My Weekend at Sugar Paris 2015
Last weekend, Sugar Paris was held in Paris for its second edition — the trade fair dedicated to traditional and decorative pastry that I’ve already told you about (and not entirely glowingly) last year. See my article “A (Funny) Day at Sugar Paris“.
Just a heads-up: this post is very long (I can never keep things short ^^) so if you’re in a hurry or not particularly interested, you can just scroll through the photos 🙂
Before telling you more about my weekend, let me give you some background on Sugar Paris. This year, the show ran from 6 to 8 February 2015 at the Grande Halle de la Villette. Unlike last year, it was much easier to get to — right opposite the metro, no need for a train shuttle. On site, there were several areas:
- Le Grand Marché: a 3,000 m² retail space to find accessories, food ingredients, fine foods, small appliances, kits, books, magazines and tableware (more than 70 stands to discover the brands).
- La Fabrik à Gâteau: more than 200 hours of workshops across 4 dedicated spaces — traditional pastry, cake design, chocolate and food photography (new this year). These workshops were paid and booked in advance.
- Les Sugar Play Times: stand demonstrations and chef showcases (traditional pastry and cake design), free to attend.
- Le Bar à Gourmandises: themed kiosks showcasing the classics of traditional Parisian pastry.
- Le Café des Auteurs: a bookshop area to buy books by the chefs present at the show and get your favourite titles signed.
Photo credit: Surprises et gourmandises
Last year, the show was a victim of its own success. It was almost impossible to walk through the aisles, to watch the few demonstrations, and on top of that, traditional pastry was practically non-existent — the show was mainly focused on cake design… which left a lot of people disappointed (myself included). I have to say that this year, great efforts were made to avoid repeating the same mistakes, and I had an excellent weekend! I was really looking forward to discovering the Sugar Play Times. Here’s what was on the programme.
I didn’t attend the cake design demos or visit the cake design stands, so you won’t find any information about those here 😉
Saturday
I arrived on Saturday morning around 9:40 a.m. for the 10 a.m. opening. Just a 5-minute walk from the metro — much more convenient! I met up there with the sister of a colleague of my husband’s (who is training for her CAP pâtisserie qualification), a lovely chance to connect over a shared passion. I quickly made my way to the “Sugar Play Times” section (for traditional pastry), which was up on the mezzanine. I didn’t take the time to look around the whole show first, as I didn’t want to miss the competition organised by Fou de Pâtisserie centred on a reinvented chocolate tart (originally scheduled for 10:15 a.m.). In hindsight, I had plenty of time to tour the show, because the competition unfortunately started 45 minutes late. But I was front and centre!
While waiting for everyone to get into place, I took the opportunity to get a photo with Yann Brys and Benoît Couvrand. Caroline, who was with me, and I had the chance to chat with Benoît Couvrand — he is very approachable and talks about his work with great ease.
Here are a few details about the competition that took place:
Fou de Pâtisserie magazine organised a chocolate tart competition. 150 enthusiasts submitted their photos and 4 desserts caught the attention of the jury, made up of: Yann Brys, Ophélie Barès (Michalak Masterclass), Benoît Couvrand (La Pâtisserie by Cyril Lignac) and the magazine’s editor-in-chief Julie Mathieu.
Photo credit: Fou de Pâtisserie
The 4 finalists competed for 2.5 hours in genuinely challenging conditions (limited work space, a single oven, power cuts, not to mention the stress). As a spectator, it wasn’t easy to see what was happening — and yet I was in the front row. There were two screens, but the camera was focused on just one work station (Alexandre’s), so I saw practically nothing of Aurélie’s work. After 2.5 hours of non-stop effort, the jury got to taste each dessert. Alexandre’s and Thi-Yen’s didn’t come out at their best, unfortunately — down to time pressure or equipment issues… I can still picture Thi-Yen’s disappointment as her mirror glaze went wrong :S And the results were ultimately some way from the photos they had submitted for the competition.
Photo credit: La Casbah des Délices
Cécile’s dessert blew me away (as do all her desserts, which never stop impressing me). I found out she’s a stylist, and it suddenly made perfect sense that her desserts have such a refined, polished look ^^ After deliberation, the jury awarded victory to Cécile, and I was thrilled! I was lucky enough to taste her dessert — it was truly delicious, so well deserved!
Photo credit: Surprises et gourmandises
The 4 finalists and the jury gather for a final photo.
Photo credit: Fou de Pâtisserie
After the competition, it was well past lunchtime. The sandwich area of the show had been stormed by hungry pastry enthusiasts, so I headed out of the venue to eat at McDonald’s. Caroline and I went our separate ways, and I finished the visit on my own (more or less!).
Back at the show, I stopped by to see Shelley at “The Gourmet Chocolate Pizza Company” stand. You couldn’t have missed it — it was right opposite the entrance. A few weeks earlier, Shelley had got in touch with me through my blog to introduce me to her chocolate pizza concept and offered me a tasting. Knowing she would be at the show, I obviously went over to say hello. She was an absolute delight to meet, and I’m still just as taken by her pizza concept (I’ll tell you more in an upcoming post).
Next, I headed to the “Le Meilleur Pâtissier” stand. There I found Amina, whom I had met earlier in the morning — she seemed to turn up everywhere I went ^^ Mumu was doing a “chocolate sphere” demonstration at the stand next door, but I waited patiently to meet Abdelkarim. There was quite a crowd. Amina boldly called out “how much would a photo with an Anne-Sophie be worth?” — and just like that, there I was next to him, a few words exchanged (enough time to tell him how much I loved everything he did during the show) and a photo.
I quickly made my way through the stands to get back to the Sugar Play Times. Cédric Grolet was doing a demonstration on a “pineapple-avocado-coconut treat” but, unlike the other chefs, all the preparations had been done in advance — he only had the plating left to do. I stayed just a few minutes (next to Abdelkarim and his wife) before deciding to finally do some shopping!
One thing is certain: browsing the aisles was so much more pleasant than last year. And yet there were plenty of people. The Cerf Dellier stand, which is always mobbed (what a nightmare it was last year!!) had the good idea of controlling entry. There was a queue (about 10 minutes’ wait), but once inside the stand it was much easier to move around. This is where I made most of my purchases (matcha tea, cocoa nibs, nougat paste, caramel paste, yuzu extract, gold discs, macaron boxes, red food colouring). At another stand I found gold and white colouring. Everything I needed 🙂
Back to the Sugar Play Times. It was now Jeffrey Cagnes‘s turn to do a demo — “white forest, amarena cherry and white chocolate”. I arrived towards the end, unfortunately. There were no seats left and I sat down on the floor… and there was Amina again! I still managed to taste his dessert in petit-four form… absolutely delicious! And I’m not usually a big fan of cherry in desserts. A few seats freed up and Amina and I grabbed them, since next up was chef Christophe Felder — a moment I had been looking forward to enormously!! Christophe Felder in person!
Photo credit: Géraldine Martens
The demo began and the mezzanine was packed! I discovered a chef of incredible warmth and humility. While he worked (with no assistant), he cheerfully shared anecdotes from his life and career, with great wit and humour. He took the time to talk, and it was a joy to listen to him. He prepared a “Valentine’s Day tart” and didn’t hesitate to involve the audience (Amina included). At the end of the demo, the chef had prepared his dessert in petit-four form for tasting. Absolutely delicious! I discovered the chocolate-lemon combination and loved it (even though I don’t like lemon!).
Photo credit: Géraldine Martens
Photo credit: Surprises et gourmandises
At 7 p.m. it was time for the book signing at the Café des Auteurs. I hadn’t brought my copy of “Pâtisserie” — far too heavy to carry around all day — but I stayed on with Amina. The show was almost empty and we were among the last in line. I didn’t regret waiting (and making my husband wait at Gare du Nord ^^) because Christophe Felder took the time to chat with each person, take a photo and sign an autograph. My turn came — I thanked him for his demo and his delicious recipe, and was treated to the most wonderful compliment as Amina photographed us (“short hair really suits you”). Incredible! He truly is adorable <3 I left with Amina and my autograph in hand, and on the little card I read this:
Sunday
Saturday had gone so well that I decided to go back on Sunday afternoon (the morning demos didn’t particularly interest me). I met up with a colleague of my husband’s, and we headed to the Sugar Play Times for the demo by Ophélie Barès, winner of the show “Qui sera le prochain grand pâtissier” on France 2, and now two months into her role at the Michalak Masterclass. Amina had reserved us front-row seats ^^ On the programme: a dessert called “Insolite mangue bergamote”. Ophélie wasn’t entirely at ease, but her dessert was sublime — I can’t wait to try making it. At the end of the demo, we quickly went to get a photo with Ophélie, who first handed us a little treat to taste ^^
Photo credit: Géraldine Martens
Next up was another chef from the Michalak Masterclass: François Daubinet, who treated us to his dessert “Cocoa, hazelnut and a hint of lemon”. Like Ophélie and several other chefs, he had prepared his dessert in petit-four form for tasting. Once again, a delight!
Photo credit: Géraldine Martens
One last photo before we go. All I need now is a photo with Christophe Michalak *starry eyes*
Photo credit: Amina 😛
Next it was Cécile Coulier‘s turn to demo with choux pastry: a “crunchy religieuse with lemon and yuzu”. I know Cécile Coulier from a paid workshop I attended at the show last year, and I have very mixed memories of it… (read my earlier article to understand why ^^). That said, choux pastry is always a pleasure — a nice change from what I’d seen so far. She gave some useful tips for getting choux right and showed us several different ways to pipe religieuses. That part was actually really nice!
Photo credit: Géraldine Martens
Elsewhere at the show, Cécile Coulier had already wowed us with her “Choux” Gar exhibition: 100 choux, all different.
Photo credit: Cécile Coulier
And to close the day, it was Yann Le Gal with his “Ai Roll Cake” — a chiffon cake with poppy notes, praline, raspberries and his secret ingredient (the forbidden powder). He was the only one to start the demo with a tasting, which was a lovely touch — and because it was so good, you paid even more attention to the recipe ^^ I was pleasantly surprised by the poppy. Yann Le Gal has a great sense of humour (long live Japan!) and the day ended on a high!
Photo credit: Géraldine Martens and Izvoren
All in all, I had an excellent weekend! I love watching chefs at work — you learn so much. I was surprised by how available they were, how willingly they posed for photos and signed autographs. I was sorry not to have been there on the Friday, as there were some truly stunning desserts. Just look at these — real works of art!
And this weekend gave me the chance to meet some wonderful people, starting with Amina. She also runs a food blog, Sugardises Gourmandises, if you’re curious. I also stopped by the stand of my partner La case à vanille, I met Shelley, and thanks to Amina, Silikomart agreed to become a partner. And since my husband was very busy this weekend, I also got to meet Caroline and Marianne 🙂
Thank you to the Sugar Paris show for taking on board the criticism from last year, thank you to the chefs for sharing their passion with us, thank you to Anne Limbour for brilliantly hosting the Sugar Play Times, and last but not least, thank you to Chloé (Par faim d’arômes), Sophie (Turbigo Gourmandises) and Bénédicte (Fais moi croquer) who sent me a free entry (or two) for the show 🙂