Léa Linster (Restaurant Léa Linster): Following dreams, building legacy
Léa Linster, chef and entrepreneur, discusses her passion for work at 71, the lessons of building a business from scratch, and her advice for the next generation of entrepreneurs.
.png)
©Marc Theis
Why, at 71, have you not considered retiring?
Working is the only thing I know how to do, and it brings me genuine pleasure. I do not know how to take a vacation or simply stop. Every day, people come from Luxembourg, from Germany, from France, just to get a book signed or to try my Madeleines. When they say, "Oh my god, these Madeleines are so good," I tell them that my Madeleines and I love them very much too. That means everything to me. And what I find so beautiful about my boutique is that city guides walk past with groups of thirty or forty people, pointing at the shop, and then visitors spot me inside and realize I am not just a brand. I am actually there. Record days remind me of how far this has come. On October 3, the day Grand Duke Guillaume took the throne, I sold more than 3,000 Madeleines. It was difficult to move inside the shop, there were so many people. I am grateful, truly, that I can still do this and that I still want to.
"When you have the passion, follow your dreams. That's absolutely my best piece of advice I could give to a young one.
What lessons would you share with young entrepreneurs starting out today?
Follow your dreams, because they do not appear out of nowhere. They come from your history, your family, your way of life, everything that shaped you. And stay faithful to yourself, to your own values. Avoid the things that make you insecure, and avoid people who want to slow you down. Nobody slowed me down, and that made everything possible. I also believe deeply in starting from scratch, building slowly with your own skills and your own intentions. Growing slowly is not a weakness. When a stressful situation arises, you have already faced something similar before and you know how to handle it. That is why I consider myself indestructible. I made mistakes, of course. At the Buffet de la Gare, I walked into a real trap. But the way you get out of a trap gives you a lesson for life. What does not kill you makes you stronger, and I became a very strong woman after that experience. A mistake is only truly wasted if you repeat it without understanding it. When you recognize the lesson inside a mistake, you grow. Sometimes a mistake in cooking even triggers a new recipe.
Why, at 71, have you not considered retiring?
Working is the only thing I know how to do, and it brings me genuine pleasure. I do not know how to take a vacation or simply stop. Every day, people come from Luxembourg, from Germany, from France, just to get a book signed or to try my Madeleines. When they say, "Oh my god, these Madeleines are so good," I tell them that my Madeleines and I love them very much too. That means everything to me. And what I find so beautiful about my boutique is that city guides walk past with groups of thirty or forty people, pointing at the shop, and then visitors spot me inside and realize I am not just a brand. I am actually there. Record days remind me of how far this has come. On October 3, the day Grand Duke Guillaume took the throne, I sold more than 3,000 Madeleines. It was difficult to move inside the shop, there were so many people. I am grateful, truly, that I can still do this and that I still want to.