Patisserie Le Choux-Colat
2/F The Podium, 12 ADB Ave, Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City
Facebook: www.facebook.com/patisserielechouxcolat
Open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday to Sunday
(SPOT.ph) If our culture of bringing home sugary nibbles as pasalubong for the fam or having cake at celebrations is any indication, Filipinos have a deep love affair with (almost) all things sweet. Curiously, though, a lot of the great desserts you can find in these parts highlight elements from abroad, particularly from the West—when this part of the globe is in fact home to plenty of great-quality foods by local artisans and natural bounties that grow from our soil. At Patisserie Le Choux-Colat—which recently opened their first physical outpost at The Podium—it’s all about crafting up stellar desserts with a classic European backbone, and many of these maintain a distinct Filipino identity and shine the spotlight on what we’ve got.
Also read: 10 Sublime Desserts for the Chocolate-Obsessed
Pasty and cake shop Patisserie Le Choux-Colat is now at The Podium:
Patisserie Le Choux-Colat began as a pickup- and delivery-only purveyor birthed in the midst of the pandemic, and grew to fame through word of mouth. A quick glance at their social media profile showcases their lineup of glistening entremets, intricate gâteaux de voyage, and other picturesque desserts that could fit right into the boutiques of five-star hotels. These star confections are brought to us by Pastry Chef Ely Salar, whose impressive resumé includes having worked in kitchens in Canada, including working as the Pastry Chef at the Delta Lodge Kananaskis, and other parts of the world.
Joined by his spouse Jiannina, Salar established the brand in February of 2021; this July, they officially set up a small nook on the second level of The Podium. The nook catches your eye with its shades of gold and emerald, and is bound to have your mouth watering with their glass cases showing off their signature pastries. Behind the shelves you’ll see Salar and his team mixing, piping, and/or glazing away to prepare their desserts—which you can purchase for takeaway, for gifting to friends, or have right then and there (with a cup of joe or chocolate on the side!) as they’ve got a selection of drinks and a small dining area at the back.
Whereas many other dessert shops boast of their primary use of imported fruit, chocolate, and other ingredients—which is not a problem in itself, to be clear, but can lead to overlooking what the Philippines has got—Patisserie Le Choux-Colat highlights local ingredients in a number of their confections, and features flavor profiles near and dear to the Filipino heart, given the classic French-pastry treatment.
In particular, Salar pays ode to his hometown of Leyte with their own craft chocolate and spinoff confections using sustainably sourced cacao he grows in his own farm in the area. This makes for a distinctly robust, subtly smoky character in desserts like the Yema Cacao Entremet (P1,800), where layers of a cacao-nib and vanilla sponge cake are matched with tablea-imbued panna cotta, yema mousse, a yema-chocolate mirror glaze, and toppings of a cacao-chocolate bark and a tablea-milk chocolate crunch cacao pod.
Also on the rich-meets-rustic end of the spectrum is the Tablea Nut Brittle (P180/piece)—one of their signature Gâteaux de Voyage (more on that in a bit!), where a tablea chocolate sponge gets a nutty-creamy upgrade with accompanying elements of a salted-caramel nut brittle and tablea chocolate cremeux. For a more straightforward dose of chocolate that’s perfect for gifting—or for keeping in your snack cabinet for whenever the need for chocolate hits—don’t miss their Podium-exclusive chocolate bars sold by weight, which include the crackly Dark Chocolate Wafer Crunch (P250/100 grams) and the deeper, more bittersweet 75% Tablea Dark Chocolate Almond (P270/100 grams).
Elsewhere, the brand also employs chocolate from Belgium and France—as with the Original Chocolate Entremet (P1,720), a layered and multitextural confection of 64% dark chocolate mousse, moist chocolate sponge, homemade crispy wafer crunch, hazelnut praline paste, and milk chocolate under a glossy dark-chocolate mirror glaze with accents of edible 24k gold leaf. Also exclusive to the Podium location are smaller versions of some of their famed entremets; the Original Chocolate Petit Gateaux (P450) and Original Coffee Crème Brulee Petit Gateaux (P450) make for A+ treats for anyone in your life who appreciates a good dessert.
Should you be dining in, pairing your dessert with one of their beverages is a must; their Podium drink lineup includes everything from the classic Americano (P150) to the creamy Café Latte (P160) to the Tablea Café Mocha (P200) and more. Notably, they've got chocolatey sips with Filipino flair—take your pick from the Traditional Tsokolate (P180) and Signature Tsokolate (P230), both also using cacao from Leyte.
It’s not just about chocolate here, though. Should you be in for a lighter, fruitier ride, the Mango Magnifique Entremet (P1,720) has got your back. This peppy yellow confection showcases the telltale brightness of the Philippine fruit rounded out with ample creaminess, thanks to the rich-tangy union of mango mousse, mango gelee cubes, vanilla diplomat cream, vanilla-citrus sponge, a streusel crunch disc, and a white-chocolate mirror glaze.
More on those Gâteaux de Voyage (P180/piece): these picturesque desserts might resemble eclairs at first glance, given their elongated form and detailed designs, but make no mistake; these are a distinct and delightful treat in their own right. Each gâteau has its own distinct personality: apart from the aforementioned Tablea Nut Brittle, there’s also the classically European Chocolate Rocher with the winning pairing of chocolate and hazelnut, and the the nutty-caramelized Almond Praline. Other nostalgic combos are also represented in their lineup—including the Banana Chocolate made grownup with the flavor of real bananas and a dark chocolate ganache; the brighter and citrusy Calamansi Bavarian; and the spiced and splendid Carrot Cream Cheese that reimagines the homey dessert in a sophisticated light.
While many of the combos they come up with draw from tried-and-tested tandems, Patisserie Le Choux-Colat’s desserts are never dated or boring—and it boils down to the attention they give to the details. Salar makes many of the components they use from scratch—from the feuilletine in their Chocolate Rocher, to the candied calamansi on the Calamansi Bavarian, to the cookies in their White Chocolate Cookies and Cream chocolate bar (P250/100 grams). They also make subtle upgrades where applicable—in the Carrot Cream Cheese, for example, they employ a white-chocolate cream cheese mix that’s much more velvety than the more common powdered-sugar cream cheese frosting you’ll find around. Combined with Salar and the team’s global-level pastry know-how and their way of championing local, and you’ve got the makings of a truly special brand bound to keep shining in the long term.
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