Interview with Pastry Chef/Owner Zueen Bhosle
Madeleine Bakery & Café
Rutherford, NJ
By Jeff Yoskowitz and Kathryn Gordon
When we arrived at Madeleine Bakery & Cafe we were
greeted by Nancy Roman, a good friend and neighbor who comes in to help Zueen
,the owner, during lunch and to help greet customers.
After talking to her a bit it was clear to us that Nancy
has helped encourage Zueen to open Madeleine Bakery & Café. In fact, Nancy told Zueen, “If you don’t pursue your dream, it will
always be in the back of your mind and you will never know what it would have
been like if you had tried”.
Then Zueen arrived.
Jeff: Hi
Zueen, how are you doing? You've been here in for months in Rutherford. Is it
what you expected?
Zueen: It’s going great – but I’m a bit
tired! I get here at 3 or 4 in the
morning to do all the baking until around 10 am, and I’m here in the front
until we close in the early evening. We
close a bit earlier on Saturdays.
Meanwhile, my mother arrived from India for a visit yesterday, so at
least this week I don’t have to worry so much about my 5-year old daughter.
Kathryn: You’re doing all your own baking? Why don’t you get an assistant baker? You could advertise on Craig’s list.
Zueen: I’ve been a bit scared of using
Craig’s list. I haven’t had luck yet with a good baker. Most of them don’t want to start at 4 am, and
then if they agree, the reality sets in and they don’t like the schedule. I’ll go beyond my budget for an assistant
baker, but I've had trouble getting the right person so I've been doing all the
work myself.
Jeff: No
wonder you’re tired! Why are your hours
different on Saturday?
Zueen: During the week we get a lot of commuters
because we are across the street from the train station, and lunches for office
and school workers. On Saturday, it’s
mostly families with kids, and I think for this area those hours are okay.
 |
| The train to NYC is across the road from Zueen’s bakery; you can see the skyscrapers in the background. |
Jeff: What does your typical morning customer
purchase with you being so close to the train station?
Zueen: They buy coffee and pound cake, or the baked
goods (outside of the refrigerated case).
We’re the bakery which opens first in the neighborhood each
morning. My customers love the Illy
coffee we serve. Some don’t like paying
25 cents more for it, and will walk past us to another location near the train
for their (cheaper) coffee.
 |
| The madeleines at Madeleine Bakery & Café |
Kathryn: What are the biggest requests that people
have?
Zueen: I think people are looking for new stuff every
day. When the customers come in, they like to see what’s new! For some reason, anything I make with wine,
beer or chocolate, coffee, mocha goes really fast. Fruit items have moved more slowly.
Jeff: Have you considered making more dummy cakes
for display? That might help generate
cakes sales, or let people know you can make them.
Zueen: Until I find another baker, I know that I
can’t do all of it myself, so no. I’m
too nervous to put more dummy cakes out, in case I get orders!
Jeff: In terms of the equipment you have, do you
feel what you have is adequate?
Zueen: Yes, I do think I have enough equipment for
growth. I need people, not
equipment. People have been my biggest
challenge so far.
 |
| View of the production kitchen |
Zueen: I’ve looked for baking assistants but do you
know what I’ve noticed? They don’t know how to be organized and keep their work
stations clean, and that really bothers me.
Kathryn: Have you considered putting a help-wanted
sign in the window here? Something with
the parameters like: experienced baker
required; will train (4 am start). I
think you really, really need some help with the baking, Zueen. You can’t keep it all up yourself.
Zueen: I tried a sign in the window before but there
have been some weird people who walk in! However, I will try that approach again.
I agree with you that it’s not sustainable to do this all by
myself. I feel at some point my brain
stops working regarding what I want to do next.
When there’s someone else, there’s someone you can talk to and bounce
ideas around. Depending on how creative
they are, we could collaborate together on the menu. Paul (the Chef) and I collaborate on the
sandwich menu, and that works out extremely well. I just want someone to come in here who loves
to bake!
Kathryn: If you haven’t been happy yet with the
candidates you've gotten to help bake, maybe you should always make potential
bakers trail. Aren’t some of the issues
you’ve noted “trainable to some extent?”
Maybe you just need to modify your hiring approach, and help show the
people exactly what you want from them in terms of your standards.
Jeff: Zueen, What’s the long term goal here and
what’s your plan for it?
Zueen: My plan is to add more products because
really people love what we make. I’ve
gotten very great responses.
Zueen: I’m still getting a lot of new people, who
didn’t realize that we’re open. I’m
trying to get county permission to put a sandwich style sign outside on the
sidewalk. I might start doing light dinners
and I want to hand out free samples at the train station, and give flyers to
evening commuters.
Kathryn: Is parking an issue here in terms of
attracting customers? I noticed coming
in its largely metered parking, and some of the zones have limited time
slots.
Zueen: Everyone in Rutherford is used to not being
able to park! And a lot of people just
walk here during the day, come in after school…
Jeff: I know that your husband Samir has
helped from the very beginning. What is his role now?
Zueen: He helps with all the finances and paperwork
and tracks our customers and sales with our POS system, while I’m more here,
concentrating on the baking and day-to-day management.
Jeff: We’d love to talk to you more Zueen,
after you’ve had some more time to settle in to see how your bakery has grown!
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