If you’d have asked an 18-year-old Lizzie Clapp back in 2001 what she’d be doing with her life 21 years later, her answer probably wouldn’t have involved quite so many French fries as the one she’s actually living.
“No, I never thought I’d run a French fry truck, a French fry empire,” said Clapp, co-owner of the Le Petit Poutine food truck and a member of Avon’s class of 2001.
But a chance trip to Canada, a frugal father and an enduring love of comfort foods have come together in a delicious alchemy and allowed Clapp to parlay a humble tuber into her life’s work.
She and her business partner, Veronica “Ronnie” McClive, now operate two Le Petit Poutine food trucks and are weeks away from opening their first brick and mortar restaurant, Petit Poutinerie, in the city of Rochester.
Clapp, who credits her parents and customers with much of Le Petit’s success, came back to her alma mater Tuesday to speak with current students about her long and winding journey from Avon Brave to poutine mogul.
“We've been focusing on different types of careers each month in the high school library and this month in the library,” explained Suzanne Freeman, the high school’s library media specialist. “This month happened to be careers relating to food (food scientist, food law, food stylist, chef, line cook). We like to bring visitors in and I know that kids love it when the food trucks come to the school for events. I reached out to some colleagues and Cordula Kennell let me know that Lizzie was, in fact, an Avon Brave and connected us.”
Clapp’s presentation Tuesday aligns with the district’s focus on prioritizing individualized learning pathways and opportunities for career exploration for its students. Other programs, like the district’s Lunch & Learn series, seek to expose students to different career paths by bringing in professionals working in different fields to talk to students about their chosen profession and the steps they took to get to where they are. The Lunch & Learn series is coordinated by Dr. Christine Green, Avon’s student engagement coordinator, in partnership with the Livingston County Area Chamber of Commerce.
Humble roots
Clapp’s journey began back in 2011 when her brother, Seamus (Avon class of 2003), moved back to the Rochester area and pitched the idea of starting a poutine truck.
The brother-sister duo had learned to love the French Canadian delicacy years prior, during a family trip north of the border which also inspired their business’s name.
“My dad is a little frugal and he would only let us get the ‘la petite’ poutine, so we had to share a small,” Clapp told students Tuesday. “There was ‘la grande,’ which of course for two teenagers at that point he probably should've let us get the big one but again, cheap Canadian father, so ‘la petite’ was all that we could get.”
The siblings pooled their money and bought an old fried dough truck, converted it to handle French fries and started selling at the Rochester Public Market.
“Almost everyone just bought French fries,” Clapp recalled, “so I started giving away the poutine saying ‘If you don't like it, come back and I’ll just give you French fries. Thankfully, no one ever came back, so that’s how the business got its legs.”
By that point, Clapp had already decided she didn’t want to pursue a career in public relations - “I found out I just didn’t love sitting at a desk,” she said. And while Clapp had enjoyed the years she’d spent working in restaurants as a server, she’d long remarked internally on the sharp divide between front and back of house staff.
“As a server, you get to see people so excited by the food and enjoying it, and the back of the house never got to see that,” said Clapp. “In the food truck, you see everything. You talk to everyone. You get to be all of those elements in one, so I love that.”
Clapp’s desire to interact with as many of her customers as possible even played a role in the design of her later Le Petit trucks.
“As I built the next truck and the next truck, I made the window bigger and bigger so people could be part of that experience,” she said. "If you look at food trucks in Rochester as a whole, a lot of the trucks have small windows which makes sense from an operating perspective because all those walls on the inside you can hangs things and put shelving and store more, but when you lose that, you lose that interaction with people and that's what I really loved and that's what I think set us apart.”
Clapp’s brother eventually departed the business and McClive, who Clapp was living with at the time, came on as a partner. It didn’t take long for the two of them to start kicking around the idea of, one day, opening a restaurant.
“That was a five-year goal for us, 11 years ago,” said Clapp. “I would say the first couple years was just a ride, figuring out if it was going to take flight. It was just a passion I had to explore and figure out. When Ronnie got on board, we started to have a little bit more time to not just be working in the business, but working on it and seeing that there could be more momentum.”
The partners’ forthcoming restaurant, Petit Poutinerie, will be located at 44 Elton St. in Rochester and is slated to open in mid-February.
“Thirteen different locations later, we finally found our one true love, our one true location,” said Clapp of the location. “So we’ll have two trucks running, we’ll have a takeout window so people can just order online and take out and then we’ll actually have a restaurant as well.”
Petit Poutinerie’s menu will feature numerous variations of its namesake dish as well as a lineup of sandwiches, salads, desserts and drinks. And while Clapp is excited to finally open her doors and welcome customers into the new space, she’s also looking forward to working in a kitchen that’s not on wheels and that comes equipped with a new, automatic French fry cutter.
“I’ll never cut a potato again,” Clapp said with a laugh. “You dump them in and they do 50 lbs in 90 seconds. That’s pretty exciting for me.”
Avon education paying dividends
Creating, running and expanding a business is hard. And when that business is perched atop an engine and four wheels, it can present some unique challenges, said Clapp.
“I think learning how to be a mechanic on the side of I90,” said Clapp when asked what her biggest challenge has been since opening her first Le Petit truck. “We had to learn how to be diesel mechanics by watching YouTube videos.”
More generally, Clapp told students the ability to rapidly teach yourself new skills is of paramount importance when running your own business. She credited her degree in English from SUNY Brockport and her time at Avon Central Schools as helping her reach the point now where she’s able to quickly familiarize herself with complex and nuanced topics.
“A lot of people, and my father specifically, always says ‘Really using that degree, aren’t you?’ But honestly, I do use it every day whether it be forming my thoughts to talk to some crazy business owner that gave me a chair without a leg or just writing a letter or an article or just reading my way through something I have no idea how to understand, like HR issues,” she said. “I’m always learning on the fly and my degree and my time here at Avon definitely helped that.”
Reflecting on her time at Avon, Clapp credited two current teachers - Cordula and Jeffrey Kennell - as having a particularly profound impact on her.
“They really, really changed my life, honestly,” said Clapp. “I think just their genuine interest in creating relationships with their students - I can't remember a time they yelled or got down on someone for something. They were just always excited to figure out what we were actually interested in and teach us in a way that engaged everyone in the room.”
Continued Clapp: “Cords was also one of our class advisors. She really held court after the day was over. She talked to people about their relationships and friendships - she’s just an awesome lady.”
Cordula Kennell, who teaches American and world literature and creative writing at Avon, recalled Clapp as “a fantastic student” who worked hard and was always interested in learning about the topic of the day.
“Talking about literature with Lizzie was gratifying because she looked at the characters and the plot from a different perspective and loved writing. Her main interest was in the humanities - culture, art, literature - and especially the synthesis of those, how they all connected,” said Kennell. “It was obvious that Lizzie was going to do something interesting with her life. Listening to her share about her current life and Le Petit Poutine - it was so interesting to see her apply those same skills to her career.”
Apart from her clear skill in the classroom, Kennell described Clapp as “a kind-hearted young woman who always thought of others.”
“I adored her,” Kennell continued. “She was one of those students whose curiosity and kindness nourished my soul. It's why we teach. It's no surprise that she's nourishing the greater Rochester area.”
While Clapp enjoyed her time in high school and finds herself using the skills she developed at Avon to this day, there are some things she wished she’d have done differently - like taking a few culinary arts courses through Genesee Valley BOCES, for instance.
“I feel like BOCES wasn’t strongly encouraged for students that had great GPAs and I think I had a pretty decent GPA. I was definitely As and Bs and I think it was more ‘You’re doing great here, your path is college. Why would you go to BOCES programs?’” said Clapp. “...I think I would have looked to have done a little bit of the culinary arts stuff. I think that could have helped me a little bit… I hope and pray that the world is different now and that these opportunities are given more of an equal footing.”
Freeman, the high school’s library media specialist, feels students took a lot away from Tuesday’s presentation and praised Clapp for conveying what it truly takes to run a successful small business.
“Her energy and genuine excitement about sharing her experiences invited the students in attendance to truly engage with her,” said Freeman. “I really hope the students walked away with an understanding of the fact that it’s OK to follow a dream and following a dream requires a lot of grit, the ability to utilize prior learning, the ability to get along with others, willingness to learn from mistakes, and that you find ways to create your own opportunities!”
Clapp encouraged current Avon students to be true to themselves and to explore things that genuinely interest them - regardless of how they may be viewed by others.
“Do what makes you happy, do what excites you because that will only lead you down the right path,” she said. “Some of the best times in my life were in this building. I know high school and school can be hard but life is always going to have hard parts, so just make sure you focus in on all the good stuff while it's happening.”
Lizzie Clapp addresses Avon students Jan. 18 during a presentation in the High School Library. Clapp, a 2001 graduate of Avon Central Schools, co-owns and operates the Le Petit Poutine food truck and is on the verge of opening her first brick and mortar restaurant in Rochester.
Lizzie Clapp is pictured in images from Avon’s 2001 yearbook during her senior year of high school. Clapp returned to her alma mater Tuesday, Jan. 18 to speak with students about her long and winding journey from Avon Brave to poutine mogul.