Cocktails + desserts + dreams in the new year
En route to Paris and excited to have you with me for new discoveries: flavors, friends, and more!
Hello! Bonjour!
And happiest new year, of course.
I’m writing from NYC en route to Paris and, between turning the page on last year and getting ready for this year’s first Paris sojourn, I’m a little (more) ditzy (than I usually am). You’d think that after 25+ (!!!) years of dividing my life between America and France, I’d do this easily. But nope. I’m still hauling too much stuff across the ocean (in both directions), still forgetting stuff in one place or the other and still packing books I’ll never get to and notebooks I’ll never open. The paper stuff is the equivalent of my security blankets. It does kind of what “Bunny” does. Bunny’s been my travel pal for a few years now. She was bought in a hurry when we discovered that Gemma, then about a year old, had come to Paris without her Bobooshy, her pet name for her pet snuggle-bunny. I was so relieved when I found the same stuffy at a nearby store. I ran home with it, gave it to Gemma and was shocked when she tossed it to the floor and kept crying.
The problem? New bunny had flowered fabric inside her ears. Dear Bobooshy didn’t. You can’t fool that baby! And so new bunny became my bunny and she’s got to make an appearance when I FaceTime with Gemma from Paris. New bunny, normally just called Bunny, has racked up thousands of frequent flyer miles! Too bad they’re neither real nor transferrable.
Serendipitous Deliciousness
Everyone who loves Paris will tell you that it’s a city of surprises. Turn a corner and find a pocket park. Push open a door and find a secret garden. Look up and find a sculpture, a plaque, the sky, the glorious Paris sky. Walk around Paris and you become both explorer and discoverer. Usually because of curiosity, but often by luck. One of my sweetest discoveries is Akira Takahashi at Pontochoux Café, and it was serendipitous. Soggy, too.
For all the times I’ve walked down the Rue du Pont-aux-Choux (cabbages/choux grew there in the 17th century) and passed the café, I never gave it a glance. But one recent afternoon, Michael and I got caught in a sudden downpour and ducked into the café. Our luck started when we were able to find a spot: the place is always line-out-the-door jammed. We ordered coffees and were just going to wait out the storm, but coffee always needs a go-along and so, while I was trying to settle myself at a low communal table without soaking my neighbor, Michael took a look at the little case that had some sweets and returned with what was labeled a cannelé, but resembled an upside-down mini-muffin.
And it was fabulous! Caramely and a little, a little — I didn’t have a clue. It seemed toasty and roasty and maybe smoky, but maybe not. It was because I couldn’t place the flavor that I got to meet Akira — he came over with a canister and had me smell the secret ingredient: hojicha, roasted green tea, an ingredient that I see turning up now and then in pastries these days.
I bought a few little treats to take home, where I could taste them on dry land, and kept going back to Pontochoux to try more. I loved what Akira was doing and wanted to find out more about him. For sure you don’t expect to find as accomplished a pastry chef as Akira in a small coffeehouse.
Akira in Paris
Akira was born in Japan, outside of Tokyo, trained as a cosmetologist, opened a flower shop and started to teach himself to bake when he was 25. He baked, took pictures of what he made, bound the pictures into a book and made his way to Paris, with dreams, ambition and no French. No English. And no Paris contacts. But he knew where he wanted to work and, with book in hand, knocked at the door of L’Astrance, Pascal Barbot’s 3-star Michelin restaurant. And Barbot hired him! It’s a storybook tale and a credit to both Barbot and Akira. After time at L’Astrance, Passage 53 and the erstwhile les Climats, he recently settled at Pontochoux, where his work space is the size of a handkerchief, his display case small enough to tuck under your arm and his built-on-the-spot parfaits worthy of stars.
Cocktail Desserts
Akira considers the desserts he constructs in old-fashioned metal ice cream coupes “parfaits,” and no French dessert lexicographer would argue with him, but his fantasias are inspired by cocktails. In fact, his dream is to have his own place that serves cocktails + desserts.
While Akira lists the elements of each parfait — called Dessert Etoilé/Starred Dessert — near his mini workstation, reading allows you to only half imagine reality. The ingredients for the fig coupe are: woodsy panna cotta; fig compote with mint, sage and cinnamon; fresh figs and raspberries; and raspberry emulsion with jasmine tea. Can you taste it in your head? I thought I might be able to conjure a sketch of it, but I fell so short of the real thing!
No matter which coupe you choose, each spoonful is a mix of textures, flavors and ingredients of different temperatures. Every spoonful holds a surprise, a curveball you couldn’t have anticipated.
If you’re with someone else, it’s best to alert your parfait partner that you probably won’t be saying much for a few minutes. And really you shouldn’t. Give yourself the pleasure of paying attention to each layer, each texture and taste. The parfait is a wonder. Akira is a magician.
Epiphany
My Paris arrival date is January 6, Epiphany, and yes, there’ll be Galettes des Rois and yes, I wrote the plural — there’ll be many to taste. I’ll have more on the cakes that mark the month, but for now, here’s a story from the archives.
Hoping your new year got off to a sweet start. I’m happy we’re beginning 2025 together!
xoxoDorie is a reader-supported newsletter. Upgrade or invite more friends to join #TEAMCAKE in the new year! Click here to manage your subscription.
📋 Founding Friends don’t forget to sign up for our virtual meetup / AMA this month!
💬 Send us a message request via Substack chat if you need help with your membership.
👋 Say hello and share what you're making on Facebook and Instagram.
📚 You can find more recipes in my latest book Baking with Dorie.
Is there a way to recreate Bake and Tell here on Substack? Some of us don’t want to use facebook any more.
Husband says we’ve been to France a lot and time to go somewhere else… is there really anywhere else? You just make me want to return again soon with this piece…