The Delectable Pleasure Of Super Special At Pierre Marcolini
I’ve always been the kind of person who appreciates the way it feels when you treat yourself to something nice. Something special, a treat, a luxury; a better version of an ordinary thing you might normally have to settle for.
Special was certainly what I had in mind when I got the chance to visit Pierre Marcolini’s patisserie on Marylebone High Street to try out their latest summer range for Belle About Town. Full disclosure, on seeing the word patisserie, my brain shot right back to 3rd year French (Oú est la Patisserie? Oú est la Boulangerie?), a question, I have to duly confess to never having yet needed to use. I guess there’s time to be lost in France and in need of pastry. Patisserie, evidently though, is way more than just things made out of that!
And so, here is my experience of the Pierre Marcolini Summer Collection; Vents D’Été (*summer breezes), as experienced by a girl from Basingstoke whose patisserie experience to date has been limited to a bit of brioche and a raisin Danish.
Experience 1: DÉSIRS!
What do you do when offered “60 grams of pure pleasure”? You take it right? To say these exquisite little desserts are a gift is actually truly accurate. There are 11 combinations in the range, each one looking like a box that contains something precious. Stop press! That box is a chocolate shell! – Oh yes! And inside is your reward for your personal fabulousness. I tried Désir Chocolat!, an outer layer of dark chocolate with Black Forest biscuit, chocolate cream and a chocolate hazelnut insert.
The verdict: Oh!
Experience 2: MELOVE CAKES!
Me do! But how about: “ A delicate layer of chocolate holding together the evanescence of a marshmallow infused with the delicate aromas and the crunchiness of the lemon biscuit.” Hmmm?
The verdict: Oh!
Experience 3: CHOCOLATE GANACHES WITH FRUITS AND FLOWERS
I got to try the signature flavour of the whole season, “Zephyr; a rose ganache with passion fruit compote covered by a layer of milk house chocolate”.
The verdict: Oh!
Experience 4: FRUIT PASTES
These were like tiny, exquisite Turkish Delights. But oh so much more! Their claimed secret: “fruit selected because of its aromatic properties, very little sugar and a thin layer of white house chocolate”.
The verdict: You know the drill.
Experience 5: Á LA MINUTE ICE LOLLIES
So, it’s a beautiful UK summer right? How about you’re in this amazing patisserie. You get to pick an ice cream or sorbet and watch it get dipped into a choice of 6 things, say, white chocolate and roasted coconut. You then wait and watch as the chocolate hardens before your eyes. How are you feeling?
The verdict: Oh mais oui!
Experience 6: BARRE CHOCOLAT
OK, so there’s a bar and there’s a barre. This is a Barre2. I tried “Wind in your hair” – a yuzu, mandarin and fennel ganache, almond praline and candied fruit”.
The verdict: Uh huh!
Overall, my verdict on this experience is this:
OÚ EST LA PATISSERIE? Always.
