Vendor Spotlight: Bonjour & Yum

Serge Lavoie has always had a love for the Horton Farmers’ Market. From sitting on the Market board before it changed hands to the St. Thomas EDC, to attending and shopping at the Market on Saturdays, Serge is a known face around the Market. Overtime, he realized that there was an opportunity for a vendor to provide a place for people to sit down and eat, or just meet up and have a coffee and a light breakfast. And in 2018 Serge opened Bonjour Breakfast at the Horton Farmers’ Market, and he has been a Market staple ever since. “It was kind of a retirement gig for me, I didn’t want to completely retire,” explained Serge. “I had community work going on but that was it, so my wife and I decided to give it a try.” 

Bonjour Breakfast operated until COVID-19, and rebranded as Bonjour & Yum when the Market reopened. “A couple vendors had tried breakfast sandwiches just using household equipment, but there wasn’t anything being run on a commercial level to create lots of volume,” said Serge. “In those days, since people were cooking on household griddles, you’d have to wait forever to get a sandwich.” Seeing an opportunity and taking it, Serge and his family began offering fresh breakfast sandwiches and french rolled omelets, working their way up and expanding along the way. “The [initial] range was fairly limited, and it was not until we relaunched that we really made things wider,” Serge explained. “We always had maybe ½ a dozen items, but now we are pushing about 20 different items. We are really just branching out on everything that goes with breakfast, and showcasing all the things you can do with eggs, and how you can accompany them.” In addition to their breakfast and soups, Bonjour & Yum also offers coffee, tea, and freshly squeezed lemonade, with more beverages to come. “We will be introducing freshly squeezed orangeade on Saturdays,” said Serge. “And later on in the summer we will be introducing a spicy non-alcoholic Jamaican style ginger beer as a kind of soda drink.”
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Bonjour & Yum, which is a “broader idea”, with Bonjour “really being the brand”, is completely family operated, explained Serge. “From day one it was always a family business, everyone who works at the stand is somehow related to us,” said Serge. “In the early days my wife was very involved, my daughters work here, sons in law, friends of the kids, that kind of thing; it’s just a really close group.” On any given Saturday, they can be found at their stand inside the Market building, beaming with energy each early morning. “I just wanted to have a fun Saturday morning thing at the Horton Market,” Serge said. “Something that we just let loose and have fun, and we let the patrons in on the fun as well.” 

And their customers must enjoy it, because Bonjour
& Yum has lots of regulars. “We have had them
since 2018,” Serge said with a happy smile. “We’ve
got people who come back and order the same
thing every week, and we also have people who
come along and ask what is new each week and
will order that. We definitely have a big family
of regulars; some who stop by on their way to work
for a sandwich and a quick shop, and some who
order coffee and food and sit for a while to chat
and enjoy the market.” Serge loves seeing
his regulars, as well as new patrons each week.
“It really is the whole vision behind the market,”
​said Serge. 
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​They also operated Bonjour Pasta on Friday nights at Railway City Brewing before COVID-19, and are excited to bring it back for the new Wednesday evenings Midweek Market, beginning June 5th.“We’ll be morphing back towards the Bonjour Pasta idea, so it will be like freshly made pasta dishes,” Serge said with a smile. “We might do a smash burger using pork, and there will be cold and hot soups.” He explained that Bonjour & Yum always aims to give customers a “sit down, fancy restaurant experience at a food stall”, and they are excited that the Wednesday evening Midweek Markets will give them the opportunity to expand from their Saturday morning offerings.

​Whether you come by on Saturday mornings or on Wednesday evenings one thing will remain the same; Bonjour & Yum's food is always freshly made to order. "We don't cook anything until they have placed their order with us, and then within the span of 2 to 3 minutes we can concoct something from scratch and hand it to them," Serge said proudly. "There is nothing hidden, nothing pre-cooked, and some people are surprised by that, but other people appreciate it. It's the way it is here, and it's how we do things, and it's good."

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When it comes to weekly menu creation, Serge enjoys getting inspiration and products from other Market vendors, as well as throwing ideas around with his wife. "I'm not afraid to try different things, and some of them have been very successful, and some have been spectacular failures," Serge laughed.

​As for sourcing ingredients, Bonjour & Yum believes in using local products first and foremost. “We first buy everything we can from Horton Market vendors, then we will buy from vendors who live within the 60km market radius,” Serge explained. “Our preference is Horton vendors, then any farmer in the local area, then Southwestern Ontario, and then stuff that isn’t grown in Canada is our last choice.” Serge acknowledges that there are some challenges, mainly around the volume of food they can make each week. "You have to learn what your limitations are; space, volume, equipment," he explained. "So I like to keep it simple, but introduce tons of new ingredients, and that seems to be the winning formula. Don't make things too complicated, just make them as varied at possible, and learn on the job what customers want; and a big part of that is trying new things." ​

The Horton Farmers’ Market is a member of Farmers’ Markets Ontario, maintaining a majority number of farm vendors at peak season and all market vendors are from a 60km radius of the market. This means when you buy from farmers at the Horton Market, you are actually buying locally grown and raised products from people who live and work in your community. The Horton Market is also producer based, which means that all products sold are created by the vendor, not just resold items. “I think that’s part of the beauty of something like the Horton Market, it’s real,” Serge proudly said with a smile. “We know who the local market families are, we know where their farms are, we know what their problems are, what their successes are, and that’s kind of fun.” ​

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Paige Palmer, EDC Summer Marketing Support

Paige is happy to be joining the St. Thomas Economic Development Corporation as their 2024 Summer Marketing Assistant. She is completing her undergraduate degree this summer with a double major in Media and Communications Studies and Thanatology at Western University and King’s University College. She is excited to help to promote local vendors and businesses this summer, and is looking forward to trying all the delicious and unique produce and products at the Horton Farmers’ Market this summer! Outside of work and school she loves spending time learning about nature, animals, and gardening.