Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Brianna Larcher. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Brianna , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
We have been in different “phases” of our business for awhile now…. When my husband and I first decided to start our business, we didn’t have any financing or time to start an actual brick and mortar restaurant: Pascal was still working 50+ hours a week as a chef in a corporate setting, and I was still teaching full-time. We knew we wanted to start something together and Pascal, born & raised in France, really wanted to cook food that brought him joy AND also give him more time to be with his family. We already had one daughter, and another one on the way, so the only way for us to start Veloute was one baby step at a time. We began by doing small caterings for family and friends, and then just expanded our clientele from there over the next couple of years. We had been encouraged to apply to be a vendor at our local farmers’ market(now recognized as “best in the US”) to get our name/brand into our community. We were accepted and this was HUGE in helping our business grow and be what it is today. At first, we sold pastries and other typical French food, but then over the course of the years, it quickly evolved into fresh “French street food” made on-site. Now we are almost solely focused on selling food at this market, while also maintain our catering & private chef dining as well..
And as of this year, we are in the beginning stages of the next chapter of our company: our bistro. This chapter has been challenging, exciting, and extremely scary, given the economic climate and challenges for the food industry right now, but Veloute is definitely ready for this next step in growth.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
My husband and I own and run Veloute French Market & Catering: a catering company based in Kansas City. We believe that one of many life’s foundations begins with beautiful food, and are committed to providing others with fresh Provencal French fare for those special moments.
Pascal was born and raised in Toulon (a small town in Provence, France), and has been incorporating his taste and passion for traditional French cuisine and his mother’s French Creole influence since he was a boy. After receiving his training and graduating from Lycée Hotelier St. Louis, he interned under Michel Troisgros’s master chef, Patrice Segreto. Then in 2001, he moved to the heart of the United States, Kansas City, to help open a new French restaurant in the beloved Crestwood neighborhood. After 12 years and 4 more in the corporate culinary business, he has now taken on his newest endeavor, Velouté French Market & Catering. Pascal, together with his wife Brianna & their two daughters, he has founded Velouté in an effort to share their love of Provençal fare with an American audience.
I was born and raised in Kansas City, but previously taught in NYC and KC for 12 years. Though education is one of my many passions, I have loved baking since I was big enough to sit on the kitchen counter. Myself, along with my mother, grandmother, and great-great grandmother are all a part of a long lineage of passionate home bakers, and now with Veloute I am able to take that passion and heritage alongside me professionally. Now I mostly take care of the business-side of things for Veloute (crediting my dad and grandpa for that strong entrepreneur gene) and loves this newest chapter in Pascal, mine, and our kids’ lives.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I think when it comes to this particular business, we have found that pivoting is all that we do, great and small. When we first started Veloute, it grew faster than we expected, so when Pascal decided to put more time into our company and step down from his full-time position, we were excited and yet nervous. And then we found out we were pregnant. It was something we had been wanting but now everything felt even more intense with the pressure of providing for our growing family and balancing the start-up of a new business… but we decided we would regret it if we didn’t take the risk. So we did it and Veloute grew more and we got to the point where I needed to stop teaching and focus on Veloute. This is always a scary place to be, because teaching is what I had been doing for the past 10 years, it was what I was passionate about. I remember feeling completely torn between teaching and going on this next path, and my boss at the time was really encouraging about doing what was best for myself and my family… and this was so liberating to me. She really gave me the clarity and “permission” I needed to do something different. So I put in my resignation and decided to only focus on Veloute (and my new little one). I loved this new venture and the ability it gave me to be with my kids more was something that I couldn’t pass up. And so things were on a certain trajectory… and then March 2020 happened, and the years that followed…. and anyone in the food industry understands the pivoting and constant changing and adapting we have to do when it comes to those last couple of years in keeping our company afloat and then regrowth. But Veloute is one of the hardest and yet most rewarding things I have done in my life, and I am so grateful that I took the opportunity to do it.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
When Veloute was still very very young and small, we were thinking of starting another side gig selling hot sauce, so a friend of ours recommended selling our products and getting our brand out there by becoming a vendor at a local farmers’ market. So we initially spent a couple of Saturday mornings in the summer of 2017 at a small local farmers’ market among other small start-up businesses and farmers. But we ended up just selling our baked goods instead of starting another company (selling hot sauce) and received so much positive feedback and encouragement, that we applied for the one of the biggest farmers’ markets in the state. This market was busy, with thousands of customers every Saturday, so we knew we needed this to really boost our company. We applied and were accepted (to our surprise and relief since we knew it was competitive) for the following season and THIS farmers’ market has been a HUGE part of our company’s growth and clientele base. We not only get to expose our brand and product to a large amount of new customers every week, but we have our “regulars” who come every week, building not only new relationships, but strengthening the old ones’ too. I am just so grateful that we have the opportunity to be a part of this type of community and are able to continue to build our client pool from this resource.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.veloutekc.com
- Instagram: veloutekc
- Facebook: veloutekc1
Image Credits
Kathleen Straub Photography