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 The superb patisseries of Normandy and Brittany are very well known to the many Dorset readers who take advantage of Brittany Ferries’ fast ferry from Poole to Cherbourg. Few will return without sampling the extensive delights of the French patisseries, often bringing a box or two home with them!
Although the trip across the English Channel is delightful, for the last 11 years Philippe Daniel and Toby Sawtell have created their own slice of French culinary heaven in classy Westbourne, just east of the Poole - Bournemouth boundary at County Gates – the Patisserie Angélique. In his magic kitchen, Philippe employs almost 30 years’ experience – and many authentic French ingredients and recipes – to produce a fabulous selection of luxurious French pasties, flans, tarts and cakes. Displayed in the window and in the chiller cabinet, the temptation is just too hard to resist, and most won’t even try! The selection forms part of the expanding menu in the homely salon du thé at the rear of the shop. The discerning will have a couple of pastries with the excellent coffee, and then have the foresight to take some more home!
The story begins in the fishing village of Quimper, on the far west coastline of Brittany. Philippe Daniel’s family are all fishermen, bringing in the rich harvest from the Bay of Biscay. But Philippe never wanted to fish: ‘Since I was 12, I’ve loved making cakes; at first with my mother. I always wanted to be a patissier.’
Triple skills
He studied the trade for three years at catering college, emerging with the triple skills of patissier, chocolatier and glacier. Over 14 years, he gained much valuable experience in local patisseries. Philippe met many English visitors and decided to learn English. So he enrolled at the Quimper language school, where he met Toby Sawtell, whose holiday home was at nearby Benodet. Toby was learning French! Once a ski instructor in France, Toby was born at Torquay and ran a retirement home there, after working in a clothing factory at Newton Abbot. He sails cabin cruisers – loves Poole Harbour – and used to race dragon boats.
Philippe and Toby became firm friends and thought of opening their own patisserie in Brittany, but competition in France is fierce and, surprisingly, too many regulations make it difficult for new businesses. Their thinking switched to opening a French patisserie in England, where it would be a great novelty. They looked at Plymouth, Exeter, Brighton and Portsmouth. Toby’s great aunt lived in Westbourne and, on a visit there, they discovered the perfect outlet on the busy main shopping street. It came on the market at the right time and they set about conversion, doing all the work themselves, and opening 11 years ago. Named after Toby’s daughter Angélique, they later extended at the rear to create a very popular and spotlessly clean tea shop. A further development has added a sunny tea garden.
Philippe’s versatility is spellbinding. One moment he’s making flans, the next the classic pain au chocolat, and then the luscious fruit tarts that I like so much. He will make almost anything to order, including traditional French wedding cakes – choux pastry, caramelised sugar and custard in the form of a cone. His ice-cream gateaux are popular with locals, including the many appreciative French emigrés in Westbourne and Bournemouth! French flour is the base of many of Philippe’s creations, with French chocolate and coffee essence.
Tasty and authentic
A thin pancake containing savoury fillings, the Breton gallette, is now a popular lunchtime snack in Westbourne. The day I called, the four special flavours of the day were Bavarian sausage, Stilton, Gruyére, and pepperoni. Somewhat thicker than the paper-thin native version, I much enjoyed the delicious galette complet – an abundance of hot ham, mushroom, tomato, cheese and egg, inside a soft buckwheat pancake. Another two tasty and authentic lunchtime snacks are the French ham-and-cheese toasted sandwich, the Croque Monsieur, which, with an egg on top, becomes the Croque Madame.
But as in Normandy, the amazing array of cakes and tarts soon takes my eye and my taste buds are activated. I want to try every one laid on the row of shining metal trays. Though the super apple tarts and flans are my own favourites, there are delicious gooseberry, apricot and strawberry varieties, too. Unmissable, too, are the succulent éclairs, made differently to their English cousins, having much softer bases, and, rather than cream inside, coffee or chocolate custard instead. St Honoré is a classic, distinguished by the caramel-covered pastry balls surrounding the top. St Honoré, the 7th-century Bishop of Amiens, is, in fact, the patron saint of pastry chefs and bakers.
Another French favourite is the religieuse, a filled cream puff, topped by a filled profiterole. The rich palet au chocolat will encourage the most ardent slimmer to abandon their diet and enjoy the dancing flavours.
Cheerful Zuzana Balikova from the Czech Republic, and Adrien Loquesol from Poitiers in France, are two of the happy staff who alternate between the tea shop and selling cakes. Joined by locals Serena Stevens and Michael Cameron, they serve a selection of teas, coffees and the creamy hot chocolate I so often enjoy in France. Philippe returns home around six times a year and has a flat in Nice. ‘I should like to live on the Riviera when I retire – it’s far too hot to work there,’ he laughs. ‘In Bournemouth, we have much the same climate as Brittany!’ But he loves Dorset: ‘The best place to live in England; an excellent quality of life.’
From: Dorset Magazine, October 2007
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