My journey with Le Beignet started with something very simple: my love for French food, hospitality, and bringing people together around something delicious.
I’m Sophie, the owner of Le Beignet, a San Diego-based French pastry business specializing in fresh, handcrafted beignets. Growing up with French influences, I’ve always loved the idea that food can create memories and bring people together. When I started Le Beignet, I wanted to share that feeling with people here in San Diego, and eventually with people beyond San Diego as well.
What started as a passion has grown into a real business serving private celebrations, weddings, corporate events, festivals, farmers markets, and other special occasions. We have also developed our business to work with restaurants by providing our handcrafted beignet dough, allowing their teams to serve fresh, warm French beignets without complicated preparation.
One of the things I’m most proud of is how much Le Beignet has grown. I’ve had the opportunity to serve large corporate events, work with well-known companies and venues, and introduce thousands of people to our beignets. Every event has taught me something new about food, business, customer service, and, most importantly, people.
I love teaching because I believe that skills become even more meaningful when you can share them with someone else.
For me, teaching is not only about showing someone how to make a recipe. It’s about giving people the confidence to try something new, be creative, and realize that they are capable of creating something special themselves.
Through Le Beignet, I’ve learned that you don’t need to start with a huge business or have everything figured out. You can start with an idea, a passion, and the willingness to learn. I want to share what I’ve learned along the way from making beignets and understanding the craft behind them to creating an experience, building a brand, working with customers, and turning a passion into a business.
Something people may not know about me is that Le Beignet has become much more than a pastry business for me. It has become a way to share a part of my French culture and personality with my community.
I love creating an experience around food. Whether we are serving a small private party or hundreds of guests at a large event, I want people to feel excited, welcomed, and connected to what we are serving.
I also love the entrepreneurial side of what I do. Building Le Beignet has taught me to be creative, adaptable, persistent, and comfortable learning as I go. There have definitely been challenges along the way, but every challenge has helped me grow.
Through Le Beignet, I have had the opportunity to serve hundreds and sometimes thousands of guests at events ranging from private celebrations and weddings to corporate events and festivals.
I have worked with companies and organizations including Intuit, Lytx and different type of schools, as well as venues and clients throughout Southern California. I’ve also participated in farmers markets and cultural and food events, giving me experience working with very different audiences and environments.
I hold food-safety training and certifications relevant to my work in the food industry, and I’m constantly learning and improving my craft.
What I bring to my classes is not only my experience with French pastry, but also everything I’ve learned from building a food business from the ground up.
My goal is for every student to leave my class with more than just a delicious recipe.
I want them to feel confident, inspired, and excited to continue creating. Whether they simply want to learn how to make authentic French beignets at home or dream of turning their passion for food into a business, I want to encourage them to believe that it is possible.
For me, the best part of teaching is seeing someone make something with their own hands, taste it, smile, and say, “I made this!”
That is exactly the feeling I want to share through Le Beignet.