The afternoon tea is an English institution that lives on not only in the Commonwealth, but for instance in Paris too. In January 2016, I had the chance to try the Afternoon Tea 100% Vegan at the elegant restaurant La Bauhinia at the Shangri-La Hotel, Paris.
The Afternoon Tea 100% Vegan is the “baby” of head pastry chef Michaël Bartoletti and Michelin star executive chef Christophe Moret.
It is the logical follow-up to the 100% Green Dinners launched at La Bauhinia at the beginning of the summer 2015. The idea of Moret and Bartocetti was to come up with a cuisine that is ethical, entirely vegetable, deeply rooted in nature and in tune with the seasons.
Therefore, they source local and fresh produce made in a transparent and ethical way. There are no traces of animal fat and protein in this vegan afternoon tea, to my knowledge still the only one of its kind in Paris.
Moret and Bartocetti decided to preserve the nature of the fruit and its flavors as much as possible. Non-refined sugars such as coconut flower, panela (rapadura) and maple syrup are used. According to the chefs, the vegetable proteins are subtler, easier to digest and less allergenic. No lactose is used. Thanks to saturated fats, including cooked butter, the dishes contain less cholesterol. Virgin coconut oil, pureed almonds, cereals such as buckwheat, sunflower seeds, Khorasan wheat and oleaginous products including walnuts and flaxseed, homemade vegetable milks such as almond and soy milk make the pastries lighter.
The chefs worked closely together with the sustainable development consultant Bernadette Combette, who sourced the best possible produce. After three months of research, they came up with their vegan afternoon tea, including roughly a dozen of pastries.
The three fabulous signature pastries (Calisson, Montblanc and Chocolate Tart) of my January 2016 100% Vegan Afternoon Tea. Photos copyright © Winkelmann / Shangri-La Hotel, Paris.
The Afternoon Tea 100% Vegan is offered on a classic three-tier-stand and is composed of tarts, shortcrust pastries, a revisited version of the Figolu biscuits, classics such as Mont-Blanc and Calisson as well as British shortbreads and scones accompanied by totally vegan “clotted cream” made of soy milk and coconut oil.
The Calisson is a light and delicate mousse made from oranges, a financier biscuit containing almonds and hazelnuts, almond paste produced in Berry as well as almond milk; the Calisson is the round, orange pastry pictured below as well as on top of the three-tier-stand in the picture on the right.
Equally sensational was the Chestnut and Blackcurrant Mont-Blanc. This vegan pastry contains no egg white. The chestnuts come from the Lozère area, the blackcurrants from the Hautes-Alpes and Anjou, the blackcurrant juice from Corrèze and the flour made from chestnuts was grown in the Ardèche region. The chocolate shells are made of fair-trade chocolate from Venezuela and white chocolate containing rice flour; the Mont-Blanc pastry is pictured in the foreground of the photo below.
The Chocolate Tart on the right in the picture below consists of fair-trade couverture chocolate made from cacao beans from Peru. The sweet taste progressively give way to a certain bitterness.
These three signature pastries (Calisson, Montblanc and Chocolate Tart) were my three favorites of the 100% Vegan Afternoon Tea, which offered have a dozen of additional pastries, three delicate mini sandwiches as well as scones.
Although all the vegan dishes are lighter than a “normal, standard” afternoon tea, in the end, it replaces a full meal. Therefore, only take a breakfast and skip lunch if you should chose to try the brilliant delicacies at the Shangri-La Hotel, Paris.
Traditional scones with totally vegan “clotted cream” made of soy milk and coconut oil. Photos copyright © Winkelmann / Shangri-La Hotel, Paris.
Incidentally, the head pastry chef Michaël Bartoletti made his apprenticeship at the renowned Pâtisserie Fischer in Thionville in the Lorraine region. Subsequently, he became a finalist in the Best Apprentices of France contest and was selected for the WorldSkills France competition.
In 2005, these great achievements earned him, at age 21, a place at Guy Savoy’s Paris restaurant.
A promising chef de partie, he met Alain Ducasse who, two years later, put him in charge of the patisserie section of his Michelin star-rated Parisian bistro Benoît.
In 2009, Michaël Bartoletti joined Alain Ducasse’s the three Michelin star restaurant at the prestigious Hotel Plaza Athénée.
In June 2015 finally, Michaël Bartoletti arrived at the elegant Shangri-La Hotel, Paris to work with executive chef Christophe Moret.
The 100% Vegan Afternoon Tea is offered on a classic three-tier-stand. Here at restaurant La Bauhinia. Photos copyright © Winkelmann / Shangri-La Hotel, Paris..
Review of the Afternoon Tea 100% Vegan at the Shangri-La Hotel, Paris. Added on February 1, 2016 at 17:47 CET
