Le Petit Café In Farmingdale Holds Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony

FARMINGDALE, NY — If you frequent Farmingdale Village, you may have heard of Le Petit Café. The café-bakery hybrid re-branded this spring from Thyme On Your Side. On Friday afternoon, the eatery was joined by community officials for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the re-brand, the store's survival of the coronavirus outbreak and life in the village itself.

Kristina Grimes, a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, owns the French-inspired business. The shop had previous stints in Bethpage and on Conklin Street before eventually settling at 314 Main St., Farmingdale, about a year-and-a-half ago.

"I'm very happy," Grimes told Patch. "This town has been really great to us. The village, the whole neighborhood is great."

As Thyme On Your Side, Grimes's venture offered an artisan breakfast and lunch menu consisting of egg sandwiches, soups, salads, paninis, and other brunch items. As Le Petit Café, that menu has largely remained unchanged. However, since the re-brand, Grimes offers an array of desserts such as banana bread, cookies, gelato, French macaroons, pies and brownies.

She estimates the store's income has doubled since baked goods were made available.

"We were a little afraid of doing the re-brand right in the middle of COVID, but it has actually worked out to be fantastic. It's been really good for us."

The shop's newfound success can also be attributed to the name change. Grimes previously mentioned how passerby would get confused by the word "thyme," and that now, everybody knows what a café is.

Elected officials from both Farmingdale Village and the Town of Oyster Bay were on-hand for the ribbon-cutting.

Joseph Saladino, Town of Oyster Bay supervisor, sung the praises of both Le Petit Café and Farmingdale Village as a whole.

"The growth of the economy in downtown Farmingdale is a testament to the chamber of commerce, to the mayor and leadership of Farmingdale," Saladino said. "Everybody wants to be here. It's vibrant, it's growing, it's exciting, the food is wonderful, and one of the examples of fine food is Le Petit Café. I've already tried their desserts on numerous occasions, and they're delicious. The name may be reflective of a small café, but their hearts for this community are enormous."

Le Petit Café can be reached at 516-465-9660.