Just to summarize things in a sentence: it’s super worth going to! His offerings are super delicious! They all make me want to forget any diets and just keep on eating!
I’m actually just glad that at The Bailiwick Academy, we have the opportunity to try out his recipes (access his classes – Sign up at The Bailiwick Academy!) for ourselves. Otherwise, I’d probably run out of money just buying his desserts!
Who is Chef Ely Salar?
Chef Ely is one of the instructors at The Bailiwick Academy.
His classes include Basic Chocolate Mirror Glazed Cake…
And what I believe in my opinion the best class, The Art of Chocolate. (Hey, I LOVE chocolates, so I’m kind of biased, okay?)
According to Alberta Filipino Journal, Chef Ely’s passion for baking started when he experienced working in his parents’ bakery and catering business in Tacloban.
“My fondest memory of the bakery is getting up at 3:00 am to make pandesal (a popular bread in the Philippines). Over the holidays, every day after church the community would gather at our bakery to pick up their pandesal and pastries. We would always sell out, but people would stay for the conversation.”
-Chef Ely Salazar (Hotel Arts)
He soon realized that baking was something he really wanted to do as a career. He took up Hotel and Restaurant Management, had an internship in Virginia, USA, and eventually worked in various countries as a food and beverage server, culinary operations supervisor, and even a manager.
However, as he related in an interview with FilCan Magazine, he didn’t enjoy it as much as working in the kitchen. His heart was still in the expression of making pastries.
And me (and I’m sure a lot of other people) are glad that he pursued this! Otherwise, we wouldn’t have his lessons and this physical store today.
Also, if he didn’t, we wouldn’t be treated to his creations that have been likened to pieces of jewelry. I felt a bit guilty when cutting into his creations – they’re that beautiful!
But after tasting them, I’m glad I did – they’re so good and very much award-winning!
Chef Ely Salar uses local chocolates.
One thing I also really admire about Chef Ely is that aside from his skill, he is really bent on promoting local chocolate. According to F&B Report, Chef Ely uses chocolate that is grown from his farm, Elfortunella.
Not only is he able to do quality control over the chocolate that he uses, he also helps chocolate farmers by buying their cacao. And with increasing orders for his products, he is also buying more from the farmers, which means more help for them.
Isn’t that great?
What is Patisserie Le Choux-Colat?
Patisserie Le Choux-Colat actually began as a pickup and delivery only store that Chef Ely and his wife Jiannina started during the pandemic. The name is a play on combining two of Chef Ely’s loves:
- The choux dough pastries he is well-known for
- The chocolate flavors that is often the base or the one that covers his pastry creations
The store gained a lot of attention quickly; have you seen their Instagram feed? It’s full of gorgeous treats that will make anyone take a second (and even third look!)
And as Spot.Ph says, the special thing about this restaurant is that it highlights local ingredients in plenty of the confections, and also features flavors that Filipinos love, in a French-pastry treatment. Cool, huh?
It was only in July that they finally opened a physical store in The Podium. While online, you can only buy the large cakes, in this physical store, you can now buy smaller portions and even enjoy drinks to go along with your treats!
How was my experience at Patisserie Le Choux-Colat?
Well, like I mentioned above, it was something my daughter and I really enjoyed!
We loved being able to see the chefs preparing the pastries, and of course, the pastries themselves. The way that they designed their store is so experiential.
And the confections themselves are the treat, of course. As much as I wanted to take a nice picture of them, someone couldn’t wait!
I found myself just enjoying the moment with my daughter, as well as our orders.
Treat yourself to this, especially if you have been working hard – you will not regret it!
In conclusion, try out Chef Ely Salar’s restaurant ASAP!
I have nothing else to say except that you should definitely go and try Patisserie Le Choux-Colat if you’re in the area. If not, schedule a visit! It’s definitely worth your time, whether you’re going alone, on a date, or even on a family day.
Patisserie Le Choux-Colat is on the second floor of The Podium. It operates during mall hours, meaning it’s open from Monday to Sunday, 10 AM to 10 PM. Check out their Facebook page for more information.
Satisfy your sweet tooth – visit them today!
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Keep coming back to The Bailiwick Academy blog for more kitchen tips, tricks, and much more!
P.S. Again, if you want to check out Chef Ely’s classes, sign up at The Bailiwick Academy today!
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