Inside the collapse of Brooklyn’s vegan empire

Earlier this month Bed-Stuy Stoop reported on the closure of Clementine Bakery, the cafe that lasted 14 years on the corner of Classon and Greene Ave and launched a vegan empire of two more bakeries, a cocktail bar, and an ice cream shop.

Founder Elle Barton conquered Clinton Hill and Bed-Stuy with her light, greenery-filled, minimalist oases: Clementine, Izzy Rose and Dreamery scattered along Greene Av, and the Le Petit Monstre cafes on Washington and Tompkins. Elle was a proud vegan, but wanted the locations to be approachable to all. Many often had no idea, at least at first, that the menus were entirely plant based.

But in recent years, the businesses struggled. There was never enough money. One former LPM and Clementine staffer claims her wage checks bounced so much her bank banned them. Staff revolted and turnover increased. The quality of baked goods decreased. Elle was burnt out. In 2024, she sold Clementine. Now, only Izzy Rose remains open.

“I was burning it from both ends of the candlestick. I couldn’t do it all,” Elle, 49, said in an interview this month after Clementine, under different ownership, closed its doors. “I finally admitted that.”

The story of the collapse of the Clementine empire in recent years has been whispered across the neighborhood. But now the full story told by Elle and people who worked with her, both happily and unhappily, appears for the first time in Bed-Stuy Stoop, with as much delectable goss and juicy details as one can squeeze into a story about a bakery named for a fruit (well, named for Elle’s old cat, actually).

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