Written for Broadsheet Melbourne
Powder-pink tiling, blond-wood panelling and plush velvet seating; Pierrick Boyer’s new self-titled cafe and patisserie echoes the delicate, light nature of a French pastry.
“The fit-out was important,” French-born Boyer says. “I wanted the place to have space, and to be relaxed and casual.”
The former Le Petit Gateau and RACV Club chef enlisted ZWEI Interiors Architecture (Code Black, Pezzo) to craft the roomy, pastel-toned venue. Peppered among the soft pinks and pale-timber panelling that dominate the space are vivid pops of teal and green. Giant halo-like light fittings emit a soft glow over tiled communal tables.
A marble-fronted dessert cabinet is packed full of neat rows of classic French pastries, and some slightly more imaginative creations. Alongside pain au chocolat, mille-feuille and hazelnut dacquoise (a dessert made with layers of almond and hazelnut meringue) with crunchy praline and milk chocolate Chantilly cream are pear and walnut tarts and passionfruit brownies.
The Charlotte Tiffany is named after Boyer’s seven-and-a-half-month-old daughter and is – fittingly – Tiffany & Co. blue. It combines a gluten-free sponge with dark chocolate, blueberry cremeux (cream filling) and jelly jam.
There’s a range of vegan-friendly options, too, such as vegan cheesecake, carrot cake, cookies and energy bars.
“My wife is a vegetarian. We eat vegetarian and vegan at home,” Boyer says. “I really believe that we need to cater for those needs.”
Head chef Bradley Pearce heads up the savoury kitchen. Expect more French classics such as the croque madame – sourdough with leg ham, Gruyere cheese, a fried egg and béchamel sauce – alongside soft-shell chilli crab scrambled eggs, and a Wagyu burger with American cheese, maple bacon and miso sauce. It’s comfortable, slightly elevated cafe food that caters well to the crowd of mums and bubs filling seats on a weekday morning.
An orange-infused hot chocolate can be adulterated with Baileys or Amaretto, and Kahlua gives an optional kick to a hot white chocolate with coconut.
There’s also a 35-square-metre educational kitchen where Boyer plans to host savoury cooking classes. Until then, he’s hosting dessert-making lessons for children and adults, where students can learn to make macaroons, tarts and – for the daring – croquembouche.
Pierrick Boyer Cafe Patisserie
31 Izett Street, Prahran
(03) 9510 6868
Hours:
Mon to Fri 7.30am–4pm
Sat & Sun 8am–4pm
Stephanie Vigilante 
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