Davao Food: One Plate At a Time: Experience the Best of Paris in Davao at The French Baker

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Experience the Best of Paris in Davao at The French Baker

The French Baker opens its newest concept store in SM Lanang Premier, which also marks the 51st branch for the franchise and their first in Mindanao. With the new concept store, The French Baker promises to offer nothing short of fancy as they give Davaoenos the opportunity to experience the "good life" through their authentic French pastries and menu items available in-store. Hence, you don't have to travel to Paris in order to experience the best of French cuisine first-hand as The French Baker brings it to Davao.

The French Baker CEO, and the French baker himself, Johnlu Koa, is proud of his latest innovation and cannot wait for Davao folks to experience the sum of inspirations he had gathered from his trips to Paris and Europe. According to Koa, he contemplated on introducing The French Baker brand to Davao several years ago when the first SM mall opened its doors in Davao. However, he wanted to polish his culinary craft first so that he can deliver unique baked pastries and treats that will overwhelm the competition. With the new SM supermall and a thriving tourist and economic industry in Davao, he felt that now is the most opportune moment to introduce the brand to Davao.

It starts with the location and interior design of The French Baker concept store. It is strategically located in front of the SM Lanang Fountain Court so that diners can marvel at the famous dancing fountain show while enjoying their French treats. Meanwhile, the interior design looks and feels like a true Parisian patisserie or bakery-cafe. Stepping into this store literally feels like being in Paris with its spacious and elegant interiors and an indoor al fresco area. The store is also divided into two main sections: the Patisserie and the Tea Salon or Salon de The.

You will have plenty of options to marvel your time with - be awed by the largest dancing fountain show in the country, stay connected with their WiFi, or you can get a sample of the Parisian taste that helped catapult The French Baker to the fore of the country's gastronomic landscape.

In order to drum up publicity for the opening of their new, larger concept store at SM Lanang Premier, The French Baker held a media day to officially introduce the new restaurant location. In the said event, media folks were also given the opportunity to sample the best treats from The French Baker to give everyone a glimpse of what is in store for them.

Here are a few of the treats we were able to sample at the said event:

Bread Basket with a tray of dips (chicken liver pate, chutney and relish)

Tuna Salad

Sweet Corn Chowder

Entrees (Squid Ink Pasta, Ravioli, Cochinillo, Salt Crusted Baked Bass, Fried Chicken, and Beef Burgundy)

The Patisserie section is what really caught my eye. The French Baker has truly expanded beyond what they had been known for - baking breads - and had excelled at cake and pastry making. I cannot decipher the right words to describe how heavenly each dessert tasted - guess you need to find out for yourself!

Also read: The French Baker Pastry Treats

Swan Puffs - Swan shaped puffs that are baked using a cream puff dough and filled with traditional pasty cream and finished off with a sprinkling of powdered sugar.