ECLAIRS & GOURMANDISES
As you probably know by now, I have a major sweet tooth. Over the years I’ve managed to find a few favourite spots in Brussels where I keep going back to get my hands on delicious pastries (enter Charli, Meert and Forcado) but am more than happy to grow my list of course. So, I bet you can guess what happened when I received an invitation to try together with few other bloggers Eclairs & Gourmandises. Yep, it took me less than a couple of minutes to accept and I’m happy I did as it seems I discovered a new favourite.
Eclairs & Gourmandises is the brainchild of Jacques Heller, David Koprak and Serge Aziza who left the IT world to create a high-end patisserie dedicated to eclairs in 2014. A new concept for Brussels but a familiar one for Paris – remember L’Eclair de Genie? The EU capital embraced immediately the idea, so much so that there are now three different branches of Eclairs & Gourmandises in Uccle, Stockel and in the centre of Brussels, just a short walk from the Grand Place.
The first time I ever tried their creations was at Eat! Brussels, one of my favourite food festivals in Brussels, but this time I headed to their tea room in Uccle. The space is modern with clean lines and minimal design – a bit cold for my taste but the kind staff and tea infusions from Or Coffee Roasters make up for it. What’s so special about these eclairs, you might wonder? For one, they are almost too pretty to eat. Well, almost but I will come back to that in a minute! They’re also conceived by two world pastry champions, Julien Alvarez and Quentin Bailly who came up with different flavour combinations, including a few savoury ones. Next time I’m going for one of those!
Each and every eclair is made by hand by a passionate crew who produces a fresh batch on a daily basis. That and the quality of ingredients justify the price – you should count around 6€ approximately for an eclair. My favourite are the salted butter caramel and the Paris-Brest ones. The eclairs were crunchy enough but not crispy, colorful and full of flavour. For me the winners were both Le Renne Gourmand (filled with milk chocolate, passion fruit and topped with cacao crumble, meringue and candied passion fruit) and the Blanc de Blanc (filled with vanilla and tonka beans cream and topped with coconut, merignue and candied banana and passion fruit).
If you want to treat yourselves or friends with a sweet tooth, give Eclairs & Gourmandises a try. Even if you are not a fun of eclairs, you can always have a cake, macarons or cookies – there’s something for everyone!
INFO |
Address: Rue Xavier De Bue 67, 1180 Uccle, Belgium |
Telephone: +32 2 3458847 |
Facebook page |
*UPDATE: Unfortunately, Eclairs et Gourmandises is now closed.*