Ottawa Foodies

3

We got some delicious breakfast vittles from Macarons et Madeleines over the weekend.

I had my hopes up for Cannelés, but when I showed up Stephan said regretfully that they weren't out of the oven. I could have waited the twenty minutes, but instead I figured I'd get something else and try them again another time. Serves me right for trying to get there early. If I had just showed up at 8:00 or 8:30 like a reasonable human being...

The croissants were nice and flaky, but not the greatest I've ever had ever. I detected a nice hint of salt in the crust. Maybe they're finished with a light sprinkling? (That's a brilliant idea.)

The chocolatines were nice, with chocolate sticks that I really liked. They were quite moist.

We got the three types of macarons they had on offer, as well:

- Marzipan and kirsch-steeped cherry
- Milk chocolate, rosemary, and bhut jolokia (OMG)
- Bitter chocolate

They were all great, but the chocolate-rosemary-chili one was phenomenal.

They do kouign-amann, cake, and croissants aux amandes on the weekends, even though they're not on the web page.

We'll be back. Oh man, will we be back.

3

I bought 4 kinds.
Croissant is very flaky, bit on the dry side.
Breads have so much butter flavour but I don't feel heavy and greasy at all. Their breads reminds me the ones I used to enjoy in Japan.
Great with cafe au lait.

7

After reading the WooKstah's review, I decided to try some macarons and bread.
This place is home based business, so it looks like someone's private house, but just open the door and get inside!
Maple Walnut (brown), Chai Tea w RaisinGreen), and Raspberry w Mint Chocolate(red).

It is easy to make macaron shells which look perfect from the outside, but I know it is very difficult to make macaron shells without hollow air bubbles inside.
All three macaron shells were perfect. Outside is shiny egg shell and inside is moist, dense and chewy. My favourite is Maple walnut most simple one, you can taste almond very well. Chai macaron tasted like nothing but real chai tea, raspberry one is sweet and sour raspberry with bitter ganache with hint of mint.

$1.75 per macaron is very reasonable for this quality.

2

Had a craving since being introduced to Macarons a few weeks back, did a bit of searching and came up with Madeleines and dropped by on Friday (Jan 11th). It's a bit out-of-the-way, but easy enough to find, and as others have mentioned definitely an interesting space ... it literally does feel like walking into someone's kitchen

They had three flavours available; Maple Walnut, Chai Tea w Raisin, and Raspberry w Mint Chocolate. I grabbed 3 of each, went to pay and then mortified to realize that my wallet wasn't in my jacket. Stephan had offered to simply pay the next time I dropped by, but I had some running around still to do so I headed back to grab the money. Definite kudos for the customer service!

Of the three, I think my fiancee and I both agreed that the Maple Walnut was the hit of the bunch. Chai Tea was tasty, and the Raspberry didn't have much hint of chocolate or mint but was still excellent. Sadly didn't get any pics, as they were devoured before I had even thought of it, although I'll try to head back next week to grab whatever flavours he's devised for the week :)

1

Excellent French pastries, done right! The location is surreal... kind of like a couple of baker's took over someone's home for a popup pastry shop. Staff are friendly and helpful.

Pictured (clockwise from top left): Almond croissant, Cannelé Bordelais, Chocolate croissant, Apple turnover, Pain au raisin.

Everything was as it should be.

1

Had a hair cut scheduled downtown at my hairdresser's during lunch since I was getting into the shaggy dog look stage. When I tried to book an appointment a month ago before a trip, he did not have any slots available.

Been thinking about Macarons since about to visit friends in TO next weekend who used to live in Lyon and their daugther is just mad for macarons. She has nice palate and expansive taste for a young one since the time I bought a pound of belgium chocolate, she just about inhaled it and we only got to sample a few.

Stephan is nice and chatted with him for a little bit. It is an interersting home based business rather than a traditional store. They been open since last June and Stephan said he spent a year in Paris.

Ended up buying 1 croissant, 1 pain au chocolate, 1 pain au raisin, 1 Cannelé Bordelais and 4 macarons, one for each perfume to sample.
They use Varlhona chocolates which are great. They are kind of expansive in Ottawa and when I see them they are usually 6 or 7$ for a small tablet. when I go to the US for business and go to Trader joes, I think I can get them for $3 or 4 each. Plan to drop off some for my parents.

Wolfed down pain au chocolate fairly quickly. Nice and flaky but a touch crunchier than I liked. It would be great fresh out of the oven with the chocolate still goey. Definitely a very decent pastry and one of the better ones in Ottawa.

Took the other 3 pastries to my parents when I dropped in to help my Mom with something. The croissant was nice too and so was the pain au raisin when I had a small sample but my mom got through the Cannelé Bordelais pretty quickly by herself. I think if I am just going for myself next time, i will just go for the pain au chocolate. I have been a bit spoiled from living in Paris a while back where nice bakeries like this are around most corners.

I ate one of the macarons right away although I had been told it would be better to bring it to room temperataure for a little bit before eating the cooking. Trying to remember the exact flavour but it was blue with a chocolate filling. Fairly tasty.

Someone had an order for 30 of those Macarons for pickup while I was checking out the store. A word of caution, those macarons do not survive well in heat since I stopped for another brief errand for 10 minutes and realized when i got back in the car that I left the Macarons out there and one of them (caramel and chocolate I think) filling had melted.. The rasberry held up much better. So if you are picking up some and running around town, bring a cooler bag.

Talked to Stephan and his wife about cakes since my niece Bday is coming up. One sounded really interesting, vanilla mousse, milk chocolate mousse and dark chocolate mousse with a flourless cake layer and a crust layer. They can do other stuff too on demand..

1

OHMYGODSOGOOD! Fantastic bread products (croissants, pains de chocolate, apple tarts). The smell was amazing. It's a tiny 100-year-old house that has been converted to a bakery. It is run by a tiny little french man and his equally delightful wife (with help from another chef, I believe). It was perfectly Parisienne. A cat was walking around the place, there was room to sit down and enjoy yourself. It is in a quiet little house on a quiet little one-way street. Perfect.

I'll be back, and often. This might just be my new Saturday morning routine.

I asked him about whole wheat croissants, but he didn't think he could make that work. I talked with him a bit about the amazing ones that we get when we go to Moncton in the summer (at Croissant de Soleil) and he was very impressed with the operation that does that. I know it has to be a hard thing to do. Anyway, the seed has been planted. Maybe one day.

I will say that thought the croissants are delicious, they are a bit small for my liking.

Having read a lot about this place I decided that I would try them out today for some croissants. I was a bit taken a back by the set-up but it is a home based business and I like the small feel and the intimacy.

Stephan informed me that he was just about to put a batch of croissants in the oven and that it would be a 10-15 minute wait. 10-15 minute wait for fresh croissants...no problems with that.

Having intended to only try the plain croissant I ended up buying a plain croissant, a chocolate and an apple. Couldn't resist them having come out right of the oven. This is one of the better offerings in the city. Not as "airy" than Art-Is-In in my opinion but Stephan did explain that this batch did not have the correct time to proof. It was still very good and I would definitely return. Nothing beats a chocolate croissant fresh out of the oven.

While waiting for the croissants to come out of the oven, I spoke to Stephan about his experience and it's easy to see he has a real passion for what he's doing and it's reflective in the product.

In terms of the pastry scene, Ottawa is still in it's infancy but it's refreshing to see places like this. In due time, I fully expect the pastry scene to evolve and match our culinary scene.

1

They prepped a large order of small desserts for a birthday party I attended and did an absolutely stunning job. There must have been over a hundred delicious small pastries (mille-feuille, merangues and eclaires) as well as a two tiered birthday cake.

Well worth the cost (though it was surprisingly reasonable) and amazing.

3

It's funny that so many of the previous reviews also mention that it was M&M that first turned them towards the possibility of macarons being so delicious; that was exactly the case for me as well. My first macarons (not by M&M) were had at a charity event at the Museum of Civilization which confirmed my suspicious - they looked like plastic and tasted quite similar to plastic :P I then had some while I was in France, and they were definitely better, but I wasn't converted. Then, earlier this year I had Stephan's lavendar and vanilla macarons and I was blown away! They were incredible! I have since had I few flavours of macarons that I didn't enjoy as much (ie. rosewater) but I've also discovered their canelles and madeleines which I have to get whenever I'm in the store.

I'll admit, I've now developed an incredible biased towards Stephan's bakery because (a) most of everything I've tried has been delicious and (b) Stephan and his wife are just so friendly and undeniably likeable. I realize this is a food reviewing site, but sometimes you have to agree that the service itself makes a huge difference! Macarons and madeleines is truly a hidden gem in Ottawa :)