New Seats, Fresh Eats for the Laney & Lu Team

Jennifer Desrosiers is on a mission to create positive change by encouraging people to live vibrant, more purposeful and more adventure-filled lives through their brands.

It all started with an empty storefront and a daydream. While walking through downtown Exeter on her way to a meeting, Laney & Lu’s future owner Jennifer Desrosiers happened to walk through a patio on Water Street. A “For Lease” sign caught her attention, and she looked through the window of what would one day become Laney & Lu’s Exeter location.  

While looking through the storefront’s window, she could see it all: the white countertops, the wood floors, the warm glow from the overhead lighting, colorful smoothies, grain bowls, sandwiches and customers smiling ear to ear over a menu full of foods they can eat — a smoothie shop turned wellness business that would nourish people’s souls and their community.

After a career working in corporate America, with the last 16 of them being on the road, Desrosiers discovered that the food industry was becoming more progressive, and there was a shift toward healthy eating. However, that progressive movement hadn’t found its way back to New England … yet. When her health started to suffer in 2012 due to her on-the-road lifestyle, Desrosiers knew she needed a change, and she decided to take the plunge into exploring health and wellness. 

“I felt really disconnected from myself, and my body started feeling significantly sick, Desrosiers said. “In trying to figure out what it was, I started to dive into health and wellness … and that was when I discovered paleo.” 

Desrosiers’ new diet felt nothing less than revolutionary and left her feeling revitalized. “It was around that time when I decided I wanted to do something different, and create more impact and help educate others on what I was experiencing in that season.” 

When Desrosiers first began exploring health and wellness, health coaching was still in its infancy, but after stumbling across an article about a woman from Minneapolis who was developing a health coaching business, something just clicked.

“I thought, ‘Wow, this is something I feel like I could do,’” Desrosiers said. So, she did. Not long after that fate-filled day in Exeter, Laney & Lu was born to bring inspired and conscious eating to the Seacoast.

Fast forward to Laney & Lu’s opening day in September 2015. With a sign that read “Are you hungry for something new,” a menu that had expanded far beyond the original idea of just smoothies and a mission to make an inclusive and approachable vegetarian spot, Desrosiers’ dream had finally been realized. While on her way home from the gym, Stef Heitz decided to stop into Laney & Lu to check things out herself. 

“At the time, I was also paleo and there were really limited options for what I could eat,” Heitz said. “I was going to the gym right down the street, and it was wonderful to know that I could stop into Laney & Lu after to get food that I could actually enjoy. At the time, I was also running a seasonal restaurant, and the season was coming to an end. I applied to work, and I started working there about 20 days after opening, and I’ve been there ever since.” 

The Laney & Lu menu includes an abundance of nutrient-dense and local ingredients that are good and good for you.

With Heitz’s knowledge of the restaurant industry and Desrosiers’ visionary tendencies, the two became fast friends and business partners — the organic peanut butter and jelly of healthy eating.

When you first walk into Laney & Lu, you’ll see the phrase “inspired eatery” on the door, the walls and the menu, but what does that mean?

“We’re plant based, plant centric. We have a pretty diverse menu with everything from locally roasted coffee and herbalist designed teas to breakfast to smoothie bowls and everything in between,” Desrosiers said. “We welcome all sorts of different ways that people eat to satisfy their cravings and their bodies. We aren’t anti-anything, and we try to be as culinarily inclusive as possible.” 

In their efforts to be inclusive, Laney & Lu’s menu doesn’t label anything as gluten-free, dairy-free or vegan, since Desrosiers and Heitz find that limiting. Instead, they’ve made their options endless, by making their food from scratch and by preempting major allergens. If anyone has a dietary request for their meal, Team Lu can make it happen. 

It was clear from day one of opening the Exeter location that people were hungry for something new. Fans of the inspired eatery came again and again, introducing friends and family to what Laney & Lu had to offer along the way. In the few months following their opening, Desrosiers realized that she would have to start dreaming bigger than the 750-square-foot storefront. 

“People were into it,” Desrosiers said. “I was introducing things to people that they hadn’t had before, which is always a risk, but right away I knew this was something special, and within three or four months, people were asking if we could go to their town or city. Having Stef there with her restaurant knowledge also really transformed our business into who we are today.”

Now almost eight years since their original opening, Laney & Lu is expanding. Its long-awaited Portsmouth location opened on August first of this year, and the next project, Ginger Fox Bakery, opened in September in Stratham.  

“People have been anticipating our growth for so long,” Desrosiers said. “We put a lot of thought into our business ideas, expansions and new ventures, like Ginger Fox. We’re very excited, and I think people were ready for us in both spaces.”

The new Laney & Lu Portsmouth location has open-concept seating and plenty of natural light.

That attention to detail is evident when you first walk into Laney & Lu’s Portsmouth location. It’s crisp and clean, with a fresh aesthetic that fits the menu. The lamp-lit overhead lighting washes warm light over the inside seating areas. However, it’s the floor-to-ceiling windows that invite you in to unwind with an iced latte and strawberry acai smoothie bowl (and maybe a sweet potato brownie for dessert). It’s as much indoors as it is outdoors, and that’s allowed for the space to feel vibrant yet calm, because no matter where you’re seated you can feel sunshine and a warm breeze. 

Almost everything that comes out of Laney & Lu’s kitchen is organic, nutrient-dense and locally sourced. While you’ll never be able to grow an avocado in New Hampshire in the winter (but please let them know if you’ve figured it out), they do their best to ensure that you can feel good about eating everything on their menu, because it’s good for you and local farms. 

That commitment to locally sourcing their ingredients also extends to Desrosiers’ newest culinary adventure, Ginger Fox Bakery. As an avid traveler, Desrosiers wanted to capture the romance and ambiance of Europe’s beautiful artisanal cafes and bring it closer to home. What once used to be Sweet Dreams Bakery, the new shop features a black interior and exterior, marble tile flooring and granite countertops, and even four to six seating spaces outside along with a wall-mounted bar table. 

Pumpkin bread with maple butter is a staple menu item at Ginger Fox Bakery in Stratham.

While Ginger Fox is primarily a traditional bakery with cookies, matcha coconut macaroons, sweet and savory patisserie and even a gluten-free strawberry cream cake inspired by one of Sweet Dreams’ bestsellers, the bakery uses simple ingredient, “clean” grains and local dairy products to make an “unhealthy” food a sweet treat that you can feel good about. 

“I’ve become less restrictive in the ways that I eat over the last 10 years,” Desrosiers said. “There’s room for comfort food, and there’s room for treats. You can also make a ridiculous cheesecake with maple syrup and cashews. We’ll still make a traditional croissant, and it’ll be the highest-quality croissant that you’ll be able to find on the Seacoast. From there, you’ll also be able to get a nut-based, vegan cheesecake — that diversity of the product is really important.”

Opening two restaurants at the same time has come with its challenges including construction delays and having to constantly be in two places at once, but Desrosiers and Heitz have made it work. They’ve relied heavily on their team, who have risen to the occasion and taken on extra responsibilities to make everything run as smoothly as possible. 

“Our restaurants are all run by women,” Desrosiers said. “They’re just an incredible and talented feisty group of women.”

Now, following the successful launch of a new Laney & Lu location, along with the opening of Ginger Fox Bakery, Desrosiers has proven to herself, and the community, that if she can dream it, they can do it. But what comes next?

“We have a few more restaurant concepts in our heads, and we’ve already had developers contact us about expanding Ginger Fox,” Desrosiers said. “We’re also about to host an event at 3S Art Space, which is an opportunity for people to go onstage in short form and share their story like what’s inspired their personal mission, what have they overcome, and how has that personal mission impacted them and their business.” 

Whatever she dreams up next, Desrosiers knows that she wants it to be as meaningful as her original ventures.

 “It can be challenging to do so many things. It’s hard to pick what to do next,” said Heitz, “There’s so much we want to do and so much impact that we want to make.”