Today we’d like to introduce you to Florence Chantepie.
Hi Florence, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
After a four-month family trip in Asia, my husband and I moved to Charleston in 2013. We have been big travelers since we met in 1996 in California. Dom and I met in Newport Beach. We both are from the same region in France! We connected right away. Dom was a pastry chef and a business owner north of San Diego. I was a manager at a French Restaurant in Newport Beach. Six months later, we got married. I then went to work with Dom; we had our 2 children very quickly after that! We had a nice little bakery with 25 employees doing breakfast, lunch, bread, wholesale, retail, catering, wedding cake, and specialty cakes! It was very successful and busy. I loved this business, and living in CA was just a dream back in the day! After some years, when our kids were 5 and 6, we decided to sell everything and travel. We took over one year of vacation! We traveled and went to Tahiti, New Caledonia, Australia (we almost stayed there!) The children were homeschooled; we even taught them to read in French!
In 2006, we settled in France and bought a Hotel/Restaurant on the Atlantic coast in a little town near Nantes. It gave us a chance for our children to get their French identities! It’s easier for them today, now that we are back in the US, to know and understand where they’re coming from, even though they were born in the US. Mathis and Millie spent time with the family, cousins, and grandparents. Also, for us, our children needed not to be just strangers or only cousins from America! We wanted them to be totally part of our families. After spending 6 years in France, we returned to the US just before high school for the children. That’s when we chose Charleston. We sold our hotel and decided, one more time, to take some time off as a whole family. Before doing so, Dom flew to Charleston and spent 10 days checking the town! He loved it right away! Charleston had it all on our checklist!
We took the children and spent 4 months in Asia, backpacking. We started in Taiwan, then Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand! We arrived in Charleston 10 years ago, almost daily, with our backpacks and kids! Since then, we have opened 4 restaurants, are about to open a 5th one, rebranding another one, and are starting a new food and wine travel tour in France! Mathis, 24, our oldest, is involved in the new restaurant with Dom and Benjamin, our business partner. I’m less involved in the daily routine, but still helping the boys behind the scenes! I’d like to spend more time putting together the food and wine tour in France. That way, I get to visit my family and our daughter, who is studying there.
Please talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned. Looking back, has it been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Has it been a smooth road? I wish! But of course not! When you are a self-employed, small business owner, you struggle often, work a lot, compromise between family and work, come across the wrong people, etc. But as you move on, you learn from your mistakes, manage your time better, meet the right people, etc. Hard work, integrity, and the love of what you do pay off and make a difference. The most important is not to let the bad take over the good. We must continue to move forward while respecting our values.
We’ve been impressed with Bistro A Vin, AZUR, Bistronomy by Nico, and Bistro Food and Wine Tours, but for folks who might need to be more familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart?
We have 3 businesses in Charleston. We partner with Bistronomy by Nico, 64 Spring Street. My husband and Nico went together and opened this French with an Asian flair restaurant during the pandemic. My husband and I currently own Bistro A Vin, 40 Archdale Street. Our son Mathis manages the place. I’m more behind the scene, doing the books and helping with marketing and Social Media. My husband is also less involved in the daily routine operations of the 2 restaurants. That said, we are opening a third one, AZUR, at 159 market street, with our son Mathis who will be managing the place, along with our Business partner Benjamin Boisson. The actual Bistro A Vin will be rebranded as AZUR EVENTS. We will specialize in small private events of all kinds. I will be in charge of the sales, organizing all special events, and doing the books.
Meanwhile, Dom and I are also starting a Food and Wine Bistro Tours in France. We decided to start this last year, as more and more of our clientele asked us to take them on tour. Our first trip is happening this May of 2023. Then another one in September.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you, and are any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
At the beginning of the pandemic, we have been forced to improvise. We had a few months of unsecured income and had to make some decisions to stay afloat. We had to adapt to new learning, but people appreciated it. The community was very supportive, and everyone was doing their share. This was also when we sold Cafe Framboise and bought Bistronomy by Nico with our partner Nico. With all restrictions in place, Bistronomy and Bistro A Vin were successful. We always respected any decisions put in place by the local authorities, and the community recognized and supported us. We could keep our employees, and hire new ones for the new restaurant. We had to adapt and improvise. New menus, doing take out, deliveries, spacing out tables, organizing outdoor patios, new hours, etc., in general, and especially in Charleston, the pandemic did not break the restaurant industry. It taught us how to do more with less.
Contact Info:
- Website: azurcharleston.com
Image Credits
Andrew Cebulka
