It’s impossible not to fall in love with Yann Haute Patisserie. First of all, it’s in a cute yellow house in Mission. Then you walk in and are transported to a small piece of France with the smell of fresh croissants and a warm greeting from Jéraldine Blanchard.
She and her husband/pastry chef, Yann, run the bakery on the main floor. They live upstairs with their three children, and the pastry kitchen is downstairs. Talk about a labour of love!
You cannot be rushed at Yann’s. The morning I visited, Jéraldine and two customers were trading child-rearing stories. That’s part of the charm of this patisserie. You actually TALK to each other here. Weird, eh?
The macarons — touted as the new dessert darling; move over cupcakes — are a staple here. Not to be confused with macaroons, macarons are delicate cookies made with meringue and sandwiched around a sweet filling.
At $1.85 each, they may seem pricey for such a small concoction. But when you bite into the slightly crunchy outside, reach the chewy meringue and revel in the sweet filling melting in your mouth, it’s $1.85 well-spent.
Yann has a rotation of about 15 macaron flavours which it promotes on its Twitter and Facebook pages.
On this day, I had the:
- tarte tatin: salted butter, apple and cinnamon
- blackcurrent and violet: WOWZA!
- rose and lychee: “heavenly,” said my co-worker.
- lemon.
Hey, I was doing research for the Homestretch. I *needed* to sample all the different flavours.
To another bakery… I’ve written about my favoured cupcakes at Bliss & Co. before, but didn’t want you to forget that they also make sublime cakes, pies and special occasion treats.
One of the few nut-free bakeries in town, Bliss & Co. sticks to all-natural ingredients as much as possible.
The banana-chocolate cream pie (four inch for $4.95) is three-quarters freshly whipped cream (hubba, hubba) and then slices of real banana with custard, chocolate and a crunchy crust. I’m guessing this is meant to be a “personal size” pie, but is more than enough to share.
Bliss & Co. has a small walk-in storefront, but focuses on catering to the downtown corporate towers. Phone or email ahead if you’ve got an order from their menu in mind. Also check for special features on holidays like St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Christmas etc.
Yann Haute Patisserie, 329-23rd Ave. SW, Calgary, (403) 244-8091. Open Wednesday to Saturday 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Sunday 9:30 a.m. -2 p.m. Closed Monday and Tuesday.
Bliss & Co. Cupcakes and Desserts, 108-3rd Ave. SW, lower level, Calgary, (403) 281-8821. Open Tuesday to Friday 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., weekends 10:30 a.m.-4 p.m.
As the name of my blog suggests, I will pretty much eat anything.
I’m partial to meats but will suffer fruits and vegetables.
I dedicate this to people who love to eat, and find art in their meals. If this blog piques your interest at least once, then I’m happy as a goldfish that eats til it explodes. 
Yann’s creations are excellent. The only one I can’t bring myself to buy is the Licorice….
Love Yann’s & Bliss and it’s been too long since I’ve been to either.
My only small criticism of Yann’s – Walking through thr front door you go from this homey looking front porch to this clinical environment… which seems to be the opposite of what the two of them are about – they’re both very warm & welcoming, their product is delicious, but the place has the sterility (and bright light) of a dentist’s office.
We’re on a mission – 25 videos on great things around Calgary in 25 days. This blog post inspired our Friday video. Neither Bliss nor Yann’s disappointed!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7Bs9Punobk
We follow your blog via Google Reader, and have had some fabulous food finds thanks to you.
(If you want to see the other videos, they’re linked here: http://www.travisjohnrobertson.com/blog/?page_id=422)