L’Opéra Pâtisserie — India’s finest and most popular boulangerie and pâtisserie — known for its selection of savoury and confectionary items has a new destination for elegant French culinary experiences. Teaming up with hospitality stalwarts, Old World Hospitality, they’ve swung the doors wide open to showcase their first Salon de Thé. Nestled in august Lutyens Delhi in a quiet corner of the charming, sprawling, and newly-renovated Bikaner House, L’Opéra has tailormade a special menu that offers simple yet refined French fare.
Invited for a private tasting with the wonderfully suave Laurent Samandari, Co-Founder and Managing Director of L’Opéra, we knew the conversation will be richer than their melt-in-mouth almond croissants. Kicking off the tasting, Samandari emphasised the primary reason he set this brand in India – the need for great bread. Built on the core values of and responsible and sustainable growth and tolerance, he proudly proclaims that L’Opera is an Indian company with a French heart. With a 12,000 square feet production facility and 13 outlets across Delhi NCR, the company is credited for intelligently building a multiple-sales-channel model spread across outlets, institutional sales, B2B orders, and online sales. Looking for a INR 40 crore injection of funds to help them grow & scale, he stated in an interview with The Hindu BusinessLine, “Indian consumers are increasingly becoming more demanding and mature, and they are looking for an authentic experience. We believe there is a huge potential for growth in the country.”
Chicken & Leek Feuilleté
Finding abode at Bikaner House was a decision laced with luck and a collaborative outlook. A cultural hub for art, business, and academia, L’Opéra Pâtisserie is an extension of Chor Bizarre. Kazem Samandari, Chairman at L’Opéra, envisions the Salon de Thé as a space for stirring conversation, a business meeting or a leisurely catch-up, and has carefully crafted a menu of tailor made additions to mirror the tranquil space and the usual hits that L’Opéra is famous for.
L’Opéra’s award-winning Executive Chef, Amit Sinha, popped in and out to explain the genesis of the menu which he has designed with careful attention to the design, ambience, and the clientele of the iconic Bikaner House. The menu is an easy permutation of soups, salads, silkenly flaky feuilletés, sinful lasagne, and sweet treats to accompany the coffee & tea selection.
Lasagne
Of the things we tasted, we specifically recommend the soups and the feuilletés. While soups are usually overlooked on menus, Chef Amit has taken special care to make the dish heartwarming; the smooth and creamy Beetroot Soup is combined with an earthy freshness and the Tomato Soup is gently seasoned and minimally spiced. The feuilletés come in various varieties and we highly-recommend each of them during your visit to the Salon de Thé; the flakiness of the feuilletés, whether vegetable, mushroom, cheese and tomato, or chicken leek, is characteristic of the exacting culinary standards for which L’Opéra has become renowned.
Head there after an exhibition in the gallery outside, this is the perfect haven for a pause for the wandering & tired mind (and indulgence for the hungry soul).
Head over to Bikaner House, Pandara Road, and lose wallet weight equivalent to INR 1,250 for two (approximate).
