The proverbial name rings true for a little authentic French bakery. La bouchee d’Or has decided to introduce Pune to the delights of Parisian boulangerie and patisserie. By Ashishwang Godha
When a burgeoning city like Pune gets an authentic French “bakery pastry shop”, it signals that the city is growing up. A quiet but, definite bakery revolution is under-way. It may be small still, yet it portends happier times to come.
La Bouchée d’Or is a partnership venture between Pune-based Rohena Gera and Brice Poisson.As of now, La Bouchee d’Or has two outlets, at Bund Garden Road and a newer one at Aundh. Poisson, the French bakery chef and co-owner, holds his concept dear, “This is not a café. It’s a traditional French boulangerie-patisserie, a bakery-pastry shop to be precise.”
And what a delectable bakery-pastry shop this one is. Poisson’s goal of bringing “luxurious pastries, delicate biscuits and hand-crafted breads to Indian customers,” definitely seems to be on the right track.
As of now, this bakery is lesser boulangerie and more patisserie. The reason?Irregular and insufficient demand for their crisp, fresh French breads and other items such as sandwiches.We definitely have some time before we can call ourselves a bread nation. But, what La Bouchee D’Or lacks in variety, he makes up for in sheer gorgeous quality of ingredients and flavour of the final product.
The food
The Quiche Lorraine, at a steep price of Rs 180 for a Pune market, is a melt-inyour- mouth delight. The light pastry dough, baked just right, cups a smooth ricotta and spinach custard. It explodes into a wonderful mélange as you bite into it. The bacon quiche is just as much of a flavour-burst with the blend of salty, creamy textures doing a delightful dance.
Then, there is the Pain Perdu, or what we know better as French Toast. The large,thick-cut bread soaked in eggs and milk and panfried is dusted with icing sugar and cinnamon. It’s a buttery pastry: chunky enough for a bite and fluffy enough to retain its juicy layering.
The Lemon Tart is another feather-light creation – fresh with the zest and tang of citrus. The Bresilienne Choco Framboiseis a sublime chocolate cake, layered with sweet raspberries that retain their zing to compliment the dark passion of the chocolate.
But, their star is definitely the Pain Au Chocolate. We tried the one with pistachios – though there is another option of almonds as well. The flaky, decadent layers hide melting hot chocolate within their folds. This Pain Au Chocolate is worth a journey to La Bouchee D’Or for – no matter which part of town you are in.
The business module
The location: What makes a French pastry chef open a bakery in India? The answer is direct: “simply because there is a big need for it.” Yet, fora French patisserie, didn’t Pune seem like too small a city for the international concept? On the contrary, Poisson claims, “Pune seemed like an interesting city to me. Plus, we have some ground support as Rohena’sfamily is from here.” Bund Garden and Aundh, at two corners of the city, were chosen since they seemed like the best locations for the venture.
The back-end
Ever since Poisson decided to move to India, it’s been a “long journey”. “From adapting recipes to sourcing various high standard ingredients, it’s taken a lot of time and effort.”
Then, came the challenge of equipment sourcing to meet his international standards. “We use the standard equipment you find in any French bakery,” says Poisson, nonchalantly, “Some of our machines were not manufactured in Asia so, we had to import from France. For others, their quality was
not up to our standard.”
Managing operations across stores still remains a challenge. “We have some sort of computerization for our billing and accounting. But, nothing that is of really good quality. We are still looking for a solution.”
‘Craft is everything’
La Bouchee d’Or has quality and French authenticity as its backbone. “Our best quality is not as per Indian standard but, as per international standards.” As a chef, Poisson starts with his team at 4am every morning. “Everything is checked and approved. We only use natural and healthy products. We do not use fruit fillings, soya based cream or pre-mixes. We craft everything.”
Growth factor
While response has been surprisingly good so far, La BoucheeD’Or saw phenomenal success from both foreigners as well as Pune locals. “We did not expect to grow in the first year. But, we did because of the demand from Pune.”
Future plans? “One cannot expect to bring quality and our standards easily to another country. We have concerns, especially if we grow too fast and without thorough planning. Of course, we would be happy to grow but, it takes time.”
