One year after opening Au Fudge, the actress shows us how the food lovers' wonderland has evolved — and why her infamous "glass shard loaf" won't be on the menu anytime soon.
There are two general reactions the moment Jessica Biel walks into Au Fudge, her restaurant-meets-playground for kids of all ages: (1) "Oh my god, is that — it's her! Don't look. Be cool. Don't look, don'tlook, omigoddon'tlook." And (2) "hey, lady, you're blocking the candy!"
If you're over 10 years old, you fall squarely into the first category, brainstorming ways to covertly snap a photo without looking like you're about three seconds from a full-blown "I loved you in The Illusionist!" meltdown. If you were born after 2007, Biel may be famous, sure — but not, like, Spongebob Squarepants or Paw Patrol famous. She's just another grown-up standing between you and the restaurant's gleaming bakery case full of muffins, cupcakes, baseball-sized chocolate chip cookies, and, of course, piles of fudge.
Case in point: The toddler who, staggering backwards in awe of a gumball machine even taller than he is, bumps right into the actress.
"Oops — I'm sorry! Are you okay? Did you bump into my butt?" Biel laughs.
The little boy nods sheepishly, rubbing his forehead.
"Sorry! Look, I have a mic pack in here," she says, pointing to the hard plastic case sticking out of her back pocket. "That's what hit you. I wish my booty was this hard. It's not."
The boy smiles, giggling at the adult who just said the b-word. Twice. So does his mom, before turning to watch as her son dashes to check out the rustic wooden table loaded with stuffed bunnies, hippos, and books behind her. That's the unexpected magic of Au Fudge — there's so much to going on that even an A-lister can't compete with its allure. And Biel wouldn't have it any other way.
[youtube ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fdn9l8XGFRg&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]
For the past year, she's been working behind the scenes at the shop, while filming The Book of Love, and USA's new summer show The Sinner, and taking care of her 2-year-old son, Silas (you may have heard of her husband and baby daddy, singer Justin Timberlake). To say she's been busy is an understatement, but all that hustle has taught her a lot, especially when it comes to overseeing the business.
She and her cofounders had envisioned it as a stylish escape for parents — a place where you could unwind with a glass of rosé on the patio while your kids played in a drum circle or climbed an indoor treehouse (both real things you can actually do there) under the watchful eye of an — wait for it — au pair. But quickly, it evolved to much more than that.
There's One Item You Won't See On The Menu.
Biel wasn't the first one in her family to get into the food industry — her aunt owned an ice cream truck she loved to hang out in as a kid, and Timberlake launched Southern Hospitality, a barbecue joint, five years before they were married. But it wasn't so much their influence, or a desire to build her brand, that got her on board. It was her love of baking.
She'd gotten a reputation for making killer breads — zucchini, banana — though one creation had the potential to be, well, truly killer.
"I baked [it] in the wrong dish that exploded in the oven, so it was a glass shard loaf, which nobody ate," she quips. "I was quite infamous for that one, actually."
She Orders One Dish Alllll The Time.
Glass shard loaf aside, Biel soon realized she didn't know enough about running a bakery to oversee operations, so she pivoted to be one of the company's creative partners. Plus, as much as she loves baking, it was obvious her passion lied in finding ways to make healthy dishes genuinely craveworthy (hence zucchini breads people clamored for).
"I had a lot to do with, or a lot of input on, the salads," Biel says. "My go-to order would be the vegan Caesar ... it's got this great balance of flavors."
Golden raisins add a dash of sweetness to offset the bitter kale and tangy dressing. Avocado provides creaminess (in place of cheese), and there's a smattering of quinoa and pepitas, providing a little protein and nutty flavor.
If she's feeling more indulgent, she'll go for the same order as her toddler: chicken nuggets and French fries.
"He's kind of traditional," Biel says. "But the chicken nuggets are amazing."
There Are A Few Details Only Super Fans Would Notice.
Other flourishes of personality are hidden in plain sight throughout the space. There's the stuffed unicorn bust in the dining room — based on a character in the children's book Biel's partner, Kimberly Muller, wrote about Au Fudge — decadent dishes, like truffle mac and cheese, served in piglet-shaped ramekins, encouraging you to pig out; and up in the treehouse, you'll find a book with a handwritten note to Biel's son from the author, along with illustrations of the Au Fudge family (Biel, Timberlake, and Silas included) as kids. It's home — or as close as you'll come to it in this upscale block of West Hollywood, just minutes away from Lisa Vanderpump's restaurant and the bar-turned-set of E!'s latest reality show, What Happens At The Abbey.
Running A Restaurant Isn't All Sunshine And Unicorn Milkshakes.
At Au Fudge, in addition to a play room and classes for kids, there's a full bar and a mini arcade in the back, as well as a marketplace and patio in the front of the shop. Oh, and they offer custom cakes for parties. It's a little bit of everything, which has been its strength — and greatest challenge.
"You cannot be everything for everybody, and I think we sort of got into that idea for a minute, like, 'oh yeah, we could be for people with kids, people without kids, an older demographic, a younger demographic," Biel explains. "It was impossible, so we're focusing on what we do best."
The past year taught her and her cofounders two other critical lessons: Surround yourself with people who are as passionate and invested as you are, and make sure the menu's consistent. All it takes is one soggy batch of chicken fingers to lose kids forever to the animatronic behemoth that is Chuck E. Cheese.
"Wow, this is a tough business," Biel admits. "And this one particularly, because we have almost three different businesses under one roof, but it's working out."
While everyone's welcome at Au Fudge, they zeroed in on families and groups of friends, focusing on being a gathering space for people looking to get away from their to-do lists and, well, even their kids — should they need a little adult time. (Though parents are invited to join in the classes and play time in the kids' room, they can also drop them off, paying $15 for two hours on weekdays, or $10 an hour on weekends.) Essentially, they created a physical location for mental vacations.
Timberlake's Sweet Surprise Perfectly Captures What Au Fudge Is — And What It Can Be.
That vision is best embodied in Biel's favorite memory of the restaurant, which took place just before it officially opened, when Timberlake suggested they stop by to pick up her birthday cake before heading out to dinner.
"I walked in to this wild party with all my friends, and a DJ, and great food," Biel says. "I had no idea the surprise was coming. I actually told my husband I do not want to come to Au Fudge for my birthday, because we had been at Au Fudge day in and day out leading up to the launch. ... But it was perfect. It was fantastic."
She was stunned, but by more than the surprise itself.
"It was seeing the restaurant in action, functioning," Biel explains. "It was exciting to see, like, 'oh, maybe, maybe this is actually going to work.'"
It didn't have to be everything to everybody; it just needed to be a place where everybody could feel at home.
"People are enjoying it, kids are loving it, and families are happy, and that's what we care about," she says.
Minutes from now, paparazzi will snap Biel's photo as she gets into an SUV to go home. But right here, right now, she's just another girl in line for some avalanche bars (brick-thick krispy treats studded with chocolate chips and sprinkles; her fave dessert on the menu), trying not to bump into a another set of preschoolers jockeying for the primo position to stare at the rows of sweets. If they do, though, she knows just the one-liner that'll get them giggling.
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