Inside Nugateau: Toronto’s First (Amazing) Éclair-Only Patisserie

Normally, I lead a very healthy lifestyle; greens shake with a vitamin medley every morning, fruit with breakfast, raw veggies with lunch and over the course of the week, enough kale and broccoli to choke Popeye. I never have bread in the house, I don’t bake and I can count on one hand the number of pastries I have purchased in the last 24 months.

And then I heard about Nugateau – Toronto’s first Éclair-only patisserie. All éclair, all day, err day. Obviously, the rules had changed. So, I visited the Queen Street West éclair emporium and I’m happy to say that as a result, I almost died. By combustion. It was awesome.

Nugateau has only been around for a minute; owners Anul Palghadmal (former pastry chef at Bier Market and The Thompson) and Amb Karid opened the place in the second week of December. The business is fresh, but not nearly as fresh as Anul’s Indian-born-Ottawa-raised take on the famous French snack.

“Traditional éclairs will use a fondant and a custard-based filling,” Anul described to me. “Our glaze is based in white chocolate, and our filling is chocolate as well. It’s much lighter, has a nicer texture and helps the flavours come out naturally, rather than having a filling that is overpowering.”

Which is especially important, I discovered, when you offer éclair flavours like Red Raspberry and Mango Passion Fruit.

“The raspberry, and the mango as well – the ingredients are actually about 75% real fruit – when you taste it, because it’s a lighter, chocolate filling and glaze, you taste about 90% fruit,” Anul proudly explained. “Our sugar sweetness levels are also very low. We rely on the natural sweetness of the fruits.”

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He wasn’t lying. I crushed the Red Raspberry – it was insane. The same actually applied to their Salted Caramel flavor (crushed that too – also insane); while being the dominant taste, the caramel and salt blended perfectly, and emerged quite subtly. It was kind of like a Werther’s Original gently fornicated with an Angel, and then the Angel gave birth to an edible child in the back of a French bakery.

I found that that excellent balance was also achieved with one of their most popular flavours…ah man, what was it called…‘M’, ‘M’ something…it was like a….ummm…ohhhh right, THE MAPLE BACON ÉCLAIR TOPPED WITH 24-HOUR-SYRUP-SOAKED BACON BITS AND MAPLE SYRUP GLAZE. Ya, I crushed that one too. Insane.

At Nugateau, there is no shortage of creative flavours. They make all the éclairs fresh every day, pumping out a total of 350ish units, covering an average of about 12 varieties, including Manjari Chocolate (I just punished that one), Persian Pistachio, Tahitian Vanilla and Japanese Matcha. On weekends, they fold in some savory options, like Fois Gras éclairs with roasted hazelnut, truffle oil and tomato glaze, and a smoked salmon rendition with avocado and wasabi cream. On holidays like Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year they also plan to offer special, themed alternatives.

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“We actually have dedicated clients for each one of our flavours,” Anul told me. “People will come back just for their one favourite flavour and get six of them. We’re sold out of them all pretty much every day.”

I totally believe it. The real art is in satisfying your customers without having them #DieByEclair. You can purchase them individually ($4.50-$5.50), in twos, in fours and thankfully at most, in a pack of six ($25-$30). That being said, you can call in advance for larger orders. They also plan to introduce corporate catering services later this year.

In terms of calories, each éclair contains about YA RIGHT LIKE I GIVE A S**T.

Nugateau also has a great little selection of cold and hot coffees (iced Americano, espresso, macchiato, cappuccino, etc.), French teas and of course, hot chocolate hand-mixed and made in-house by Anul himself, also featuring seasonal flavours, the next of which is Grand Marnier.

So if you’re roaming around Queen West these next few months looking to warm yourself up, you might want to consider going to Nugateau and snagging a steamy cup of hot chocolate, or a knee-buckling Brazilian Coconut éclair. Or six. You won’t be disappointed. But you will be fatter. And I doubt it will bother you one bit.

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