Authentic French Cuisine Finds It’s Way into the Melting Pot of Spanish Harlem
In East Harlem, a French transplant is making jambon-buerre sandwiches on crispy, warm baguette, spreading generous amounts of salted butter on both sides with a smile. “I like the naughty things” admits Chef Edward Rodwell as he tilts his signature blue fedora atop his head at a passerby,
“cream, butter- I am French after all”.
His matching blue linen tie-dye button up shirt billows in the wind, paying homage to the few years he spent living in St. Barth’s working in the restaurant scene. His husband of 13 years, Anthony Mariano, joins him in his baking and catering journey of Amuse Bouche. The restaurant, a small French storefront with local ingredients, is committed to sharing good food and community. Rodwell and Mariano recently opened their first brick and mortar store inside historical landmark La Marqueta. “Everyone has been so welcoming” said Rodwell who admits, “As two white guys in this historic area, I just feel lucky to be here”. In the meantime, Edward calls out to a few locals by name, and thanks Charlie the facilities manager, while rushing to help him clean the table tops.
Even on a quiet Saturday afternoon in La Marqueta, it is still brimming with a sense of community. As locals walk through acknowledging one another, It’s easy to forget you’re still in New York City. “You’re new here,” customers often stop and say, while grabbing large tastings of brown-buttered rice crispy treats (a bestseller) or beet and quinoa salad, if they’re looking for a savory bite. Though friendly, Edward hesitates to offer samples unless customers approach the booth. It seems his easy-going European nature, paired with Anthony’s front-footed, business savvy, compliment each other on and off the clock. Edward, who does most of the salads and sandwiches on the menu plays to his strengths, accepting that “savory is much more forgiving”. He then passes the precision baking to his partner. “Anthony is very precise, which is great for baking…me, not so much”.
Edward has followed the path of hospitality since childhood, as his parents carry on the legacy of a familial hotel in France. “Growing up in hospitality, my grandparents ran a hotel in Brittany, so it seemed like a natural progression for me to go to culinary school”. When asked about their journey through culinary school, they exchange a look.
“Kind of a funny thing, a French chef trained in New York”,
said Rodwell on his experience at the Institute of Culinary Education in lower Manhattan. “My head professor, Danielle…she was French though”, he mentioned with a grin. Rodwell moved to New York after working in a restaurant on St. Barths frequented by New York tourists. By the end of his two-year education he knew the cutthroat kitchen life wasn’t for him. “Getting in early, it’s dark outside, leaving late, it’s dark outside, that’s not a life to live”, he said, shaking his head.
After school, Edward took a brief stint in the publishing world, but eventually made his way back to cooking in his own time, working as a private chef and caterer for clients in and out of the city. It was kismat meeting his partner who decided to leave his insurance job of 22 years and work at Amuse Bouche full-time. “We met in New York, at Boqueria downtown, a small Spanish tapas restaurant, where everyone started talking to everyone and we hit it off”, Edward beamed. Anthony soon started baking cakes, bread, and making breakfast in the mornings. “I think he was trying to show off”, Rodwell confessed. Together, they sold epicerie and French-style to-go cuisine in 2017 at a booth in the farmers market of Marcus Garvey Park at 124th street between 5th and Madison Avenue. It was there that they built up their local clientele, giving them the opportunity to bring a piece of Brittany to New York City.
A corner of New York where everyone knows everyone, La Marqueta, has been an East Harlem meeting place for locals since its inception in 1936. The Amuse Bouche team has been using the on-site baking facilities at La Marqueta since 2017, long before the opening of the storefront in April. Booths inside of the market, ranging from Hot Bread Kitchen, Mama Grace’s Afro Caribbean Food, Elma’s of Harlem and Amuse Bouche, will hopefully benefit from the new five year expansion project that will grow the market from East 111th street all the way up to 119th st. Running along the middle of Park avenue, just under the Metro North, diner’s coffee cups vibrate from the occasional hum of trains running between Grand Central and 125th street on the tracks above.
On Amuse Bouche’s rustic, wooden, communal table placed just beside their booth in La Marqueta, a perfect summer offering of “tomato pie” is tenderly laid before hungry guests. The pie was inspired by a similar tomato tart they had in the Hamptons, but this time with a crispy crust. Similar to quiche, the pie is made with pâte brisée, or shortcrust pastry, and filled with hearty pieces of tomato, feta cheese, eggs and aromatic fresh basil. Next to the pie is a loving heap of local arugula from upstate, topped with a mustard vinaigrette that cuts the richness from the tomato in half. “Our mustard vinaigrette and tahini dressing, are both like crack”, they confessed.
“People keep coming back for it.”
Edward shrugged his shoulders and said he’s been making it for most of his life, with red wine vinegar, olive oil and traditional French Maille mustard to emulsify the vinegar mixture. “I remember from my childhood, I was always making the mayonnaise or vinaigrettes…helping in any way I could.”
Arriving at 4 a.m. to bake Monday through Wednesday, and keeping La Marqueta hours 9 a.m.- 6 p.m. Thursday-Sunday, the pair of bakers are exhausted when the week is through. “We wake up rubbing our eyes, ready to do it all over again,” Edward laughed, while readily stirring two packs of sugar into his much needed cup of coffee.