Maison Blanc UK

Maison Blanc Petits Fours, watercolor, 9" x 11" Last May I was forced to immerse myself in petit four pastries day AND night. Really the correct French word is mignardises for these cuties.

I was forced to wolf down great quantities to find my inner, ultimate petit four self...

How else can you paint something?

If you don't know it...

Up close and personal?

I was commissioned to paint illustrations for Maison Blanc Patisseries in the UK.

June a year ago, by chance I stopped in at the Fulham Road Maison Blanc for a spot of tea...

A pleasent combination of Frenchness and British afternoon tea don't you think? Tres charmant French chef Raymond Blanc is their maitre in charge of every bite and their desserts are quite stupendous.

I had a bite of their luscious Concerto chocolate cake

Naturalemente I took a shot of the menu...

Inside and out...

And this past May I was immersed in doing illustrations for their new menu thanks to Paris Breakfast.

That's why all the petits fours and chocolate gateaux torture around here.

And it's why I spent my birthday in May getting upclose and personal with a tunafish sandwich too. If you're in the UK do stop in and say bonjour for me.
Bonjour MAISON BLANC & Bonne Fourth to YOU!

L'Amour Fou

L'Amour Fou de Petits Fours, watercolor, 9" x 11"
Still crazy for petits fours, I thought I'd try the competition. Mais quelle disastre! I opened the box and they were slip slidin' away.Staff grabbed the box, ran in the kitchen and tried to patch them together :(
Where are the little protective caissettes plissées that go under each petit four bien sur?
Mon dieu! I was mad. I was growling like these amazing not-to-be-missed animal sculptures of Ai Weiwei by The Plaza Hotel.
C'est la vie. I picked myself up off the ground and returned to Financier Pastries for a 2nd set of petits fours. A pastry artist has to have something to paint.

As a consolation prize I got a passion fruit macaron = instant happiness. When life gives you lemons eat macarons.

With all this mad, crazy love for petits fours eating me up, seeing L'Amour Fou/crazy love was a natural...

L'Amour Fou is a French documentary about the relationship of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge, their amazing art collection and Berge's decision to auction it off in 2009 in a 3-day extravaganza. Read more about it in Elaine Sciolino's story here.

The film offers an inside look at their lives together and the relentless luxury of their lifestyle.

Yesterday Yellow Bird dragged me down for more pastry luxuries. Who does he think he is - YSL?

BONJOUR L'AMOUR FOU de PETITS FOURS!

Financier Pastries 2

Financier Petit Fours, watercolor, 9"x 11"
Drinking too much Champagne once-a-year is not that big a problem...
But becoming attached at the hip to a Patisserie just a short train ride away is another matter...
Dear PBers,
I need an intervention...
What started out as mere research for a petit four drawing project...
Has turned into an obsession. Ouch!

I tell myself I'm buying these delights just to paint them. Ha! They're disappearing faster than I can paint them :(
A few years ago I kept pastry temptation under control easily...

I only painted miniatures...

Under an inch high. Help me PBers.

Especially since I haven't tasted "Le Tropical. At least there is a remedy for greediness straight from Paris - Oddibil charcoal tablets created for pastry overeaters. I recommend it highly.

BONJOUR Petits Fours 2!

Financier Pastries

Petit Four Immersion watercolor, 9" x 11"
I'm been going through serious petit four immersion.
Really I should be immersed in the pool doing water gym...
I recently discovered a very French NYC patisserie, Financier Pastries. I bought their little beauties this past weekend to paint. Here's what's left of the original 16...
Unlike the other brand's petit fours that jumped around in transit-these could have used some plastic surgery once home...
Foodwalker, a professional caterer, asked me if they taste as good as they look.
Petit Four research sketches...
They do!
Perfect to get in the right frame of mind to see Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris homage to the city of lights.

I happened to pass by another Financier shop yesterday to check if their pastries really were as good as I thought they were...

They are. Green and white stripped awnings, lots of French-esque details. And they have macarons.

Their signature pastry is the golden bar-shaped almond 'financier' cake - their first shops opened near Wall street. Chef Eric Bedoucha grew up in Paris and got his training at Dalloyau...

Some of you asked after Yellow Bird. I almost called this post 'My Left Foot'. Yellow bird is recoverying from a foot injury but he's back with a bit of Scotch (tape) to the rescue.

BONJOUR Petits Fours!