WS Chronicle

By Busta Brown

The Business of the Month is Le’ Chateau Bakery on 1200 E. Clemmonsville Road in Winston-Salem.

“It don’t matter where you live, you can have anything your heart desires. If you truly want something you can make it happen. All you need is God, faith and love,” said Geneva Dinkins.

Dinkins was responding to a question she said so many people asked when they first opened their family business: “Why didn’t we put it in the mall or another area. I told them we love being close to our community, and with hard work and prayer we’ve done very well so far.”

Geneva Dinkins, her husband, Jack, and their son Mathew are the owners of Le’ Chateau Bakery in Winston-Salem. Le’ Chateau has been in the same 1200 E. Clemmonsville Road location for over 20 years. They closed the business to make some adjustments at one point. “In the beginning, I would go out to take cakes to different businesses, and then my son Mathew came to me and asked if he could just take over because he knows more about the business. I said OK and me and my daughter decided to do all the cooking.”

The ladies can bake! Her son Mathew said his mom’s love for baking is unmatched. “I put love and passion into my baking” said Geneva Dinkins. Her mom taught her to cook at age 10, she said. “Ever since I was a child I loved to cook, so I decided to use the talent that I have to start this business.”

My girlfriend, Mary, our 6-year-old son, Nate, and I were asked to give some of Geneva ‘s cooking a try, and of course, we took them up on the offer. Mathew had left the room before Mary walked into the Le’ Chateau, so when he came back, she got excited.

“This is the guy I told you about from the Business Expo. Do you remember those slices of pound cake and banana pudding cake that I brought home and we went crazy over?” I quickly had a taste bud flashback. The banana pudding cake was the best I’ve ever had, and the pound cake was the first to compete with my grandma’s 7-Up pound cake. After I came back to earth, there it was, looking me in the eyes; a 7-Up pound cake. I asked for a slice, so Mathew cut it, gave it to me, I took a bite, and it melted in my mouth. It was moist, tender, fluffy and absolutely delicious!

Nate tried the banana pudding cake and Mary tried the 5-layer cheesecake … wow! Needless to say we left with slices of all three. We discovered that the banana pudding cake and the 5-layer cheesecakes are some of the best sellers.

“What’s different about the 5-layer cheesecake is you get the cake layered into it as well, so you’re getting two in one. The cinnamon nut and caramel cake are some of best sellers as well.”

The deliciousness keeps coming with even more pound cakes, Lemon Divine, Keylime, Honey Bun and 7-Up. The layer cakes includes Red Velvet, Chocolate & German Chocolate, Strawberry, Pineapple, Coconut Pineapple, Carrot, Lemon and Puree, plus their delicious cheesecakes come in nine different flavors.

Geneva’s son Mathew adds his flavor to Le’ Chateau with his gourmet cookies, and husband, Jack, did all of the remodeling. When you go inside, it has the look and feel of a bakery in Paris, France or New York City.

Mathew said the ingredients that makes Le’ Chateau successful are “God, faith, family and love. We all have a love and passion for what we do, and it shows with how we treat our customers and community. We’re partnering with Love Out Loud to provide free cookies and cakes this year for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas in the City.” The matriarch of the Dinkins family said they still do catering. “I like cooking and meeting people,” she said.

I shared that I’m getting married next year, and she gave the sweetest smile. “Sorry, Busta, but I don’t do wedding cakes, but I will make you a delicious cake, but I don’t do all that decorating.”

After tasting and falling in love with three of Geneva Dinkins’ cakes, Mary laughed and replied, “I’m good with that. I just want one of your cakes for our wedding day.”

The next move for the Dinkins family is to “Open up another Le’ Chateau in Winston-Salem and maybe in Charlotte and Raleigh as well.”

If you want to taste a piece of heaven on earth, try the cakes, cookies and pies at Le’ Chateau in Winston-Salem. Make sure you check out the rest of my interview with Geneva Dinkins on The Chronicle’s YouTube channel at Winstonsalem Chronicle.

To contact Le’ Chateau, call (336) 986-1443 or stop by 1200 E. Clemmonsville Road in Winston-Salem. They’re open Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; and on Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.

Companies interested in becoming a Business of the Month should apply at https://triadminoritybusinessexpo.com/.

This feature is sponsored by the Winston-Salem Branch of the NAACP, Winston-Salem Urban League, Triad Minority Business Expo, Forsyth Technical Community College Small Business Center, Winston-Salem Black Chamber of Commerce and The Chronicle.