit further if people ask for certain things that I don’t have, I try to look for it and if I can bring it in for them. So you see from starting when I first opened I only had a few shelves, but now I have more so people can more choices if they want.
Suzie the Foodie: Well you have a great selection, it’s perfect. I’ve been in places that may be bigger, but all the stuff you have is super high quality.
Madame Gateaux: And the price.
What I bought!
Suzie the Foodie: And the price too. I was so impressed I could get the fondant lettering tool for that price, and the tart pan. I’m trying not to buy too much because I have to take it home too!
Madame Gateaux: I know! Most of the places charge for the labour, for the location and the location cost money. But because I am one person watching the whole place, so I totally don’t worry about how much I get paid myself. To my knowledge in the long run there is a volume going on the profit is slow, but if you have enough volume you can still stay alive. That’s my original concept.
Suzie the Foodie: Right.
Madame Gateaux: So I didn’t put things on the regular price, it’s lower than the suggested selling price.
Suzie the Foodie: Wow. Now, do you sell your products online too?
Madame Gateaux: This one, no. The website I did it myself to save money, so I don’t know how to get that done. I’m in the process of trying to figure out how to get that store running so that people can buy online.
Suzie the Foodie: Because your prices are really good, they are really competitive. I’ve sold things online too, and the only problem is shipping is so crazy expensive.
Madame Gateaux: Yeah.
Suzie the Foodie: But if you sell in bulk, it would be worth it for people buying online because you don’t get that very often.
Selling Online?
Madame Gateaux: I know. Last year I was thinking should I just close the storefront and do and online store? So I was thinking about it for a while, so the online store might be going on very soon. If I’m totally not going to have a storefront then it totally has to be online store.
Suzie the Foodie: But this is hard to give up.
Madame Gateaux: I know it is, for me.
Suzie the Foodie: That’s me too. I know when I saw your sign I was like “I’ve been looking for a store like that!”
Madame Gateaux: It’s kind of like my dream. I’m a pastry chef myself and I find that when I first start in the industry there was no way I could find something affordable. For a newcomer to the industry you don’t want to spend $400 for one item, you can buy something you can use and it’s not going to break your bank account, right?
Suzie the Foodie: Yeah.
Madame Gateaux: So that’s why I came up with the concept of this to help myself too, I like to buy all this gadget myself too. I have a collection at home.
Suzie the Foodie: I bet.
Madame Gateaux: And now I have the fun of buying it in bulk, and people take it home. And I’m happy and they’re happy, right?
Suzie the Foodie: Exactly.
Madame Gateaux: We’ll see though, everything has to be decided by the end of the year whether I should stay because I do have to live on myself too.
George Brown College
Suzie the Foodie: Of course. And online you are competing with lots and lots of different companies too. I haven’t been in Toronto for a long time so I don’t know is there a lot of companies that do mostly bakery too?
Madame Gateaux: Yeah, McCall’s in the West End is a big one but some of the items are quite pricey. I have customers that live around here instead of going all the way there to drive, they can walk over here to buy stuff it they want. So that’s why I try to have more selection, so they don’t have to drive a long way to get one or two stuff.
Suzie the Foodie: That’s smart. What about George Brown students?
Madame Gateaux: George Brown students do come by sometimes. But because George Brown students when they first start the course they wouldn’t know where to buy things, so they would follow a list that they are given by the school to go to those stores.
Suzie the Foodie: Oh, I see.
Madame Gateaux: But some of the instructors are quite nice even though I don’t know them, their students come by and buy stuff and I give my card to them and they would tell them that they can try this place.
Suzie the Foodie: Right.
Supplies for students
Madame Gateaux: I have some students from the George Brown to buy stuff.
Suzie the Foodie: That’s good, because they will always be looking, right? They will always come through.
Madame Gateaux: Some of the stuff, even in the bookstore they have, is very expensive.
Suzie the Foodie: Wow.
Madame Gateaux: Some of them do come here when they are in the industry, I have the regulars from George Brown that they are working in the industry that they are coming to ask me if I can find this for them, or that for them, and I try to do find it.
Suzie the Foodie: We’ll that’s great… I don’t want to take up all your time as you have a customer here, but I’m going to take some photos.
Madame Gateaux: Sure!
Suzie the Foodie: Okay, wonderful.
Foodie Conclusion
I had so much fun shopping at Madame Gateaux and speaking with Noel. So much so, I truly put my money where my mouth is. I bought these two silicone chocolate molds, only $5 each!
I love gathering wooden spoons on my foodie journeys and got this unusually long and thin spoon for only $2.45!
The store is a very comfortable size with so much product, I could have spent days and days in there. I bought tart pans and…
… am seriously considering buying this mezzaluna which is only $15.50! I could feel like Nigella crushing up herbs, garlic and chilies in my kitchen for under $20.
Madame Gateaux is dangerous in the best possible way! The prices are astounding and just being in there is a joy. I love that there is the secret world of learning at the back of the store and that to take the class you do not have to buy expensive supplies, everything is included.
Madame Gateaux is the kind of store I dream about. They carry just about everything and anything you could possibly want for baking and offer a space for learning as well. Everything I bought, I loved and know is a fantastic deal. No shopping remorse which is rare for me. Maybe Madame Gateaux will start haunting your foodie dreams the way she has mine:
“Suuuuuuzieeeeee… You want that mezzaluna don’t you?! You want to be chopping away just like Nigella in your very own kitchen? Come back Suuuuuuuzieeeeeeee… Come back!”
And damn it, I probably will.
I don’t have time to read this now but will pop back on the weekend to do so! It looks like a fascinating interview just judging from the photos!
It is kind of long but we had a great chat and I do hope you find the intel interesting. And wow, the prices! Just amazing, what a fun place to shop and take classes.
What a delicious way to get creative! A trip to this place could result in a baking marathon and a cake pop overdose. But that could be a good thing.
Very interesting! And I love those fondant flowers! I bet you went back and bought the mezzaluna, didn’t you? That would have to go home in your checked baggage, not the carry-on, LOL! Looks pretty lethal.