by guest blogger Susan S. Yeske
Food that’s delivered this quickly shouldn’t be this good, but the cuisine is fast as well as flavorful at Lahaska’s smallest restaurant, La Madeleine French Country Café.
Chef de cuisine Laurent Leseur and wife April enjoyed the grand opening of their petite café recently after a soft opening in July. Customers streamed through the small, charming eatery, located on the northern side of Route 202 in the Penn’s Purchase shopping area. You can’t miss it; it’s next to the Dairy Queen.
The menu changes frequently but the Leseurs regularly offer croissant sandwiches, salads, soups, crepes, entrées and quiche. And, of course, the small, sweet cakes for which the cafe is named.
A big favorite among the rapidly growing clientele is the $8.50 boxed lunch, which includes a sandwich, salad or soup and dessert pastry in a pretty pastel box.
A native of Paris, Leseur has cooked since he was 14. His years as a chef were spent at a variety of eateries as remote as the island of St. Bart’s and as near as Hamilton’s Grill Room in Lambertville. He has worked as a private chef and spent three years at Zinc Bistro in Philadelphia under master chef Olivier Desaintmartin. His work has been featured on Comcast Network’s “The Chef’s Kitchen.”
La Madeleine is a takeout restaurant, with three tables outside that are nice now but will cease to be appealing when the weather turns cold. The future may bring an indoor restaurant at another location.
In the meantime Leseur is building his customer clientele and offering specials for catering customers who are happily discovering a taste of Paris in Lahaska.
As Julia Child would say, “Bon appétit!”
La Madeleine French Country Café
2860 York Road (Route 202) #9B
Lahaska (next to Dairy Queen)
(215) 794-6900
Hours: Monday-Saturday 10 am-7 pm, Sunday 11 am-6 pm
