Make a Beeline to Bea’s Bakery

Growing up in Long Island, New York, Lenny Rosenberg was raised in a Jewish household and says he’s grateful for his religious roots. “I make it a point every year to recognize the High Holidays,” he says. “Even though I don’t observe everything in the Jewish religion anymore, it’s still very important to me.”

As an adult, Lenny began making deals in addition to delightful treats. He bought and sold several bakeries in New Jersey and New York, then moved to California in 2000. He met Adaeze in 2014.

They formed a company called LARS (a play on their initials) that develops and rebrands bakeries and restaurants. “After we put our mark on them, the businesses are turned over to another proprietor or we own them,” Lenny says.

Bea’s held special appeal because it reminded him of New York. “Tarzana is very much like Long Island — very populated, busy streets, a lot of shopping centers. It’s very similar. That’s one of the reasons why we bought it,” he says.

Adaeze uses her interior design background to create spaces that are welcoming, vibrant, and one of a kind. She traces her talent to her childhood, which was steeped in Nigerian culture. “My parents came from Nigeria to Houston, where there was a large Nigerian population,” she says. “My name Adaeze means first daughter.”

Nigerian attire — characterized by bright colors, bold patterns and unique symbols — made a big impact on her.

“You’d be really surprised to see how people’s brains work in response to color,” she says. As she’s designing, she seeks feedback from others, including employees, asking how certain colors make them feel.

Additionally, Adaeze saw an opportunity to bring Bea’s up to speed in terms of serving a diverse market. To that end, she and Lenny expanded the menu with items like red velvet cupcakes with ground kola nuts (a tribute to Nigeria) and ube challah (featuring the Southeast Asian purple yam). Plus, Bea’s has selections for people on special diets.

They pride themselves on quality and authenticity, noting, for example, that the ube they use is flown in from the Philippines. The color is natural (no artificial dye).

As Adaeze puts it: “When you come in, we want you to feel like the smell reminds you of home, or if you bite into a dessert, it takes you home wherever that may be around the world.”

They aim to please both long time customers as well as newcomers who are discovering the special joy and significance of traditions. “The past is very important,” she says. “I like to preserve the past and give it a new twist, such as flat-screen TVs with photos of the desserts. I try to merge both worlds, the past and the present.

We have customers who remember coming in as a kid with their parents and eating a holiday treat. It reminds them of their childhood, and they want to share the experience with their kids or even grandkids. So, they’re bonding, they’re discovering the best of both worlds, and they’re making new memories.”

Another tradition that’s honored at Bea’s, thanks to Adaeze, is celebrating Juneteenth with red velvet kola nut cupcakes for dessert.

“Especially being from Texas, I think a lot about the past,” she says. “I think about what they went through during that time and about Emancipation.”

Adaeze says that customer response to the new products (especially when given a sample!) has been great. And through two exciting projects, they’ve been sharing with an even wider audience their passion for creating confections.

This fall, their “It’s a Sweet World” show ran for six weeks on the JLTV network. The program highlights much-loved desserts from many corners of the globe and explores cultures through culinary traditions.

Also, their “It’s a Sweet World” cookbook is available for preorder on their website. The book features 60 multicultural recipes, including Bea’s iconic ube challah, honey cake, red velvet kola nut cupcakes and sweet potato pie. Many of the recipes have instructions for making gluten-free and low-sugar or sugar-free versions.

Lenny and Adaeze are looking forward to promoting the book at upcoming Q&A signing events. On Jan. 19 at 3 p.m. they’ll be at Diesel bookstore in Brentwood. Other venues are The Grove and Book Soup in West Hollywood. Details were TBD at press time; for more information, visit larsrestaurants.com or beasbakery.com.

“It’s exciting to see it come to life,” Adaeze says. “It was a lot of work, but I would do it all over again because it’s worth it.”

Adaeze is used to hard work, mentioning that she paid her bills in college (she studied in New York City) by decorating her friends’ rooms, for a fee. “I’d put colors together to match their personalities, and I really enjoyed it.” Her client list grew to include high-end restaurants such as Lotus in the meatpacking district.

Her career flourished, but eventually, she wanted a change. Drawn to LA’s sunny climate and relaxed vibe, she moved here in 2012. “She wanted to meet me,” Lenny quips, to which she replies: “He wishes that!”

So, how did they connect? While they agree they met at a party in 2014, Adaeze says Lenny was a little shy and slow to warm up to her.

“I saw a shadowy, stoic figure standing alone. He had good energy, so I said, ‘Hi, my name is Adaeze — what’s your name?’ He said Lenny, but he didn’t elaborate. He was very quiet and didn’t have too much to say.”

Still, the two East Coast transplants both liked Southern California weather. Lenny was intrigued by Adaeze’s interior decorating experience, so he invited her to take a look at one of his restaurants and offer her professional opinion.

“Finally, I got him to speak a little more,” Adaeze recalls. “It was a miracle!” When she got home, she received a five-paragraph text message from Lenny saying how much he had enjoyed meeting her.

“That’s her version!” says Lenny, countering that he’d charmed her right from the get-go, before saying, “her version is fine.”

From there, they bonded over the restaurant business, began dating and got married in 2017. Lenny recalls the nuptial preparation, prodding Adaeze: “You should tell her what the kola nut is for when you get married or when you’re trying to get married. You have to present this kola nut to the father-in-law, and the father-in-law will give you a long list of alcohol and monies that he’s got to send back to Nigeria to support their tribe. It’s a whole process.”

Adaeze replies breezily: “It is what it is. And then Lenny will tell you how he was crying and sweating because he was scared to do it!”

The kola nut is a celebratory fruit and is used for a door-knocking ceremony in Nigeria in the Igbo tribe, Adaeze explains. “The nuts are blessed using a prayer for a happy and successful marriage.”

Their easy rapport is clearly an asset for a couple who spend so much time together. Lenny describes it this way: “Like any marriage, it’s a work in progress. I can speak for myself and hopefully my wife — I like it because it gives a good balance to life. When there are issues at work, you get home and you try to leave work where work is and leave home life where home life is. If it’s stuff at work that you need to figure out how to fix, it’s good that you can go home and relax and talk things through.”

Also, there are some natural symmetries to their relationship. Both come from big families — Adaeze is the eldest of five children, while Lenny is the youngest of five. (All his sibs were previously involved in the family bakery business, but now they’re doing their own thing.)

Adaeze’s visual, artistic flair complements Lenny’s more cut-and-dried, by-the-book approach. Since they’ve been working together, Lenny has learned to let go a little bit, Adaeze says. “Lenny is used to being in charge 24/7. In the beginning, I had to get used to him always being in control of every single thing. I understand his point of view. It’s his business. But after getting to see how he works, I did tell him: ‘It’s OK to trust other people. If they give you a reason not to trust, then you can jump back in and take over a million percent.’ He has done that a lot more, and I feel like it’s worked out for the better.”

Not surprisingly, they enjoy eating out — letting someone else cook for them as well as keeping up with new openings and what’s attracting clientele. Their favorites include Vigilucci’s (near their home in Carlsbad); The Plot, a vegan restaurant in Oceanside and Costa Mesa; Avra in Beverly Hills; and Palmeri in Brentwood.

Having learned the business so thoroughly from his father, Lenny says the keys to success in the highly competitive hospitality business are serving a quality product and possessing knowledge. “It’s essential that the owner/operator knows how to make food, whether or not you are doing so as part of your job, so you can teach your employees the proper way, and you can observe what’s going on.”

As for service, he says it’s critical for customers to be able to speak to the owner. “We make it a point that with every store, we’re on-site as much as possible.”

Customers appreciate their accessibility and often ask questions, especially about the new items. “If they’re not sure about what something is, they want to know,” Adaeze says.

And the couple says together: “We love teaching them!”