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Please note, La Pâtisserie des Rêves has now closed. Time Out Food editors, MARCH 2020.
Cake-maker Philippe Conticini’s high-end Parisian pâtisserie is notable for its innovation, precision and expensive price tags. With stores in Paris and across Japan, this group of boutique cake shops now has two London branches in Marylebone and South Kensington. They are chic-looking places, with no rustic cooling racks or casually draped tea towels to clutter the minimalist display.
Conticini is known for giving old school favourites a new wave interpretation. Eclairs, filled with rich chocolate-praline cream, are encased in dramatic-looking tubular chocolate shells; and the tarte au citrons are impressive for their perfectly crafted pastry, creamy lemon fillings and sweeping meringues. There’s not a crumb out of place. Other signature treats include gâteau Saint-Honoré. This has been transformed from a traditional puff pastry disc topped with caramel-dipped choux buns and swirls of cream, into a dainty pastry strip edged with tiny profiteroles and finished with piped cream. This branch has just a couple of tables for lingering over the sweet indulgences. It’s with good reason that La Pâtisserie des Rêves translates as ‘the cake shop of dreams’.