Causeway Capital Partners, the private equity firm which bought the café chain out of administration in February, told The BBC last month that the previous owners had ordered cakes to be made from margarine as a cost-cutting measure.
But the group says “the butter is back” and its five signature pastries, including the Blackforest (chocolate sponge with whipped cream and cherries) and a Mille-Feuille, have been reworked with “high quality ingredients”.
The company is also embracing avocado on toast with its new all-day brunch menu, which features Eggs Benedict and Madame Valerie’s Vegan Breakfast, while its lunch to dinner offer has been “stripped back” to include croque monsieurs, salads, stuffed croissants and handmade sandwiches.
“We’re really excited to be able to share some of the hard work that’s gone on behind the scenes over the past few months at Patisserie Valerie,” says managing director, Paolo Peretti.
“We’ve not just put the butter back in our pastry, we’ve upgraded the quality of the ingredients our menu from Italian Amerena cherries on our black forest gateaux to Mediterranean figs in our new vegan super wholefood salad. Hopefully this investment in quality shows our commitment to grow the Patisserie Valerie brand keep it at the heart of the high street.”
Patisserie Valerie fell in to administration with the closure of 27 sites earlier this year after it was unable to secure further funding. The black hole in its accounts discovered in late 2018 was revealed to be £94m, more than double the initial estimate.
Last month five more people were arrested and questioned by fraud police investigating the collapse of the chain.
