Restaurateur Laura Crucet in ‘Read With A Chef’ June 12 at the White Rock branch library. Courtesy photo

COMMUNITY News:

The White Rock branch library kicked off its Summer Series June 12 with restaurateur Laura Crucet in ‘Read With A Chef’. Crucet, owner and executive chef of local favorite cafes Pig + Fig and Sugar & Cream, read several food and cooking-related children’s books to a captive audience of local Los Alamos children.

For a fun-filled hour at the White Rock Public Library, Crucet read aloud several culinary picture books, sang and danced to some tummy-grumbling songs, and helped her audience ages 4-8 to make delicious fresh fruit skewers.

Crucet, who is the mother of two teenage boys, admits she was a bit rusty.

“It’s been at least 10 years since I’ve sat down and read any children’s books,” She said. “I had to go back and practice all the voices for the different characters!”

Crucet told her audience that she always knew she loved food saying, “I used to cry if someone went to the grocery store without me!”

It was this love of food that led Texas native Crucet into a successful culinary career spanning over  25 years. Since her days of dreaming of the grocery store, Crucet has become a successful award-winning chef, she is a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, France, an acclaimed cooking instructor and owns two restaurants.