This story was originally published in the Nov. 11, 2022 edition of the Tap newsletter. We’re republishing it here upon the news that the B’beri Desserts founders are opening an Afro-Caribbean-inspired restaurant called Arch and River in the former Owamni space.
From Bonaberi, Cameroon to Coon Rapids via Montreal, Lyon, and an oil platform in mid-ocean, Fritz and Diane Ebanda’s journey to owning B’beri Desserts has been a long one – and their shared passion for patisserie fuels their ambition for a bricks-and-mortar business someday soon.
When asked about the dynamic of running a business with her spouse, Diane seems sure of what makes their partnership work. “We enjoy each other; we were friends at school before we married. Back home in Cameroon, we grew up in the same city, same neighborhood, in parallel streets. And we met in high school,” she says. ”We actually love working together; we have different skills we get to use and we enjoy that. I’m very expressive. I love to write, so I enjoy writing emails, copy for the website, doing public relations – it really helps me think through what we are doing and how to express it. I love the people part since it works very well with my personality. Fritz is more reserved. He’s very precise, very laser-focused, because when you make pastries you need to be very attentive to your work.”
Fritz learned his pastry skills working for a number of luxury hotels and beach resorts in Cameroon, Sierra Leone, and the Republic of the Congo, as well as serving as pastry chef on a number of offshore oil rigs. He later moved to Montreal and continued to learn the art of patisserie in hotel and high-end restaurant kitchens. Meanwhile, Diane was living in France, where she started working for the Lyon branch of “Paul,” a family-run chain of French bakeries where she learned about business operations.
The Ebandas have two children: Ethan, fourteen, and Neriah, eight months. Says Diane, “Thankfully, our fourteen-year old is very sweet, very good at helping. He used to help us sell at the farmers’ market until this year; it’s a great way to help him be outgoing, talking to customers.” Daughter Meriah is their new farmers market helper while brother Ethan goes to soccer practice.
At a recent Northeast Farmers Market, I inhaled a bag of tender buttery vanilla cookies, edged with crunchy sugar crystals, and brought home a silky chocolate tart that was a perfect dessert for two. B’beri Desserts also sells tender brioche rolls, fruit tarts, almond tarts, and a chocolate version of those cookies at the Northeast and Maple Grove Farmers Markets.
The business officially launched in 2020, when the Ebandas started offering their home-baked, classically French pastries, cakes, and breads at farmers markets and via home delivery. Fritz’s background as a pastry chef and life-long dream of having his own patisserie works beautifully with Diane’s love of communication and ability to handle organizational details like dealing with suppliers, coordinating deliveries, and managing the finances.
B’beri’s website shows off their capabilities more fully, with tempting cakes, tarts, viennoiserie, and patisserie suitable for birthdays, weddings, and corporate functions. According to Diane, their two best-sellers as individual items are the “O Choco Bliss” cake ($45 for a 9-inch cake or $55 for a 12-inch, above), and Chocolate Hazelnut cakes ($47/9-inch or $57/12-inch). Besides the showpiece cakes, there are bite-sized sweets including mini choux buns, tartlets, and eclairs. You can also order cupcakes, almond-flavored financiers, coconut sables layered with chocolate icing or savory Parmesan sables. And for soon-to-be-wed couples, there’s a sampler box available (the Orchid Degustation Box, six different cake tasters for $42.75).
The fulfillment of Fritz’s dream would be a bricks-and-mortar patisserie. Diane offered this vision, “Fritz has dreamed of his own patisserie since childhood. It will be very interesting for us to play with more Afro flavors, like mango, pineapple, passion fruit – all those tropical flavors people really enjoy. I’m not going to say it will happen tomorrow, but we are thinking about the menu so that we are ready when that time comes.”
“I can’t wait to have the children help with the patisserie someday – clean the bathroom, help wash the dishes! Of course, we hope that they will learn perseverance, as we persevere. We also hope they’ll learn that it’s not unachievable. If you are talented, if you can meet a need, if you have a passion, put it out there for people! That’s your way of serving the world. We’re running the business for us, but truly, at the end of the day, it’s for our children.”