Well known and well loved in the French patisserie game is Chez Christophe. His imaginative, charming, and seasonally driven show pieces are often the solution when gift giving for any occasion.
Their first location is in Burnaby Heights, a mere 5 minute drive from my house. I frequent for their croissants and cakes for birthdays. However, today I would pass them and instead drive to their West Vancouver location to check out their 3rd and newest cafe, the first on the North Shore.
For those who are unfamiliar with Vancouver’s favourite local chocolatier, “Chef Christophe Bonzon is a Swiss-born and trained Pastry Chef and Chocolatier. For over two decades, he has studied the fine art of pastry and chocolate in Switzerland, Australia, and France under European grandmasters. Arriving in Canada in 2011 with his wife, Jess, Bonzon served as Executive Pastry Chef at CinCin Ristorante in Vancouver. In March 2013, the couple opened Chez Christophe Chocolaterie Patisserie in Burnaby, BC, and in 2019 expanded to a second location in White Rock, BC.” (As taken from the press release).
The West Vancouver location officially opens on Tuesday, May 19th after the long weekend. To celebrate their grand opening they will be giving away mini pastries to the first 100 customers of the day. During our preview visit, the weekend before we got to try these adorable mini croissants and pains au chocolat for ourselves. Flaky pastry with an airy centre. Worth coming down for, just to see how cutesy they are.
Outside of the larger, corner, contemporary café space with front patio that pours on to the sidewalk, there are a few key menu items sets this location apart. Guests and locals can still expect Chez Christophe signature offerings like the brand’s popular cube croissants, artisan chocolates, pastries, cakes, and café beverages.
New is their lunch offerings, which comes from the feedback of customers wanting more for midday meals. This expansion includes a new sandwich menu only available at the West Van location. Here, Chez Christophe has teamed up with Chef Daniel Kim, formerly of Boulevard Kitchen, to create a modernized sandwich menu. The focus is on simplicity and quality ingredients, which we got to taste for ourselves.
I especially enjoyed the Jamón Ibérico and Stracciatella with arugula, served on a house-made pretzel croissant topped with coarse salt. For something more classic look to the Fromage Héritage, an elevated “grilled cheese” made with an aged Gruyère and signature cheese blend, melted and toasty in between two slices of their house-made olive oil focaccia. I just could have used a tomato soup for nostalgia sake. There is also a vegetarian Mediterranean focaccia sandwich with red onion, zucchini, tomato, and eggplant. As one who prefers savoury over sweet, I fully enjoyed each of the above and would order any as an affordable, everyday snack.
With the larger foot print, this location will serves as the company’s primary chocolate production kitchen, where they will also be hosting chocolate making classes in the near future. We got an abbreviated look at one such class by making our own completely edible, chocolate mushroom showpieces on this day. This was an assembly job with professional instructions, using industry best practices, and our creative imagination.
In short, a wonderful addition to the neighbourhood and a soon to be local hot spot.
Chez Christophe
2215 Marine Dr, West Vancouver, BC V7V OB3
(604) 281-1930
chez-christophe.ca
