Marc Leberger started Georgette’s Galettes to honor the memory of his mother. These small, palm-sized waffle treats can be found online (https://www.georgettesgalettes.com/), at the airport, in coffee shops, and at the Yellowstone Valley Farmers Market and the Yellowstone Valley Food Hub.
The buttery, vanilla-scented Belgian cookies with a crunch are delicious with a cup of coffee, hot chocolate, or a tall glass of milk, or a great accompaniment to ice cream. They come in a clear, sealed bag, making them easily transportable and enjoyable at room temperature. Lemberger’s creations are not to be confused with other galettes, the Belgian waffles made with yeasted bread dough, or the French round Danish pastry filled with fruit.
He has perfected the treat his mother baked over the holidays. Leberger shares, “She would always make them during Christmas time. I would share them with my friends.” Their reactions were, “Oh my gosh, these are the best. Where can you get more of these?” Over the years, they would anticipate these special treats.
“It’s something that we've eaten all of our life.”
Leberger fondly recalls visiting his grandmother in Belgium. “She would have galettes already made and stored in the cellar in a little crate. We could just go down there and grab them and eat them all day long.”
Georgette “was a soft-spoken woman. She loved to laugh, but she enjoyed making people happy with her food. And she would make Sunday dinner every Sunday, and I can see it in her face that when all the plates were empty and all the bowls were empty, she did her job, and she was happy with that.”
Although Leberger’s parents baked for a living, the galettes were saved for enjoyment at home and never offered at their establishments. “My dad opened up two bakeries in Las Vegas, and then they turned one bakery into a restaurant slash bakery where my mom was the cook for the restaurant side and my dad was the baker.” His parents owned Cake World from 1979 to 1988 and later Leopolds from 2001 to 2012.
Leberger started Georgette’s Galettes in Las Vegas in 2011. “It was really hard to get something like this new product launched in a big city like Vegas. There’s really no place to get your product out to market, so it never really went anywhere. It was always a side thing for me.”
“I was in the trade show convention business in Las Vegas. I probably produced every major trade show and convention you’ve ever heard or spoken about. It takes a toll on people because there’s no life.”
“When COVID hit, I had a year hiatus, and I decided to do some traveling, and some friends of mine said, ‘Hey, let’s go up to Montana.’” They visited Missoula, and there he fell in love with Big Sky country. Then he saw opportunities in Billings.
“But the funny thing is, Billings reminds me of a lot of Las Vegas when I grew up. Because Vegas, when I grew up, was only a hundred thousand people. You know, it’s a small-town community, everybody knows each other.” Unfortunately, in recent years, as the city grew, Leberger no longer felt that sense of community.
“It’s too big. I’m not big into the big cities any longer.”
Leberger leases a kitchen on the West End to do all the work himself, from making the waffles to packaging and marketing. The galettes are available plain or drizzled with 33% Ruby Callebaut Belgium chocolate infused with real raspberries and 54% Dark Callebaut Belgium chocolate, Ruby Raspberry Drizzle, or drizzled with 33% Gold Callebaut Belgium chocolate and 54% Dark Callebaut Belgium chocolate, Caramel Delight Drizzle.
Currently, Leberger has been making summer treats. He makes waffles that do not have pearl sugar. “I wanted to create an ice cream sandwich, and so I started looking for choke cherry ice cream.” He discovered that he could not find an already-made natural choke cherry ice cream product. “So, I physically picked the choke cherries, cleaned them, cooked them, and then found a way to press them and get the juice out.” He worked with Genuine Ice Cream in Bozeman to create a product he was happy with.
The waffles are thinner and more versatile, allowing them to be used in making savory creations. “I also make products for chefs,” he says of selling waffles to chefs “if they wanted to make other products with them such as breakfast sandwiches.”
In continuing his quest to offer local flavors, he worked with freeze-dried huckleberries to combine with white Belgian chocolate for another drizzle for his galettes. During the season, he has provided a pumpkin-spiced cookie.
Georgette’s Galettes initially seemed “like a fluke. And then, the next thing you know, it’s controlled my life, and that’s all I do.”
In the process, he honors the memory of his mother, Georgette.
