Meet Our Residents : Togâ

"Meet our Residents" is a series of articles designed to showcase the super projects of the super residents of the Grand Hospice temporary occupation. All the projects are divided into four themes: Sustainable Development, Community, Art & Culture, and Education & Health. 

Togâ is above all a story of passion, that of Léonie Guillemot. As an enthusiast, she wants to share her expertise in pastry-making and chocolate-making with the gourmets of Brussels. Before opening her own patisserie, Léonie first worked for a great master chocolatier, Pierre Marcolini. Indeed, her primary vocation was the creation of chocolates. But there are twice as many chocolate shops as patisseries in Belgium. Their number has doubled in ten years. There are 755 in Belgium, no less!

That's why Léonie chose to set up her own independent patisserie. This means she can give free rein to her imagination, making pastries, chocolates and cakes that are 100% personalized. We joined her in her workshop/boutique, nestled in the heart of the magnificent Grand Hospice building alongside a hundred other projects, to ask her a few questions about her succulent business.

"What's this mysterious name Togâ? 

You're going to do the exercise! You have to say it quickly and several times in a row. Togâ, togâ, togâ, gâto, gâto...

And yes! It's cake in slang. Konbini had done a report about a famous singer I really like, and that gave me the idea. What's more, it works well because it's a short, simple, Instagrammable name, which I really like!

How did you end up creating your own patisserie?

The Togâ project was born at Grand Hospice. Before that, I'd always worked for big companies in their R&D departments. What fascinates me about pastry-making is being able to play with tastes, textures and colors. Creativity... that's what drives me! I've always put a lot of effort into it, but in terms of recognition, it just wasn't keeping up! Things had to change!

When I realized that I wanted to leave Marcolini, I was sure of one thing: I wanted to stay based in Brussels. But in reality, there are already a lot of chocolate shops here, unlike the pastry shops. So there's less competition. The most obvious solution was to set up my own patisserie, even though, spoiler alert: Togâ could become a chocolaterie in the long run... 

What values do you stand for?

Anti-waste and the use of local products. I think it's important to promote small-scale producers! Besides, with disgusting raw materials, you'll never make good pastries. I do my utmost to get to know my suppliers and build up a relationship with them. As far as my customers are concerned, the most important thing is not to take them for fools and to always explain to them where everything they consume comes from. 

I've also decided not to do what traditional patisseries do, which is to create a permanent range of products. If you have a problem with your strawberries, for example, and the customer expects to always find his beautiful strawberry plant, you run the risk of disappointing him. So I do exactly the opposite! I get the fruit and design an original dessert recipe that will be available for a day or two. 

It must be taking you a long time!

Let's just say that my plan is a little ambitious. Setting up a company when you're making what you're selling yourself is going to take a lot of hours! 

The worst weeks are 80 hours and a normal week is 65 hours on site. On top of that, there's the management work and the bookkeeping, although I'm well helped by the JobYourself cooperative. Even sales is something I hadn't taken into account! I was used to staying in a room to create new recipes. It's something I didn't like because I lacked human contact. 

The social aspect is great! Getting the feedback reminds you why you do what you do. Being a pastry chef is a bit like being a "happiness salesman", because when people make the effort to come back to Grand Hospice just to tell me they loved my cakes, that's priceless.

There must be a lot going on at the Grand Hospice, tell us an anecdote.

One day, I arrived at the bakery and a cushion had disappeared from my little living room across the hall. I thought to myself "well... it's only a cushion, I'm not going to make a scandal out of it". Still, I posted a little message on the residents' Whatsapp group to ask if anyone had borrowed it. Saïd, the Grand Hospice concierge, immediately took "this theft" to heart and launched into a little investigation! Later, he came back to me very happy, saying: "I've found your cushion in the garden"! Incidentally, he also helped me find a table last week. He called me at 11pm! Since it was late, I totally thought it was serious (laughs). In fact, he was clearly happier to have found my table than I was! Saïd is a really nice person.

Togâ is clearly my little baby, my very own place! I'm still hopeful that we'll be able to help each other more to create a good community at Grand Hospice, and above all, that it will be a springboard for our individual and joint projects.

If you like home-made pastries that are both full of flavor and original, you'll love her creations! Her unmissable cookies, cinnamon rolls, little tarts of the day and Jacqueleines will delight your taste buds. 

Jacqueleines are not your ordinary madeleines. They're filled with a light vanilla cream and a fruit compote that changes with the seasons. A real treat! 

Its boutique in the Grand Hospice is open from Tuesday to Saturday, 2pm to 7pm. You can also order from our Click & Collect online store.

More info on Togâ? Click here !

And to find out more about the Grand Hospice's resident projects, go to here !