Café Forant
Lea Forant met Carolyn Montgomery in Provincetown, MA in 1992 when Lea was a chef in a popular restaurant and Carolyn an in-house singer/entertainer. During their five years in Provincetown, they discussed their goals, and it was obvious that they each had serious ambition. Lea stated that she wanted a restaurant in New York City with her name on the door. Carolyn stated that she wanted to gain recognition as a singer in New York City and have children. They got married. They moved to New York. They moved to Hell’s Kitchen. They never looked back.
Yup. That is pretty much how it happened. Lea was a child on Cape Cod and a teenager in Montreal. Her love of French culture- cuisine in particular- developed in that fascinating city, which we visit every chance we get. Carolyn grew up on prep school campuses up and down the east coast (with a beloved stint in Austin, Texas)- a headmaster’s daughter who enjoys team sports, music of all genres and writing.
You should know that Lea is a Red Sox fanatic. Not just a fan, no. Lea Forant is a die-hard, watch-every-game, live-for-the-sport, hate-the-Yankees member of the Bo Sox clan. In addition, she lives in New York, putting her life and the life of her young son in jeopardy every time they grace Yankee stadium in full Red Sox Regalia: t-shirts, hats, pants, socks. They are pelted with French fries and taunted.
Carolyn is an award winning (the MAC, Backstage Bistro and Nightlife Awards, to name a few) singer in New York. She has traveled the country with her one-woman show, with original comedy sketches, stories, and lots of great music. Check her out at www.carolynmontgomery.com and purchase her CD. Hell, food is not the only thing we are selling! Carolyn is also the Director of the only free veterinary clinic in the United States, the eight-year-old St. Clement’s Free Veterinary Clinic.
Elliott “Eli” Montgomery Forant will be 3-years-old in July 2007. He rides a two-wheeler with training wheels, morphs into a superhero names Gooey Man (who covers enemies with glue, evidently, so they cannot move) and provides his Moms with so much pleasure that the 18-hour, daily grind of getting our café off the ground doesn’t make us completely bitter.
A recent patron of the café said, “I love this place. The food is amazing, the atmosphere is warm, and you obviously love what you do”. The truth is, we only really love about half of what we do…but hanging in there together makes the other half bearable. After over-spending what we did to open our place, and now scrambling to pay every piper, I wish we could blissfully quote the Beatles: “love is all you need”. Unfortunately, love is not all one needs to keep the lights on and the rent paid…but love is what keeps you running when your tank gets precariously low.
