Q&A with: Chantal Thomas

Tim Leininger, Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
·5 min read

Nov. 27—CHANTAL THOMAS

Known for: Owns Amazing Akee in Manchester, which specializes in vegan Jamaican patties.

Hometown: Windsor. Was raised in Jamaica.

Inspiration: Her biological father gave her a cookbook for kids. Thomas says, "For me, food very early was an opportunity to travel and experience different cultures in the kitchen without leaving the house."

Q: When did you get the call to come on The Food Network?

A: That was in 2017. I had posted a picture of a cake I had done in culinary school. Someone from casting saw that picture on Instagram and they reached out to me and asked me if I would be interested in applying to the show.

When the lady from casting reached out to me, I was like, "Oh, the universe is now playing with me." I filled out a form and the next thing I know I'm doing the preliminary interviews. That was filmed in Louisiana in June.

For people who cook or bake, your kitchen is your happy place. Your kitchen is like your home within your home. You usually have your music on. Everyone has their routine when it comes to baking.

You take people, you put them in an artificial space, you can't sing or hum on the show because we're all miked. You have to just be quiet and if you're someone who is used to blasting your music and get into the zone and doing what you have to do, it's a lot to be in that space. Then to have those lights on you — one point we had two camerapersons each.

So, for every single thing you're doing it's, "What are you doing now?" You mess up something and before you even have a chance to correct it, here comes the presenter.

Q: "Holiday Baking Championship" airs and you have a fairly successful run, making it to the second to last episode. Once it aired, did people want to hire you?

A: Not hire me for business, but to buy baked goods. At that time, my business, Amazing Akee, had transformed from just the blog to the start of a packing business. I had been working out of Hands On Hartford at that time. The challenge there was that I don't own the space, I have to schedule a time. The show was great in getting eyes on me and my business, but what I wasn't able to capitalize on was that buy impulse. If somebody saw the show and thought, "She's hot right now, I want to try out her stuff," there was this whole process I had to do for you to be able to purchase from me because I didn't have a storefront.

But even without a storefront, it's allowed me to form some really awesome connections with people. It means that my name and the business name has been in so many different rooms that my toes have not even stepped foot in.

It was definitely worth it. If I could change anything, it would be that I had a storefront. People have asked me if I would do another show. I don't know if I would. It's very stressful.

In 2019, at the end of the year, a customer reached out to me and said, "A real estate agent friend of mine has a commercial kitchen that they're going to list. It's not even on the market as yet. Reach out to her. It might be perfect for you."

I did and here I am. I was working with the Hartford Economic Development Corporation. They have a special program for women and minority business owners to apply for funds from the SBA. I applied and I was awarded the funds and I found this place. The lease for this place started in March 2020 and I said, "This is fantastic. I have large vegan events booked for every single month. I've got my farmers markets on the schedule. Perfect." March 14, I was supposed to have a table at the Ellington Farmer's Market and that's when everything got shut down. I've already got this money for this loan, what I'm not going to do is stop because I didn't come this far in the journey to finally get a place for everything to then fall apart.

Whether it was smart, headstrong, or stupid, I forged ahead. We did what we had to do. Farmers markets were deemed essential business. Fortunately we were able to keep all our farmers markets.

Things are back up and running now and business has been great. The problem that I face is not being able to make enough products.

Right now, I'm at a weird space between handmade and full automation. There is not much in the semi-automated sphere, but I did find one guy who does a semi-automated turnover machine. I'm hoping to be able to purchase one of those, to be able to increase how many we're able to make.

Q: What's your vision for the future?

A: My vision is to have a storefront because we're losing a lot of people who would like to just pop in. The storefront would also give me the opportunity to play again with pastry and flavor.

Caribbean-inspired treats are part of what we did to expand on that offering this year. I added waffle orange scones to the menu and that's been doing really well. I do a banana toasted pecan cookie, which is also doing very well. I also make a double chocolate sour cherry cookie. It's my husband's favorite.

I want to introduce some of the other things that I had worked on, on my website, before becoming a full patty producing business. I've done akee cakes, some frozen goods and cookies, pie, that kind of thing. I imagine that I will be in the plant-based realm, because there isn't that much in this area that's fully plant-based.

Note: This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

For coverage of local restaurants, cultural events, music, and an extensive range of Connecticut theater reviews, follow Tim Leininger on Twitter: @Tim_E_Leininger, Facebook: Tim Leininger's Journal Inquirer News page, and Instagram: @One_Mans_Opinion77.