Je T’aime Patisserie puts a ‘Black girl spin’ on French pastries in Bed-Stuy 

By Scott Lynch

Jatee Kearsley, who grew up in Queens and has lived in East New York for the past five years, got into the French pastry out of love.

“Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve been obsessed with Paris,” Kearsley tells Brooklyn Magazine. “I love everything French, I love the culture, I love the food, I love the passion people have. I was always like, I’m going to visit Paris and fall in love and find me a husband,” she adds with a laugh that can only be described as hysterical. “I did go to Paris, but that second part did not happen.”

Je T’aime Patisserie (Scott Lynch)

Instead, and lucky for us, Kearsley fell hard for the pastries. So much so that, even though she was in training as a regular savory chef — culinary school, a stint at David Burke Kitchen — she decided instead to teach herself the art of lamination. “When I become obsessed with something, I’m like I have to know every single thing about it. So I YouTubed it, I read books, I made so many croissants at home. And I failed a lot.”

Until she didn’t.

Je T’aime Patisserie, which opened late last summer near the southern end of Marcus Garvey Boulevard, marks the culmination (for now) of Kearsley’s pastry dreams. There are croissants galore here, in both sweet and savory varieties, and they are terrific.

“I say there’s a ‘Black girl spin’ to my pastries because I’m Black, and I got flavor. So I just don’t make your average croissant.” The base version nails the flaky, chewy, buttery balance with that perfect honeycomb thing going on inside. And every weekend Kearsley bakes up a special flavor. Last Sunday, it was concord grape and almond, and it was fantastic — a PB&J from heaven.

Concord grape and almond croissant, $5.50 (Scott Lynch)

But there’s so much more. Kearsley’s cookies, jumbo-sized and loaded with treats, are outstanding. She also uses her croissant dough to make a decadent brown sugar bread pudding, drizzled with caramel.

Brown sugar bread pudding with caramel, $5.50 (Scott Lynch)

In the savory department, you can get an everything croissant stuffed with cream cheese; a zippy jalapeño cheddar biscuit; a veggie quiche; made-to-order bacon, egg and cheeses, and smoked salmon sandwiches.

Jalapeno cheddar biscuit, $4.50 (Scott Lynch)

Fancy desserts reside in the refrigerated case. There are macarons, a “fall apple” eclair, mini cheesecakes and some lovely looking tarts — including pear-almond, strawberry-chocolate and caramel-pecan delicacies. A full coffee, hot chocolate and tea menu comprise your beverage options.

White chocolate pistachio cranberry cookie, $3.75 (Scott Lynch)

The space itself is charming, imbued with love and lots of pink and full of comfortable places to sit, designed and often built by Kearsley herself. “It was a journey,” she says. But given the steady stream of locals that come in to greet Kearsley and stock up pastries on any given Sunday morning, that journey seems to have been well worth it.

Everything croissant, $4.75 (Scott Lynch)

“I picked Bed-Stuy for Je T’aime because this style of bakery is not normal to this neighborhood,” she says. “A French patisserie, in the middle of the hood? What?! When I first opened it, people said, ‘What are you doing here?’ I was like, ‘I’m here for you! I’m here for the community, I’m here for you guys to not have to travel to Manhattan or Williamsburg or Greenpoint, like you can literally come in your own neighborhood and get a fresh baked croissant’.”

Je T’aime Patisserie is located at 471 Marcus Garvey Boulevard, between Decatur and Fulton Streets, and is currently open on Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., and on Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (718-400-8730)