Essence Bakery Cafe Tempe | Foodies Like Us Blog

Essence Bakery Tempe: A Taste of Paris-Perfected!

February 23rd, 2010 admin 4 comments

By Candy Lesher, Guest Chef/Blogger, Foodies Like Us

“Perfection” and “perfectionist” are much over-used terms these days. By proudly branding oneself a perfectionist and works or products nothing short thereof, many assert their goal has already been achieved. Reality is, more effort goes into creating their image than actually reaching the objective. Sad but true, a large number of chefs fall prey to this branding-above-achievement mindset.

Though far and few between, there are chefs willing to dedicate themselves to achieving a level of excellence attained only through devoting heroic amounts of resources, time and commitment towards perfecting their craft. Those chefs deserve to be celebrated. Croissant aficionados rejoice – Eugenia Theodosopoulos, chef and owner of Essence Bakery Café in Tempe, is one of them.

To comprehend Eugenia’s goal, that of offering flawless croissants like those from a great Parisian patisserie, you’ll need to understand her passion. Eugenia lived in France for five years and during that period, attended the École Lenôtre. This is not a culinary school dedicated to teaching cooks to become chefs; Lenôtre is for accomplished chefs who choose to perfect their expertise in specific fields, like bread making, pastries, sauces and more. The short two-week course on laminated breads Eugenia originally attended stretched into a six-month program, after she astutely offered to stay on and translate for English-speaking patrons (courses are taught in French only).

During that period, she made a life-long friend of chef par excellence Jean Louis Clement, MOF (Meilleur Ouvrier de France en Boulangerie/Veinnoiserie). The title of MOF is huge in the profession and recognized worldwide; Clement focused three years towards winning France’s ultimately prestigious baking competition. For perspective, there are thousands of French bakers, but only 32 have ever achieved that award, an honor so esteemed, the President of France himself bestows the medals. Having since retired from teaching at École Lenôtre, Clement now consults for the worlds most prominent chefs; if you’re chef for the King of Morocco and want to take your pastry or bread baking techniques to the next level – you call on Clement.

In fact, it was a trip to Morocco for just that, which Clement postponed to help his friend Eugenia recreate the level of croissant found only in the finest of Paris’ patisseries, right here in Arizona. He stayed a week, and began their baking epic by running fingers through the flour. Clement is so skilled, he could discern it’s various properties, like protein, moisture and starch levels, from touch alone; important because French flour is vastly different than American, making a monumental difference in exactly replicating the flavor and texture of Paris’ best. Ultimately, he created a custom blend for Eugenia that mimics France’s farine exactly. They also imported French butter (at almost $6 per pound) that offers 84% butterfat content, where European Plugra only hits about 82%, and American butter 80%; critical since laminated doughs heavily depend on the proportions of low moisture and high fat.

Eugenia and her mentor Clement

So how does one of the world’s most talented pastry chefs teach? If you’re thinking Gordon Ramsey scream fests, or curt look-down-your-nose directives, think again. Humble and kind, the charming Clement was more apt to jump behind the line during Essence’s busy lunch rush or hand out samples of their latest creations to thrilled patrons (no restaurateur worth their fleur de sel would disappoint regulars by shutting down, even for training of this magnitude). Behind the scenes, Clement continually coached Eugenia and her staff, directing them to “touch, touch, touch” for every step, opening them up to the tactile awareness of consistency, optimal temperature in both dough and butter, pressure needed to roll after each meticulous folding, and all important – when to refrigerate. Eugenia warmly noted that though training was focused, intense and exciting, Clement still found time to innocently flirt with all the women; a true Frenchman through and through.

The Pinnacle of Crossiant Perfection

Anyone who has made croissant dough knows, there’s a reason why finding a superlative Parisian version is so illusive – it’s one of the most difficult to master, even when you have the perfect ingredients. That’s why even seasoned bakers depend on the readily available, pre-made refrigerated stuff. It’s also time consuming; Eugenia begins on Thursday preparing for croissants she will bake on Saturday.

Knowledge fosters appreciation – making my first bite of her almond croissant even more remarkable. It was flawless. The outermost layers were crunchy, their almond profile kindled by Eugenia’s house-made almond syrup and augmented by slivers of toasted almonds, adding their own aromatic and textural personality. A multitude of tender inner stratums masterfully concealed a velvet-like almond cream. Overall, the unmistakable essence of delectable butter anointed the entire experience. I’m not referring to the bland, greasy stuff we’re used to but a mesmerizing butter-perfume that will waft through any respectable foodie’s dreams for months.

An Almond Crossiant that only Dreams are made of

Eugenia is offering four unparalleled croissants. Besides the almond (my fav), her raisin runs a close second; raisins are soaked in water and rum, then accented by yet another heavenly pastry cream, the surrounding fragile layers being varnished with an apricot rum glaze (loved it and I’m not even a raisin fan). The chocolate croissant is a deceptively light double roll, each half secreting a small bar of French Cacao Berry chocolate. Eugenia’s classic crescent-shaped croissant rounds out the offering, and I can attest, it is anything but “plain.”

The Raisin Croissant-a Little Pinwheel of Heaven

Though renowned for mind-blowing macarons, Eugenia and her bakery may soon be touted nationally for these unparalleled made-in-Arizona croissants. Which makes it even more imperative to reach the bakery early in the morning before you’re favorite is bought out (I’ve missed the mark twice already but found solace in a hazelnut macaron). If you’ve been to Paris and have craved a great croissant ever since – you’ll find it at Essence. If you’ve never been to Paris but want to experience what they’re truly supposed to taste like – you can, and you’ll be spending far less, which means more dollars to spend on croissants! Viva Fraçais perfection!