#FOOD: NUGATEAU UNVEILS NEW SPRING/SUMMER 2016 FLAVOURS

By George Kozera for Mr. Will Wong

On the most recent episode of Masterchef Canada, Chef Michael Bonacini describes these treats as the latest in food trends. Éclairs. An oblong pastry made with choux dough, filled with a cream and topped with icing. Or what I called growing up in Montreal, a city renowned for its pastries, chocolate and cream, hot dogs. Yes, I was quite an unsophisticated child!

NUGATEAU is the first Éclair-only Patisserie in Toronto. As owner, Abm Kadir, explained to me during the Bakery’s exclusive Spring/Summer samplings event, he was looking to fill a food niche that this city was missing and came up with the concept of an all and only eclairs establishment in a city filled with boutique cupcakes stores. Alongside pastry chef Atul Palghadmal, they experimented with hundreds of flavour combinations until they came up with a number of winners and they change their menu regularly to highlight seasonal items. There are also savoury éclair options; one of them being a foie gras with truffle oil and the other contained smoked salmon – yes, my salivary glands went into overdrive when I heard about those!

To ensure my integrity as a reporter for this site and at great personal risk for adding excess bulk to this already curvy body, I sampled seven…yes SEVEN…to die for éclairs. The visually stunning RED ROCKET was a sumptuous red velvet concoction with a white chocolate cream filling with raspberry compote and chocolate. The MONT TREMBLANT was a decadent twist on the traditional éclair of my childhood with 70% dark chocolate cremeux and whipped praline cream. ANNABELLE played with my taste buds with whipped pistachio cream and fresh strawberries. The MANGO VIOLET was a glorious combination of tropical mango scented florally. ST. DOMINGUE was dark chocolate cream and glaze. I loved BANANA CARAMEL. But my favourite of the night was the APRICOT SAFFRON, a sinful apricot cream infused with Spanish saffron. Unapologetically self-indulgent to a fault.

NUGATEAU is a gorgeous tiny little boite of a Patisserie, minimally decorated. When artistry is displayed behind the glass counter, who needs decor? This gem is located at 717 Queen St West, half a block west of Bathurst. It has now become my Mecca for outstanding desserts.

 

More on NUGATEAU here.