With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, everyone is searching for the perfect gift for their special someone. Sweet treats are always a popular option and if you’re looking for something a little different, Le Petite Bisous, a small French macaron bakery in Havre de Grace, may be exactly what you are looking for.
The whimsical shop is located at the corner of North Washington Street and Congress Avenue in downtown Havre de Grace.
Owned and operated by Emily Yeatman, the gluten-free bakery offers classic bite-size French macarons in a wide variety of flavors. Mainstay flavors on the menu include lemon, dark chocolate sea salt, raspberry and – one of the best sellers – French buttercream.
Yeatman often takes suggestions from customers for other fun flavors like apple pie, cotton candy, maple bacon, s’mores and Rice Krispie treats, just to name a few. The bakery also has other menu offerings including slightly larger six- or eight-inch macaron mini cakes in flavors like creme brulee’, a popular favorite, as well as eclairs and cupcakes, all of which are gluten free.
All items are made onsite with love by the caring hands of Yeatman, with occasional help from her family.
“I get to do something I love every day,” Yeatman said. “It’s such a creative, happy and positive place. I never bake when I’m upset. I tell my husband you can’t make macrons when you’re sad; you have to be in a good mood.”
The school teacher-turned-baker opened her one-woman operation after purchasing an existing bakery from longtime owner Wanda Boker in 2019.
Establishing herself in the role of baker however took some time and there were some tougher times before she set out on her endeavor.
After a nine-year run as a high school and middle school English teacher, Yeatman needed a change. “My husband said you know what, teaching was never your thing…figure out what you want to do for the rest of your life.”
After leaving teaching, Yeatman was a stay-at-home mom with her young family and began to think seriously about what she wanted to do. But a one-income family can be challenging, and to continue to make ends meet she worked a few part-time jobs.
The Yeatman family had only been in Havre de Grace only a short time and Emily would often take long walks through the historic town while doing a bit of soul searching. She was no stranger to the kitchen before her endeavor and had developed a love for cooking over the years.
“My mom taught me to cook, my grandmother taught me to bake,” she said, proudly showing a photo of her and her grandmother that sits amidst a shelf of family photos behind the bakery counter.
While on a run through her neighborhood, Yeatman recalled, she stopped and thought, “I’m going to teach people how to bake. I’m going to open a baking school,’Glitter and Rainbows.'”
With assistance from the Harford County Economic Development Office, she drafted a business plan. While talking to friends around town about her plan, several people kept suggesting a bakery that was for sale in town. “I don’t want a bakery, that’s so much work. I want to teach people how to do it,” Yeatman remembered.
Still working part-time at a local grocery store, she said a woman came through her line purchasing a bunch of baking ingredients. “What are you making with all this sugar and eggs?” she asked with a bit of curiosity.
The two began talking and soon discovered the woman was the bakery owner, Wanda Boker, everyone had been telling Yeatman about. After sharing her plan about a baking school during the conversation, Boker encouraged her to follow her dream, handed her a business card and invited her to stop by the shop. Filing the card away for another time, she kept the idea of paying a visit in the back of her mind.
When Yeatman went to sign the paperwork for a business loan for the baking school, the loan officer asked if she knew about the woman in town selling her bakery. Remembering the business card and feeling like there were maybe some other forces at work, she dug it out, contacted the owner and arranged to meet.
“I came up here, I saw it and I thought this is it, I want this place,” she said while standing in shop’s small kitchen last Friday afternoon preparing for the upcoming Valentine’s Day rush.
Yeatman decided to switch plans and take over the bakery after all, but she’s kept the cooking school idea alive.
“I had to pivot a bit,” she said. “Because my original plan was to only do the cooking school, but I fell in love with the macaron shop, and it keeps me pretty busy so doing both wasn’t a realistic option at the time.”
In the time transitioning the newly purchased business to her style and incorporating a few changes, Yeatman stayed in contact with the former owner, often seeking advice on flavors and other aspects of the business.
Having never made a macaron before, she began experimenting and researching different styles and recipes. Sharing the sometimes not-so-tasty results and enlisting the opinions of friends and family to help dial in a product she could be proud of.
After much trial and error, she finally arrived at a recipe and got to work. “Someone asked me recently how to preserve the macaron because it was so beautiful, they didn’t want to eat it.” Yeatman said. “That’s an ultimate compliment.”
In her short time owning the bakery, Yeatman has developed a close relationship with her customers and the community in general since moving to the area in 2014. She has developed a loyal following and it’s not unusual to see a line waiting for her to open some weekends.
“When we came to Havre de Grace and found our home, I fell in love,” said Yeatman. “This community is the reason I’m still standing after COVID.”
Recalling a family emergency not long ago when she had to rush out the store, leaving a note on the door to let customers know the reason for closing. “I can’t tell you how many people reached out to me,” she said. “[They asked]’Are you okay?’ ‘What do you need?’ Even volunteering to come open the store so I wouldn’t miss a day. The love of this community is amazing.”
Yeatman also believes in paying back the community that has supported her so strongly in her short time here. When her business was recently called on by the local high school to help with treats for the senior prom, she didn’t hesitate and committed to providing cupcakes for the class.
Local schools have also reached out to her for small field trips to the shop to teach students about business, cooking and other lessons. “I always love helping,” said Yeatman. “This is my community. This is where my kids go to school, too.”
Through hard work, persistence and even a little luck, she feels like she has finally established her own identity. With the business taking off, Yeatman recently revisited her original concept for a cooking school. She’s decided to turn a space located just behind her storefront into a venue where people can host small events like birthday parties, baby or wedding showers. With help from a few friends, she plans to offer a variety of baking-related classes and “night out” events for adults and kids.
Yeatman hopes to expand the business without compromising the quality she has worked so hard to build inside the four walls of the tiny bakery that has literally changed her life.
So, if your Valentine’s Day gifting needs could use a bit of an upgrade, be sure to pay a visit to Le Petits Bisous. The experience and love shared through these tasty treats could be a life-changing experience for you as well.
