With five sites spread across Paris, La Pâtisserie des Rêves - which translates to ‘the pastry shop of dreams’ - is the brainchild of Conticini and hotelier Thierry Teyssier. The pair want to bring a traditional French patisserie ‘with a modern twist’ to the capital.
The London branch, which had to delay the opening due to building delays, will offer a core selection of cakes, pastries and biscuits alongside a selection of teas, marshmallow bonbons, nougat, lollipops, nuts and Conticini’s recipe books.
The chef has also adapted and reinvented a selection of British puddings to create a new range of products exclusive to London. The nostalgic inventions will also come in miniature portions, for children.
Conticini and Teyssier have once again worked with perfumer Olivia Giacobetti to create a range of confectionary that evokes childhood memories of ‘first times’. The site will have a ‘vibrant and minimalist’ design, with bell jar carousel displays and signature colours of pink and white.
Childhood memories
Signature pastries include the traditional cakes mille-feuille (layers of light pastry with cream), Saint Honoré (choux pastry, cream and caramel topping) and Paris-Brest (choux pastry with praline cream and praline sauce).
“Of course I do not remember the chocolate mousse, the madeleine or the mille-feuille I ate as a child, but I do remember the pleasure I had eating each of them, and this pleasure is what I am attempting to recreate," said Conticini.
Having opened La Table d’Anvers with his brother in 1986, where he was co-founder and head pastry chef until 1998, Conticini went on to work as creative director, chef and pastry chef at Petrossian in Paris from 1999, opening a café-boutique for them in New York in 2000. He was awarded a Michelin star at both establishments. The first La Pâtisserie des Rêves opened in 2009.
La Pâtisserie des Rêves London opens in Marylebone High Street today (31 January).