Blog Love

Check out the too cool for school blog, Paris vs New York - a tally of two cities.  Graphic designer Vahram Muratyan describes the blog as "A visual but friendly match between those two cities seen by a lover of Paris wandering through New York's infinite details, clichés and contradictions."  Enjoy!

And my absolute favourite -



Having just visited the Big Apple and having a well known love of all things French, I understand the humour.  I think it is just so clever.  Genius!

More Macaroons ... Swoon!

I have blogged about macaroons before, about those made by Ladurée the famous French brand everyone is familiar with. But gorge your senses on these little pretties from Theurel & Thomas, the “first patisserie in Mexico” to specialize in French macaroons. Yes, Mexico.

Theurel & Thomas have recently undergone a re-banding by Mexican design agency Anagrama who redesigned their store in San Pedro, Mexico. The results are visually stunning.

“For this project it was very important to create an imposing brand that would emphasize the unique value, elegance and detail of this delicate dessert.

White was our primary tool for design. As a result of this the attention was fully oriented to the colorful macaroons. We placed two lines in our design in cyan and magenta, as a relation with a modern French flag to inject a vanguard vision to the identity. We selected Didot (created by Firmin and Pierre Didot), a French typography that would present the brand with sophistication”

Images via Theurel & Thomas and Anagrama.

The story of the Macaroon

I was recently very spoiled on my birthday with a lavish French patisserie party - great on the lips, even better for the hips. We had some lovely macaroons prepared by Mulots Patisserie, but let me tell you about Ladurée - a luxury cakes and patisserie salon based in Paris, France.



Ladurée's rise to fame came in 1930 when Pierre Desfontaines, grandson of then owner of Ladurée Jules Chéret, had the original idea of the double-decker macaroon (macaron en français), sticking two macaroon shells together with a creamy ganache as filling – fifteen thousand of which are sold every day. With each new season, Ladurée pays tribute to this its most famous creation by creating a new flavour, currently Cherry and Apple.

Ladurée Macaroons collection:
Flavours that are permanently available: Chocolate - Bitter Chocolate - Vanilla - Coffee - Rose - Pistachio - Raspberry - Blackcurrant Violet - Caramel with salted butter - Red Fruits - Orange Blossom - Liquorice - Lemon
Seasonal flavours: Coconut - Mint - Amande - Spice and soft fruits - Chestnuts - Praline - Lemon Cedrat - Fig & Date

Desfontaines also opened a tearoom at the pastry shop. In those days cafés which were the exclusive domain of men. The tearoom was a big success with ladies, who enjoyed meeting in the freedom of the tearoom rather than their homes.

The Groupe Holder took over Ladurée in 1993, which was then beset with financial difficulties. Following the takeover, the company began an expansion drive, setting up pastry shops on the Champs-Élysées in 1997, followed by subsidiaries in London, Geneva, Monaco. Ladurée shops have also been opened in Tokyo, Dublin, Bahrain, Milan and Dubai.

I fear Adelaide will have a long wait …

Images courtesy of Ladurée and research Wikipedia