We were lucky to catch up with Maria Delgado Gambini recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Maria thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.
My sister and I officially opened up our business together in the winter of 2011 and has been the absolute biggest risk we have ever taken. It took a lot of work, but it took a lot of heart too. Leaving our former jobs to open up something from the ground up was something that really tested our minds, bodies and the relationship we had with each other. And although it was one of the toughest projects we ever had to endure, we have grown and learned how to keep going. We love what we do! it gives us joy to know that our customers come to us for a fantastic product made of real ingredients, from scratch, hard work and made with absolute love for food.
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
We are a small sister-owned-from-scratch-French-inspired bakehouse in Bronxville, New York. We are 12 years old and absolutely love what we do! We are known for our daily baked croissants as well as danish, french macarons, and donuts, we are the host to many national holiday celebrations like national croissant day, April fool’s day (with a fun “fake” menu), as well as Halloween. We also celebrate with other special events like everything chocolate day (valentine’s day), Disney day, and our epic Macaron Day to name a few. We believe and always strive to provide the best service and the best and freshest baked good in the county!
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
Mariana and I are sisters, but we became business partners about 13 years ago. She, an experience baker and chef, taught me, an aspiring artist working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, to learn and perfect the art that is baking. There was a point that we lived and worked together so we got to spend a lot of time sort of relearning the dynamics of our relationship.
Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?
I think the biggest sales story we have to tell is the risk that came with the whole pandemic and how, after three years, we are still here taking risks in the way we changed and run our business now. At the beginning of the pandemic is where we made the decision to completely change out the menu and to start a delivery service that kept us afloat those first few months of uncertainty. Soon after only doing custom orders for delivery, we started slowly opening to the public for just a few days a week, which is something that we stuck with for the last 3 years. Many ask and really want to know how is it that we can stay in business the way we run the bakery, and honestly there have been many instances where men and women have smirked while “teaching” us the proper way to run a company. The risk we took in just opening up just a few days, has worked in our favor for the company and for our personal lives. As moms to the two most amazing little girls, our hours of operations have helped us have more of a connection with them. We are now a destination for people to come to and the lines that run down the street, prove to me and to Mariana, that we must be doing something right!
Contact Info:
- Website: chantillybronxville.com
- Instagram: chantillypatisseriebxv
- Facebook: @chantillypatisserie