It’s 9 a.m. on a Wednesday, and Veronique Bokaie, whose small frame rests in a mahogany-framed chair at a round, glass-topped table adorned with yellow roses, is continuously greeted by couples who shake her hand or touch her arm appreciatively as they filter in and out of the bright café, which smells of freshly baked breads and croissants.
She pauses to answer a cordless business telephone several times; “Thank you for calling French Pastry Café,” she repeats in a thick French accent, then flashes a huge, apologetic smile.
Bokaie moved to La Jolla in June from Picardie, France, a region slightly north of Paris, with her husband and their 6-year-old daughter, and has been working day and night to revamp the small restaurant, which has gone through three different owners since it opened in 1978.
Among some of the major changes: the menu.
“You can’t survive with just breakfast and lunch ” it’s impossible,” she said.
The café, touting its new Leana Bistro, held a grand opening on Saturday, Nov. 25, and served dinner for the first time to commemorate the occasion.
In addition to now offering evening fare, which includes traditional dishes from both northern and southern France, Bokaie has brought something else to the table that the last owner didn’t “” two professional French chefs.
Executive dinner chef Eddy Rocq, originally from Paris, has been studying culinary arts since age 14, when he attended the capital city’s Bobigny Private School.
After obtaining degrees in culinary certification at Mederic Culinary School of Paris, Rocq traveled throughout France for five years and picked up different cooking techniques in Normandy and Brittany. Rocq operates his own catering service and worked in Orange County before joining Bokaie’s staff.
The dinner menu includes several fish and meat dishes but is concentrated more on the quality of the items and not on a quantity of selections, Bokaie said.
Also on board is François Grosjean, a French chef who specializes in creative pastry designs and whose résumé includes serving up high-class dishes at a five-star Hilton in France and baking brioche for Queen Elizabeth II in London, according to Bokaie.
It is both Grosjean’s and Bokaie’s first time living in the United States, and Bokaie said the hardest part has been learning and adjusting to the laws, rules and guidelines in a different country.
“And my accent!” she added with a laugh. “I have a terrible accent.”
In the same breath, Bokaie mentions her daughter, who had never spoken a word of English before arriving here in October but has quickly picked up on the language in her first grade class at La Jolla Elementary School and ” to her mother’s complete astonishment ” now speaks with almost no accent at all.
Balancing family and the café over the last few months, however, has been difficult, Bokaie said.
Not only has she spent every day of the week at her new business, she has even shown up a few times at 1 and 2 a.m. to check on the baking of bread and pastries for the next day.
But Bokaie realizes how critical the first few months are for establishing the café within the community and how important it is for her to be a part of every small step along the way.
“In the beginning, you have to be really involved,” she said. “I think that it’s best to be really involved.”
Putting in so many hours at work, though, has left her feeling torn about the time spent with family. Luckily, both of Bokaie’s parents have been on an extended visit and are helping out around the house, she said.
Her father has also been lending a hand at the café and is there this day, walking briskly from the kitchen to the front counter and taking orders from customers.
As the owner talks, it’s clear that her knowledge of the business runs deep, right down to the details of how each dessert in the bakery display cases is made.
She explains the inner workings of a mini-praline and chocolate tart garnished with a thin chocolate leaf and a “Trio” cake, which contains a mixture of dark chocolate morsels, sweet and creamy chocolate mousse and an outside layer of white chocolate.
Just then an elderly man, who only a moment ago finished eating breakfast with his wife, peers into the clear glass cases that line the counters and points to several of the desserts that catch his eye. Bokaie jumps to her feet to help.
Three of what Bokaie describe as traditional French cakes sit atop crystal platters in one case. They are larger than the mini-tarts, and the one in the center has white frosting swirled dollops, large shiny glazed strawberries and chocolate jimmies that form a triangular pattern along its tiered edges.
But the food is not the only part of Bokaie’s café that is visually appealing.
The shop’s interior design, which was done by La Jollan Tonye Meads of Art Works, is based on pictures of French cafés that Bokaie brought from her native country.
Long burgundy drapes hang at the sides of the floor-to-ceiling windows and various artists’ paintings are hung about the room and listed for sale.
More than a dozen long-stemmed roses sit in an antique vase at the counter and deep orange-red shades of paint, like a fiery sunset, color the walls. Jazz music plays softly and a woman taps her foot lightly as she sips her espresso.
“It’s very French,” Bokaie said, looking around and smiling.
She savors the feeling for a moment and then gets to her feet. After all, it is only 9 a.m. and, as another customer swings through the glass doors and eyes the cases with a look of yearning, it’s time for her to get back to work.
The French Pastry Café and Leana Bistro is located at 5550 La Jolla Blvd. in Bird Rock. Cake prices range between $18-$30 depending on the size. The café makes cakes large enough to accommodate up to 100 people.
Dinner is served Thursday-Saturday. For information, or to make a reservation, call (858) 454-9094.