Introducing: The Tempered Room, a mouthwatering new patisserie in Parkdale
Name: The Tempered Room
Contact Info: 1374 Queen St. W., 416-546-4374, thetemperedroom.com, @thetemperedroom
Neighbourhood: Parkdale
Previously: Brown Sugar Bakery
Owner/Chef: Bertrand Alépée, owner of The Tempered Chef catering company and former co-owner and chef at the now-shuttered Amuse-Bouche bistro
Pastry Chef: Tyler Lang, also from Amuse-Bouche
The Food: Gorgeous mousse cakes, bombes, tarts, croissants, custard-filled pastries and flaky éclairs piped with fruity creams and custards, all temptingly displayed in glass cases. (Alépée worked in Paris with Michelin starred chefs Guy Savoy and Alain Ducasse before settling in Toronto, so his French pastries are the real thing.) There are lots of savoury items, too, like cheesy croque monsieur sandwiches and puff pastry tarts topped with caramelized onions and tomato compote. Crusty loaves by Thuet, Blackbird and The Drake Hotel are available for purchase.
The Drinks: Sam James coffee, tea and bottled kombucha. Alépée plans to apply for a liquor license so that he can serve booze at events and one-off dinners. “In France you can have a croissant with a glass of wine,” he says, “so why not?”
The Place: Alépée redesigned the two-story space, installing long glass display cases along one wall and filling the room with antique furniture that he’d collected over the years. The patisserie houses three separate kitchens, one of which supplies The Tempered Chef, the catering arm of Alépée’s food business.
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