Leave room for dessert! Tasty vegan treats are coming to White Star Market.
Opening in early May, Mac & Moon will offer vegan macarons, vegan rolled ice cream, vegan bubble teas, vegan milkshakes and some weekend savory items. The macarons, which are gluten free, are made with aquafaba or garbanzo bean water instead of egg whites and almond flour in a temperature-controlled production facility.
This will be the second location for Mac & Moon, the first one located in Auction House Market in New Orleans. Concept owner and creator Kristina Ostrom, a New Jersey native, also operates Lafayette-based French macarons and rolled ice cream parlor Karmacaroons.
“I’ve always had a decadent Baton Rouge following with Karmacarons (the wholesale macaron company), so I’ve been wanting to get to BR for quite some time,” Ostrom said.
Ostrom traveled around the country to music festivals and had small wholesale accounts until she opened the first location of Mac & Moon in Auction House Market when she was 26. Now at 27, Ostrom will be opening her second Mac & Moon location in Baton Rouge. It’s been a long time coming for Ostrom, who’s worked in the food industry for over a decade.
“When I was 23, I was working at a chain grocery store on the marketing team teaching healthy eating classes, when suddenly the position got eliminated throughout the whole company,” Ostrom said. “I had to work in the prepared foods department instead, and I felt like as a young mom I was taking a giant step back in my life.”
Now, Ostrom wholesales the macarons as well as in her own locations. Ostrom, who in addition to being an entrepreneur is the mother of four-year-old Kannon and one-year-old Kali Moon, started the business when she was 24.
“I’d worked in kitchens since I was 14 — I was ready for something new,” Ostrom said. “I set my mind to making the first vegan French macaron and I failed. Lots of times. When I finally got it right, people on my own personal social media were so excited that I just launched from there. Everything about the company has been very serendipitous.”
Mac & Moon is on Instagram at @macandmoon, and White Star Market at @whitestarmarketbr. White Star Market is located at 4624
Government St.