French corner of the Village grows

by Ann Packer

Five years on from opening Tartines French café in Eastbourne, Camille Furminieux has revealed her enlarged premises, following a week’s closure for renovations.

From Wednesday 25 January, the new entrance to Tartines is through the former Marmalade Deli space, which now houses the coffee machine and food cabinet.

To take away there’s a range of Tartines’ own Provençal-inspired products – including balsamic syrup, olive oil, vinaigrette and the French biscuits that come with their coffee – plus a selection of French cheeses, saucisson (dry-cured pork sausage) and wine (for consumption in-house only).

Old deli favourite Tumjal relish has its own shelf, while Wellington Sourdough Company’s loaves will be available at weekends – and former Marmalade staffer Michele joins the Tartines team.

A frozen takeaway meals cabinet will include whole opéra cakes made on site – what the owner calls “last minute birthday cakes” – and the former deli’s kitchen becomes the pastry chef kitchen, while the old one will be the domain of Camille’s business partner and Tartine’s fine dining chef, Laurent Loudeac. Coming from Hippopotamus Restaurant 18 months ago, after 11 years as their executive chef, he’ll host the monthly Bistro nights, the first on 25 February, and continue his monthly cooking classes in the quieter room off the courtyard, which also caters for private functions.

From the time she started cooking school at the age of 15, Camille has loved working in hospitality, from Michelin-starred restaurants in her native France, working on cruise ships, and in fine dining. But her time at Hippopotamus – where she and Laurent were 2015 global winners of the Dilmah Real High Tea Challenge in Sri Lanka – had her yearning after what she imagined was the “easier life” of a small café. And she’s grateful for that.

“I'm so lucky,” she says. “People have given me such great support.”

Camille says Tartines will continue to be open six days while there’s still difficulty in securing staff. She also plans to remain open through the winter, a time when she has previously gone home to France for a break.

And locals will be pleased to hear the free bookshelf has been reinstated, spruced up with white paint and screwed to the wall so it’s safe in the event of an earthquake.