By Mary Callater
How a little taste of France can change your day!
Have you ever had that experience? You know, the one where an unexpected moment of magic transforms your mood, and injects into your soul that difficult to describe thing, that joie de vivre? Well, that’s exactly what happened to us yesterday, at Almondine, the French Patisserie in the centre of Aberdeen.
We had just stopped for a cup of coffee to have a quick business meeting. Little did we know that we had just won the foodie lottery! Ok. I have a passion for French cuisine. Perhaps it comes from living in Paris for two years. Anyway, my passion for French cuisine intensifies when it comes to patisserie. If you like bakery products and haven’t tried French patisserie – I have amazing news for you! You haven’t lived yet. It’s the equivalent of ‘heaven on a plate’.
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I could wax lyrical about Almandine for page after page. Nothing I write would do justice to the intense pleasure we experienced sampling their excellent coffee and amazing pastries. You may have heard the old saying, ‘The British eat to live, but the French live to eat”? It seems to me this is exemplified perfectly when it comes to patisserie. It’s common for French patisserie to be priced a little higher than its British equivalent.
And, although I love British bakeries – in my experience, the price difference is wholly justified. After all, as most foodies will tell you, how can you put a price on something that can totally transform your day? Food to the French is like fashion to the Italians – the price can become somewhat irrelevant because of their intense love for the subject.
Just to delve into some of the details of our visit: We were a party of three. Overwhelmed by the treasures laid before us, we shared a chocolate and ginger pastry – delicious deep, rich chocolate, balanced with a vanilla crème and a soupcon of ginger. Then there was a raspberry pastry that melted in the mouth while delivering a deep, deep raspberry flavour: the kind of flavour that makes your mouth water when you remember it. The kind of flavour that when you’re eating it, you hope it never ends. Finally, there was a delightful, almost intoxicating chocolate pastry.
It was similar to a delice in texture: beautifully balanced with different depths and tones of chocolate competing with each other to torment any chocolate lover’s palate. And all complemented by very nice, aromatic coffee. I must add that this collection of transformative, deeply indulgent, self-rewarding joy was beautifully delivered by Abbie Johnstone our informative and helpful server. Thank you so much, Abbie; you also helped make our day!
I think it’s worth taking a moment to reflect on the value businesses like Almondine bring to city centres everywhere. In Scotland, at least, they operate in an environment of rapidly diminishing footfall caused by unwelcome bus-gates and tax-crunching LEZ schemes. In Aberdeen, these unpopular government initiatives have caused quite a stir. But worse than that, they have damaged businesses by knocking a staggering one million visits off of city centre traffic.
Businesses like these like Almondine make the journey into town all the more worthwhile. Long may they continue to delight us with their fabulous offerings. For me, they are also a link to a history of excellence and to a tradition of afternoon teas, indulgent coffees and moments of magic that I have enjoyed with friends and family over the years. So to sign off from my French inspired theme I’d like to say – vive la patisserie et vive la cuisine franchise.
Almondine specialises in macarons and other French desserts. The key to its success lies in its creative approach and passion for its product. They’ve crafted unique recipes and are enthusiastic about sharing them with as many people as possible—and we understand why. They opened their first patisserie at 15 Chapel Street, Aberdeen. In December 2021, they expanded with a second branch at Unit 2, Burn Lane, Inverurie. By 2023, they continued to grow, opening a location at Harvey Nichols on St. Andrew Square, Edinburgh.
(This is not an advertisement or a sponsored post of any kind. It’s simply a passionate expression of appreciation for an outstanding patisserie/café that took us all by surprise.)
