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Hail to the chef

Creator of crêpe suzette gets historical marker in East Rockaway

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A roadside historical marker was unveiled near the East Rockaway-Lynbrook border last Saturday to memorialize the late Henri Charpentier, who is considered the first celebrity chef and is credited with creating, quite by accident, the flaming crêpe suzette dessert.

Thanks to the work of Bob Sympson and Frank Torre, two directors of the Historical Society of East Rockaway & Lynbrook, a roadside marker grant was provided by the William G. Pomeroy Foundation and installed at 660 Scranton Ave. in Lynbrook — which is actually within the incorporated village of East Rockaway — the site of the Original Henri’s Restaurant and Bar, which opened in 1910.

Dozens of historical society members, local officials and descendants of Charpentier attended the dedication ceremony.

Historical markers are not awarded lightly, according to Patricia C. Sympson, Ph.D., the group’s president. Only five, she said, have been dedicated in East Rockaway, the first nearly 90 years ago.

“We can appreciate the significance,” Sympson said, “and it’s our hope that this and all markers will be recognized as a testament to the age and history of our village.”

“My grandpere, as well as his wife, Philomene Charpentier — the behind-the-scenes backbone for Henri — were wonderful people,” said their granddaughter, Elise Charpentier-Lane. “They always shared their good fortune, either with the family back in France, or with those who were less fortunate.”

According to Lynbrook Historian Art Mattson’s book “The History of Lynbrook,” Charpentier was born in Nice, France, in 1880, and trained as a gourmet chef there. As a young man, he cooked all over Europe: in Paris, London, Moscow, Munich and Rome. He cooked for the rich and for royalty, and he spoke six languages. But he could be temperamental: the story goes that when a French maitre d’hotel stomped on Charpentier’s foot in an argument over the way he sliced a steak, Charpentier slapped him with the steak, drenching the man in sauce Bourguignon. Charpentier immediately left Europe for the U.S. It was 1909, and he was 29.

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