Anyone who knows me knows that I love sweets. And frankly, when it comes to sweets right now in Montreal, there is no better area than the Sud-Ouest. Already home to Leche Desserts and Rustique (my favorite doughnut and pie shops), it is only perfect that Patrice Demers, formally of Les 400 Coups in the old port, decided to set up his new venture, Patrice Patissier, in the area as well. His boutique opened up about 3 weeks ago now and I went on the opening weekend to see what he had in store.
Having taking over the old video rental store on Notre-Dame Ouest just down the block from the Joe Beef empire, the space is divided into a takeout bakery, a wine bar/seating space and a back room for eventual cooking classes. The kitchen is visible to all when you walk in, allowing us to see what comes on behind the scenes. The space is modern, clean and relaxed – touches of wood and nice lighting makes the room inviting to sit and grab a quick tea (or coffee for those of you are inclined to such a beverage).
Now, for this first visit, I stuck to the bakery because that was my main interest and also because it was the only part of the boutique open at that point. Patrice Patissier offers quite an assortment of items – pastries, cakes, “petit pots” and cream puffs. I had a dinner in the evening and was responsible for the dessert portion of our meal – I figured a nice variety of everything they had at that moment would be appropriate. Ironically enough, at the time I arrived that early afternoon, there wasn’t all that much left as clearly their opening weekend was going better than they had planned. Great for them, not so much for us as patrons but hey, it just means I would need to come back to try what I missed out on.
On the pastry front, I got their Kouign Amann and a maple Financier. Now I had never heard of a Kouign Amann before this – it is a Breton cake, kind of a sweetened puff pastry. Sweet and flaky, this was a nice new discovery. The maple financier was great as well – a moist banana bread or sponge cake-like consistency with the added sweetness of maple syrup.
The one cake they had left was a chocolate and cafe St-Henri cake. A deliciously chocolatey treat with just a slight hint of coffee which, for me, as a coffee hater, is a good thing.
Both varieties of their “petit pots” were available – lemon, camomille, Anicet honey and yogourt, pineapple, muesli. Both are served in actual mini pots to take home. In both cases, great combinations of flavour and texture. The sweet pineapple, the fresh yogourt and the crunch of the granola or the bite of the lemon with the sweetness of honey and the spongy meringues – I really enjoyed these. The presentation as well is a nice creative touch from Patrice and his team.
The final dessert was their cream puff which is done to order. The day I was there the cream filling was Bahibe chocolate, caramel and banana. A great combination of bitterness and sweetness in a wonderfully rich cream filling. Top notch dessert and probably the biggest hit amongst my dining group that evening.
As a first impression, Patrice Patissier hit some very strong notes. All of the desserts were wonderful – not a single dud in the bunch. Once the wine bar aspect of the space gets really going, I will definitely be checking it out. Now my biggest challenge dessert-wise here is not coming home with a dozen different pastries next time I stop by and believe me, I will definitely be stopping by again and you believe you should do the same.
Cheers!
Patrice Patissier
2360 Notre-Dame Ouest
514 439 5434
Ramblings from the Complex Mind of a 30 Something 