How sweet life can be

CELEBRATED French patissier Pierre Herme has taken the common macaron far beyond the traditional French confection we know, concocting a luxury item that’s now available to well-heeled Thais at the country’s first Pierre Herme boutique at Bangkok’s new EmQuartier mall.

Operated by PH Macaron (Thailand) Co, an affiliate of Chalermchai and Ausana Mahagitsiri’s PM Group, this is the brand’s 50th store. Others are doing well in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul, all designed by Masamichi Katayama of the interior design firm Wonderwall. 

The shop exudes both luxury and a pop sensibility with a marble display table right in the centre, a wall and ceiling of tiles in multiple colours just like the macarons, and another wall in chocolate stripes.

“I offer edible luxury confectionery products,” Herme said at the opening last week. “I don’t talk about the price – by ‘luxury’ I mean that in every precious step in making the product we use the very best ingredients, such as pure chocolate from the Millot cocoa plantation in Madagascar and my latest chocolate discovery, from the Paineiras plantation in Brazil, and here we provide a good ambience and professional service.

“My priority will always be taste, with the goal ensuring everyone’s satisfaction. I always envisage what I call the architecture of taste, the sequence as you bite into the macaron – what happens first, what happens second, what might provide a surprise in the middle.”

Early customers are eagerly devouring the macarons despite the tall price – about Bt130 apiece. You don’t buy them as single pieces, but rather in boxed assortments. The seven-piece box costs Bt980, 12 pieces are Bt1,580 and 24 pieces are Bt3,100. There’s also a macaron-shaped box containing 20 assorted flavours for Bt3,550.

There are about 14 flavours, all the macarons imported direct from Paris. The best sellers are Mogador (milk chocolate and passion fruit), Infiniment Rose (rose and rose petals), Infiniment Caramel (salted-butter caramel), and Infiniment Chocolate Paineiras (Brazilian dark chocolate).

Chocolate bonbons in different flavours are also offered in boxed assortments ranging in price from Bt700 for 50 grams to Bt5,500 for 720 grams. 

Bonbon Chocolat Ispahan brings together the harmonious flavours of rose and lychee-fruit paste with raspberry ganache and chocolate, while Bonbon Chocolat Infiniment Vanille uses three different types of vanilla – Tahiti for an intense base, Mexico for its floral appeal and Madagascar for a woody note. There are also cakes, caramels, nougats and various flavours of jam, as well as accessories like leather bags, cooler bags, scented candles and the books that Herme has authored.

“I want to introduce new flavour associations and experiences and provide people with something different,” he said. “Sometimes a new creation can take a couple of weeks, or sometimes I will work on a new flavour or combination for years. No need to rush, everything done in comfort. I sketch my ideas out first in diagram form and write the recipe underneath. I then pass them on to my team of research-and-development pastry chefs – they run tests and we taste together before making any necessary adjustments.”

The fourth generation of a family of bakers and pastry chefs in Alsace, France, Herme began his career at 14 as an apprentice to the famed patissier Gaston Lenotre, whom he calls his greatest influence. By age 24 he was head chef-patissier at the renowned fashion tearoom Fauchon, where he remained for 11 years. After a brief consultancy at Laduree during that brand’s expansion, he and Charles Znaty set up their own company in 1997 and the first Pierre Herme Paris boutique opened at the Hotel New Otani in Tokyo the following year. In 2001 Pierre Herme Paris was established in France.

To welcome summer in Europe next month, he will introduce three new flavours of macarons as Les Veloutes collection, which combines natural yoghurt with fruit for refreshing tastes. They are yoghurt and banana, yoghurt and lime zest, and yoghurt with a rose, lychee and raspberry.

“Like Louis Vuitton or Chanel, whose bags represent a universal design, I don’t adapt flavours for different markets, but instead strive to create a global sensory experience that brings pleasure to everyone,” Herme said.

But, just like the high-end fashion brands, he too offers “haute-couture” delicacies to suit individual tastes in the form of a bespoke-blending service. You can choose your own blend of flavours and the recipe will be “registered” in your name ready for future orders. That’s going to cost a bundle, of course. “I don’t know the exact charge, but it’s probably around 10,000 euros,” he said. Quick interpretation: Bt400,000.

 

FOR RICH DIETS ONLY

Pierre Herme’s Bangkok boutique on the ground floor of EmQuartier is open daily from 10 to 10. 

Call (089) 365 8888 or (02) 003 6444 or visit the “PierreHermeTHA” page on Facebook.