From Brooklyn to Brittany, Crafting Community and Cheese in Trevarn

Craig Garcia: From Brooklyn to Brittany, Crafting Community and Cheese in Trevarn

​We’re excited to bring you another story in our Breizh Amerika Profiles series, highlighting individuals who bridge the gap between the United States and Brittany. Today, we introduce you to Craig Garcia, a Brooklyn native whose journey led him to the tranquil village of Trevarn in Finistère.

Inspired by his love for Breton culture and the land, Craig now runs a fromagerie with his wife, creating artisanal cheeses that blend Anglo-American and French traditions. His story is one of building community, celebrating local flavors, and a passion for rural living that transformed his life.
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Read on to discover our interview with Craig Garcia, who found a new home and purpose in the heart of Brittany.


What is your link to Brittany? Why did you decide to live here? 

My wife, Marie Sanquer is from Finistere, we’d met while studying in grad school. I’m originally from Brooklyn, New York, but we’d lived in New Jersey for about 10 years before moving to Brittany. I’d spent all my vacation time in Brittany since we met. I fell in love with the people, the culture, music, the food. I think we first started discussing it when Marie was back in the US on a break from a semester of Stumdi, and we were listening to an album I’d come across, Chants Celtique by Gweltaz ar Fur.

​We were staying at a family friend's house near the site of Woodstock, and we began to imagine what it would be like to live in the countryside near Brest. Marie ended up writing her doctoral thesis on the return to the land. But, we really decided to move here with the birth of our first child. Best decision we ever made!


What has surprised you most about living in Brittany?

I think we dreamt of building a community, thinking about the time it would take. I think what surprised me most is how much we weren’t just welcome, but pretty quickly found ourselves integrated into a community here.


How did you get into cheese?

Our neighbors in Trevarn, our village, have a dairy farm. I knew I wanted to do something close to the land, and an artisanal trade also appealed to me. I’d told myself to be opened minded, I was ready to work in some processing center. I only had passive knowledge of French. 

​When I heard that the Glinec Brothers who run the dairy farm, dreamt of having someone make cheese on the farm, it really appealed to me. I was inspired by a farm back in New Jersey, where we’d lived, that makes the most delicious cheeses Marie, and I’d ever tasted.

​Cheese seemed to me a great way to valorize the work of the Glinec Brothers, who’ve done amazing work around the ecology of the farm and the wellbeing of their herd. Cheese was a way for me to contribute to the community, to earn a living, and in the beginning it had the bonus of not requiring much French.


Tell us about your fromagerie?

The Fromagerie is located in Trevarn, a little village in the commune of Saint Urbain (Finistere). We make a variety of Anglo-American and French cheeses, including cheddar, tomme, lactic cheeses, pate mole, froamge blanc and even the American-style Monterey Jack (which we call Jakez to give it a Breton twist). With my wife recently joining the fromagerie, we’ve also added delicious creamy yogurts and increased our production of clothbound cheddars. Many of our cheeses are made from native ferments, the lactic acid causing bacteria naturally found in our milk. This gives our cheeses a more complex flavors than you would in industrial cheeses. 
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In addition to the Fromagerie, we also have an artisanal boulangère, a maraîchère, and a brewery that hosts two labels the Merlin and Mignonne – known collectively as Merlin-Mignonne.  We have a market on the Farm every Friday from 5pm to 7pm, but we also sell to a number of Biocoops (organic food stores), épiceries, and restaurants in the area.

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Any new projects in the future?

This year we had two big projects, installing the boulangerie and Marie joining the fromagerie. Over the winter, we’re hoping to renovate a shared space for the bread and cheese sales to also serve as a meeting space for small concerts and lectures. We hold several concerts and events, usually in the summer, but we’re hoping to hold more events throughout the year.