BERLINGO TAKES RECOGNIZABLE TREATS TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL
Owner of Yann Haute Patisserie opens store next door for ice cream and chocolate lovers
For almost a decade, Yann Blanchard has been known as Calgary’s king of macarons. With the opening of Berlingo, a new confectionary shop located next door to his iconic Yann Haute Patisserie in Mission, he’s hoping to rebrand himself as Calgary’s very own Willy Wonka.
Or, perhaps more accurately, a French-trained version of Willy Wonka who specializes in luxurious confectionary concoctions ranging from creatively flavoured chocolate bars to richly flavoured soft serve ice cream.
While Blanchard has been happy with the success of his patisserie, he wanted to offer something a little less intimidating than the classic French pastries he’s built his business on.
“I don’t believe in selling just one product,” Blanchard says. “Berlingo is a vehicle to carry different products and for me to not be restricted by a certain format.”
News of plans to open Berlingo as an ice cream shop surfaced earlier this year, but various delays meant the building (an old home much like the two-storey yellow house the patisserie sits in) wasn’t ready until summer was nearly over. As a result, Blanchard has had to spread the word that Berlingo is about more than just ice cream.
Still, the ice cream is a centrepiece and it’s very good: Blanchard chose to exclusively do soft serve because it’s served at a warmer temperature, creating a better flavour. Berlingo makes its own soft-serve mix, a relative rarity in the world of ice cream, using organic, locally sourced milk.
At $6.25 a cup, it is certainly pricier than what you’ll find on a midway or even most hip soft serve shops, but the taste is more intense and the texture is creamier than your typical soft serve, with flavours like Madagascar vanilla bean gelato and raspberry cherry sorbet. For a more extravagant treat, Berlingo offers “chef-designed” soft serve cups ($8.55) dressed with carefully chosen toppings like housemade marshmallows, cheesecake bits and hazelnut crunch.
While we hardy Calgarians have no problem eating ice cream any time of the year, over the next few months Blanchard should have even more luck selling his gourmet hot chocolate, with monthly flavours designed by Berlingo’s in-house chocolatier, Martin Boutry. Boutry is also responsible for Berlingo’s wall of chocolate, featuring large bars and small treats, packed with the same intense flavour that makes the ice cream so special.
As Berlingo gets its footing, Blanchard is also planning to introduce more treats and confections, all with a more playful and casual bent than the more traditional French delicacies next door.
Berlingo is located at 327 23rd Ave. S.W. For more information, call 403-764-1866 or visit berlingocalgary.com.
Be sure to make a date with your couch this week to watch the new Netflix show The Final Table, which debuts Nov. 20. Netflix has long done well with foodie TV series — originals like Chef ’s Table, David Chang ’s Ugly Delicious and Samin Nosrat’s Salt Fat Acid Heat collectively pushed food TV to a new level.
The Final Table stands apart for a couple of reasons. First, it’s a competition show, which is fairly new for Netflix (not counting the silly baking show Nailed It). Second, one of the show’s 24 competing chefs is from Calgary.
Darren McLean, the man behind Shokunin, was surprised when he was contacted out of the blue last year by a TV producer who offered him a chance to try out for the show. He was asked to find a partner (Final Table chefs compete in teams of two) so he recruited his pal Timothy Hollingsworth (formerly of the famed French Laundry, currently of Otium in Los Angeles) to cook alongside him.
This isn’t just Netflix’s version of Top Chef — Netflix is positioning The Final Table as a particularly high-profile chef competition show. The budget is sky high and other competitors include heavy hitters from Michelinstarred restaurants around the globe. McLean also gets to share the screen with The Final Table’s ultra-impressive array of judges, including some of the world’s most celebrated chefs and food critics.
McLean can’t say how well he did, but binge-watchers can find out Tuesday as the entire show drops in one go. Whether his stay is short or if he makes it to the final episode to vie for a seat at “the final table” with nine internationally renowned celebrity chefs, as the lone Canadian, he knows the show is going to put the world’s eyes on Shokunin and Calgary.
“I think it’s amazing that it’s not a Toronto chef, a Vancouver chef or a Montreal chef representing Canada. It’s somebody from right here in Calgary,” McLean says. “We fight to be seen as a food city. So, to be able to tell a story about where I’m from and be on the world stage is really neat. I hope this puts a spotlight on Calgary because there are some incredible chefs in this city.”