Photo by co-founder Adrienne J. Romero.
Laszlo Danko likes his sweets.
One day in Paris, Laszlo and his wife, Clemence, were out and they passed by a bakery. Laszlo insisted on going inside and buying a “chocopain!” Clemence, who is from France, questioned, “You wanna buy a what?” Laszlo, who is Hungarian, explained it’s a chocolate croissant, which Clemence should know–because it’s a French pastry–but, in reality, it’s actually called pain au chocolat in French.
The joke lingered, and in 2012, when it was time for Clemence to choose a name for her bakery and café, she went with Choc O Pain.
Choc O Pain has become one of the most recognizable Parisian-style bakeries in New Jersey, which has now grown to five locations: three in Jersey City and two in Hoboken.
“The community is really here for us and has been for the past 12 years so we are very, very grateful,” Clemence said.
“It’s not always easy. Food businesses in particular, it’s every day. Sometimes you have some products that don’t come out the way you want. You’re constantly training new people so it’s always a challenge-–it keeps us on our toes for sure.”
Choc O Pain is another one of the many participants for the Jersey City Restaurant Fest’s Summer Fest Week from July 13 to July 27.
The promotional two week event has a pool of local businesses–from bakeries to restaurants–who will offer exclusive deals like discounted three-course meals or items that are available for a limited time. Choc O Pain, who has been participating for the last few years, will be a light bites participant and will “definitely” be offering a deal for one of their best sellers.
French Culture On A Plate
Clemence and Laszlo moved from France to Hoboken in 2009.
Unable to find an authentic French bakery, Clemence switched her pharmaceutical logistics and finance career for one in food and culture. She graduated from the Institute of Culinary Education and learned bread baking at the International Culinary Center in New York while also working at Le Pain Quotidien and, ultimately, developing her business plan for what would be Choc O Pain.
But still today, Clemence doesn’t consider herself a baker as she continues to learn everyday. As she sat beside a Paris mural at the Jersey City Heights location, Clemence told Slice of Culture that she’s grateful for her team who continue to help share her vision with the community. She credits her them as the backbone of the local-chain bakery. But even though she’s not baking the bread herself, what Choc O Pain offers still comes from what she knows.
“It’s my European background that you’re having on a plate,” she laughed.
“I’m not a baker. I was never trained and I never worked in a bakery in France, so I had to learn everything here and I’m still not a baker. I’m only managing the business. I have a great team doing the baking. But for sure I came with my own taste, my palette and what we are offering is different [and] very true to our identity.”
Clemence named a few of her must-have items. A plain croissant, which “you can never go wrong with”, miche bread, which is a mix of rye and buckwheat; the tuna sandwich, which she takes credit for because it’s her recipe (and a bestseller); the pretzel croissant with a hotdog baked inside; and, the infamous, chocopain, which is a croissant dough with two chocolates.
Beside the shop’s counter is a big window where customers can see bread and other pastries being made.
A Trip To Paris
Clemence first opened shop at 157 First Street in Downtown Hoboken, which she figured was a location with “a lot” of potential because of people “coming from around the world.” It quickly grew one year later, in 2013, when the 530 Jersey Avenue in Downtown Jersey City opened. Followed by that was 1500 Hudson Street in Uptown Hoboken, 330-332 Palisade Avenue in the Jersey City Heights and, most recently, 244 St. Pauls Avenue in Jersey City’s Journal Square.
Walking into the Palisade Avenue location, you’re greeted by a message in the corridor that’s almost quick to miss if you don’t look: “Love each other” written in script on plywood. Clemence said that plywood served as a window during renovations and someone unknown had tagged it with that phrase; it’s something that they’ve kept because it was a “very special message at a very special time.”
Though it’s small as you walk further inside, you can still get a Parisian feel. There’s different types of breads laid out on display; light ones to dark to mixed.
Being there long enough, you might even forget you’re in Jersey City. Paris easter eggs are planted around from small products being sold, paintings that are hung and a hard-to-miss mural that illustrates a view of Paris.
She pointed out the Eiffel Tower in the far right and grazed over the churches and an opera that’s scattered in the drawing before saying:
“I can spend hours looking at this because you try to find the right monument that you know and it makes me go on a trip to Paris everytime.”
Clemence said that Choc O Pain loves to participate in Jersey City Restaurant Fest because that’s what Jersey City needs to ensure that local restaurants and businesses get “as much visibility as possible.”
Choc O Pain’s three Jersey City locations will be offering special deals for the restaurant fest.
“I want to encourage people to support their local business–their local coffee shop, their local bakery because we work very hard [for] very high-quality products. Everything is made by our team… we realized that our guests don’t necessarily know and appreciate what we are doing,” she added.
“Give a try to your local bakery, your local coffee shop.”
