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New Bed-Stuy Eatery Celebrates Haitian Culture and Community, Owners Say

 Grandchamps, a Haitian eatery and market, opened its doors at 197 Patchen Ave. in late June.
Grandchamps
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BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — Grab a $1 coffee, pick up some groceries, and chow down on some pork griot — all at Patchen Avenue’s newest restaurant.

Grandchamps, a Haitian eatery and market, opened its doors at 197 Patchen Ave. last week.

Husband-and-wife owners Shawn and Sabrina Brockman looked to bring positive awareness to Haitian culture and cuisine in opening the business, they said.

It serves as a café, restaurant, and market, offering a variety of breakfast items like assorted pastries, bagels, and a codfish sandwich, along with grocery staples like pasta, cereal, and cooking oil.

Lunch and dinner offerings include pan-fried turkey chunks with fried plantains and traditional Haitian pikliz, shrimp in tomato and cashew sauce with vegetables, and a chickpea spread sandwich with sautéed kale, tomato, and sweet plantains.

“To me, this is embodying everything my parents taught me growing up,” Sabrina Brockman said. “We’re really trying to tune into what the needs of this community are, providing a solid space for families and anyone that walks in.”

“When we came up with this whole concept we weren’t trying to get all of New York to come here, we were trying to get our neighbors to come here.”

Sabrina Brockman, who has lived in the area for more than a decade, said she was influenced by her parents’ commitment to giving back to their homeland.

The pair ran charity organizations, giving money to young students in Haiti and sending medical supplies to the country, she added.

Pictures of the owners’ mothers adorn Grandchamps’ walls, along with paintings and ironwork from Haiti. The Patchen Avenue eatery takes its title from Sabrina Brockman's maidenname.

Forging strong connections with their neighbors is an important aspect of the new business, Shawn Brockman said.

The restaurant employs several workers who live nearby, and some grocery items bought in bulk for their kitchen are repackaged to sell at a discount to the community.

Grandchamps occupies the former Archie’s Grocery space and will pay homage to the old store by hanging the original sign over the new restaurant's market area.

Grandchamps is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 7 a.m. through 10 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.