Patisseries in your area

[Binky Profile]

With the bad press at present in respect of Patisserie Valerie, one comment has caught my eye. A critic has said they cannot see why people pay high prices at a fake patisserie (all cakes, gateaux, buns etc are baked en masse and delivered to the PV branches) when they could get the real thing, hand made, at their local patisserie. Well, we don't have such a thing. Do you?

[Lusciouslush Profile]

Yup! we have a couple here - one in particular that folk rave about ( those out for a walk along the prom in particular) Sugardough - big press & huge prices that seriously can't be justified - yes, everything is baked on the premises, but.....hello?

People queue outside - understandably - but not the kiss-off prices...…..

[Suffs Profile]

Here in Norwich we have/had a Patisserie Valerie whose portals I have never crossed .... why would I when just along the Royal Arcade we have the wonderful Dr Tim Kinnaird's

https://www.macaronsandmore.com/find-us/shop/

and he has a kiosk in Chapelfield Mall too

[smitch Profile]

We have a fab bakery here in Manchester called Pollen. They started out doing sourdough bread and pastries. However, they’ve recently expanded into a proper cafe and now have a trained pastry chef. Their stuff is amazing http://pollenbakery.com/.

[Alexandria Profile]

We have uncountable tiny bakery boutiques in Barcelona where the breads are all made from scratch on the premises and where they only sell breads and Catalan pastries, all made by scratch and hand with natural products ..

Here, there are also some amazing chocolatiers where they specialise in made by scratch chocolate concoctions of all types .. Oriel Balaguer is one ..

Maria Selyanina is another and she prepares all her breads and desserts on her premises and at her Culinary & Dessert Academy as well as Mey Hoffman Culinary Institute ..

El Corte Inglés Barcelona, also has a large baked goods department where one can find international tarts, pies, and dessert confections typical of Cataluna .. as well as international renowned desserts such as Black Forest ..

[jeral Profile]

There isn't a home made one here, being all bought in things that are baked or re-heated and, for what they are, are very expensive.

That said, since I can't eat butter, so obviously neither in lovely bread knots or sweet pastries, I'm not in a genuine patissiere's target market being people looking for a treat that they'd pay lots for.

I'd love a patisserie that offered decent butter-free warm veggie pasties at lunch time though. What do others buy from them?

[Suelle Profile Website]

We still have a bakers shop in town, but you wouldn't call it a patisserie, by any stretch of the imagination. Iced buns and doughnuts are more their thing!

The nearest are the cake stalls at the Farmers Market, and a bread stall on market days, but they are very expensive.

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

When I first moved to the Cotswolds, I wandered down to the local bakery in Winchcombe to get "breakfast" for the Pickfords removal chaps who had arrived.

It smelled just like the cake shop bakeries I remember as a child in Scotland, that are still there when we visit.
Beautiful fresh baking aromas.
I bought my stash of sticky buns and custard cakes, that were wolfed down in minutes.

Much better than the tea I made.
I ran the tap for ages, but it still tasted of old water. Whoops.

We have another branch here in town, but it's never as good as that Winchcombe one.

[Joanbunting Profile]

In our nearest toen (population 11,00) there are 15 boulangeries/ patisseries.
Those who know go to one special one for their cakes and gateaux - up to Paris standards and another for their bread.

I have to shut my eyes when passing the former because it is so good. We allow ourselves a treat once a month and on special occasions.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Can we have a moment’s silence and sniff a tear away for the original Patisserie Valerie in Soho? And the first branches on Sloane Street and in South Kensington, which were very much like the salon de the you’d find behind a good patisserie in Paris or Lille. I was very surprised when I heard there were so many now!

The best London Patisserie was Floris on Old Compton Street, run by Maria Floris, but that closed in the 70s

Best now IMO happens to be near me, Belle Époque on Newington Green. It’s a full on boulangerie patisserie, and their stuff is glorious.

I’m sure Konditor and Cook, who now have several branches around London would get votes but I don’t know their stuff

If you want a decorated cake, or just a show off dessert cake, the best thing is to commission someone such as @bakeronboard (aka John Holland, a foody friend). I’m not really a cake fan but anything he makes I really enjoy eating, it’s not all about the decoration but a really good bake too

[Binky Profile]

It's such a shame that not many areas are served with a decent bakery (in the UK at least).

When I was small, and living in an industrial northern town where money was scarce, we had two lovely 'continental' bakeries (we didn't know the word patisserie back then!). One was Italian (Silvios) and the other German (Hagenbachs).

You could buy proper coffee and a slice of Black Forest Gateau if you were feeling sophisticated and in funds (not often). Both places long gone now. I envy the posters who have gorgeous cake shops nearby.

[dennispc Profile]

Does Gregg's count?

[Binky Profile]

wash your mouth out

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Know what you mean about the continental bakeries Binky, we had them on the South Coast too
Snookie’s (Austrian) in Southsea for end of term treats and Morelli’s in Chichester and other places, Italian and ice cream as well as cake, not as posh as Snookie’s

We have some good Jewish bakeries - the legendary Brick Lane Beigel Bake (pronounced by-gal not bagel). And Grodzinsky and daughters make lovely bread and cakes, though I’ve not managed to find a good cheesecake in a while. There used to be a small chain called Lindy’s round North London, I see one is now one of the new Gail’s chain which is pretty good as well though more eat in.

There is one read British bakeryin Islington, Raab’s formerly Kings

[Pampy Profile]

When I was small, and living in an industrial northern town where money was scarce, we had two lovely 'continental' bakeries (we didn't know the word patisserie back then!). One was Italian (Silvios) and the other German (Hagenbachs).

You could buy proper coffee and a slice of Black Forest Gateau if you were feeling sophisticated and in funds (not often). Both places long gone now. I envy the posters who have gorgeous cake shops nearby.

Similar story for me - there was a 'continental bakery' in Prestwich called Andre Gachet which sold the most sublime cakes and it had a coffee/tea shop at the back. It was such a treat to go and buy something from there. Sadly, another one that's bitten the dust.