An award-winning pastry chef is opening his own shop this fall

Former Shangri-La pastry chef Steven Tran is poised to wow the city with his most impressive creation yet: a modern French pâtisserie with a Canadian twist. Steven Tran Pâtissier Chocolatier, opening on Roncesvalles in September, will brim with an array of kaleidoscopic bonbons and chocolate bars plus an abundance of butter-based pastries, cookies and cakes.

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No stranger to the world of sweets, Tran has spent the past two decades of his career honing his craft across Canada and abroad. “I actually started out cooking,” he says. “When I went to France, I didn’t realize people did pastry for a living. France inspired me to pursue it. I did a course and was hooked.”

At his soon-to-open shop, Tran plans to combine his love of classic pâtisserie with his flair for crafting chocolates that lure with their looks, then satisfy with their intricate flavours. “It’s an ode to my love for French pâtisserie but also for chocolate. They’re the two main things that brought me into the industry in the first place.”

A veteran of five-star hotels, swanky restaurants and acclaimed pastry shops, Tran is also a pastry victor, having won season 10 of the Food Network’s Spring Baking Championship. “Throughout the competition, I still had that imposter syndrome,” he says. “By winning, I proved to myself that I was more capable than I thought.”

Title in hand—not to mention a healthy prize purse—Tran decided the time was right to open his first shop. “I’ve been working for other people for almost 20 years. Opening your own business is very risky, though, so it’s nerve-racking,” he says. “I finally said to myself, If I don’t do this now, I don’t think I’ll ever do it. So I went for it.”

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On the menu, visitors will find a collection of buttery baked goods, like financiers and madeleines, plus twee cookies and meringues. Plenty of chocolate creations and cakes will round out the menu. Though Tran isn’t planning on making croissants just yet, a selection of viennoiseries may join the lineup in the future.

Tran adds that, while he will be employing classic French techniques, his range and combinations of flavours will reflect Canada’s diversity. “I’m just really excited to welcome everybody to the shop and be in my own space.”