LCBO Food and Drink Early Summer 2016

BY CYNTHIA DAVID • PHOTOGRAPHY BY VIRGINIA MACDONALD NADÈGE NOURIAN, PASTRY CHEF/OWNER, NADÈGE PATISSERIE, TORONTO, WWW.NADEGE-PATISSERIE.COM FIVE qUESTIONS WITH…

N adège Nourian is boldly building an empire of exquisite sweets. After training with top chefs, the petite fourth- generation pastry chef from Lyon, France, arrived in Toronto from London, England, with husband Morgan McHugh to open their own shop. By 2009, they’d transformed a drab photo studio into a chic white pastry shop filled with meticulously designed desserts, a rainbow of macarons and flaky croissants, all made with the finest seasonal ingredients. Summer is the busiest time, especially the week before Mother’s Day, when the shop ships out up to 50 orders a day of gift baskets, boxes of macarons and gift cards.

in restaurants and know your wine. Why a pastry chef? It’s in my genes. When I was very young I spent hours in the kitchen with my grandmother, a retired pas- try chef. We worked with chocolate and made jam together while I lis- tened to her stories. At 18, when I an- nounced I was going to pastry school, I think the news pinched my parents’ hearts, but for my grandmother it was a big moment, very emotional. What’s your favourite ingredient? Chocolate! I work with nearly 20 types of Valrhona chocolate from France. It’s expensive but you can taste the di erence. Our best seller from the beginning has been Pur Noir—a 70% chocolate cake with a flourless biscuit, crunchy bits, cocoa nibs and chocolate mousse. What do you say when customers ask about calories? Instead of one croissant every day, I tell them to have one beautiful, buttery croissant once a week.

After Lyon and London, what was it like opening a pastry shop in Toronto? The hardest part was finding high- end ingredients. I wanted pistachios from Iran or Sicily and suppliers didn’t know where their ingredients came from. If I ran out of fruit purée they’d send another brand, which drove me crazy. “It’s not the same quality!” I’d say. “But it’s cheaper!” they’d reply. I had to learn to soften my voice. Now it’s much easier. Your opening day was… memorable? I told my sous chef we’d be lucky if 50 people came. Thanks to social me- dia, hundreds showed up. We opened at 8 a.m. and ran out by 11, yet had to stay open until 4 p.m. with an empty shop. After preparing three years for this dream it was the worst day ever. But people queued up again the next day and it hasn’t stopped. In school you were good in math and geography, you enjoyed working

I work with nearly 20 types of Valrhona chocolate from France. It’s expensive but you can taste the difference.

FOOD & DRI NK EARLY SUMMER