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Each year, the makers of the world’s flakiest, doughiest baked goods are put to the test at the annual Pastry Awards. Hosted by La Liste, a global restaurant and hotel guide, the awards dish out prizes to the pâtisseries, bakery-cafés, dessert restaurants and tearooms across the world which are deemed to be going above and beyond.
Luckily for the capital’s dessert addicts and croissant-aholics, the Big Smoke managed to claim some of the top prizes at this year’s awards. Jacqueline at the Chancery Rosewood was deemed the World’s Best Afternoon Tea, while Richard Hart, Claridge’s executive baker, took home the Bakery Innovation Award, which recognises ‘chefs redefining their craft through creativity and innovation’, according to La Liste.
A newcomer to the London pastry scene also claimed glory at the 2026 ceremony, receiving the Pastry & Bakery Opening of the Year Award. That accolade went to Le Café by Nicolas Rouzaud.
Having made his name as the in-house executive pastry chef at The Connaught, Rouzaud opened his solo venture in January 2025 in Piccadilly’s Burlington Arcade. There’s no denying the man knows his way around a perfectly laminated pain-au-choc, and his new digs have gained some serious cred in the months since Le Café’s debut.
In fact, Time Out named Le Café by Nicolas Rouzaud one of the best cafés in London in 2026. Its chi-chi upstairs dining room is the perfect spot for an afternoon filling up on sweet and savoury treats like the ham and egg brioche with decadent fondue sauce or house speciality brioche à tête, filled with zingy raspberry cremeux and compote, vanilla curd and pecan, or chocolate with tonka and hazelnut. Sounds pretty good, huh?
Le Café by Nicolas Rouzaud was one of three bakeries across the globe which won the coveted Pastry & Bakery Opening of the Year accolade. The others were Dubai’s Maison Devoille and Blue Box Café in Tokyo, Japan.
You can check out the other winners at La Liste's 2026 Pastry Awards here.
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