Oo la la!

The Fauchon cafe and patisserie is much more than a feast for the eyes.

The Fauchon cafe in Sarona market (photo credit: PR)
The Fauchon cafe in Sarona market
(photo credit: PR)
 Fauchon is one of the famous patisseries in Paris, claiming to be an “iconic landmark in gastronomy.” It has a modern, fresh and playful approach to pastry and is on many a tourist’s cake hit list.
Having never been to Paris, I was very excited to hear that a branch had recently opened at the Sarona Market in Tel Aviv.
Upon walking into the cafe, one is greeted by a wonderland of éclairs, cakes, scrumptious eye candy and, of course, macaroons.
The decor of the cafe is like a modern doll house. It is quite stylish but definitely girlie, with a glittery bar and ceiling and an emphasis on the brand’s trademark mix of pink and black.
The menu of Fauchon is big. It has a breakfast section, sandwiches, salads, soups, cold and hot starters, regular main dishes, seafood mains, vegetarian mains, pastas, and desserts and pastries To begin with, we ordered some specialty drinks – a citrus, lavender and vanilla iced tea (NIS 18) and a choco-coco ice coffee (NIS 28). They weren’t mind-blowing, but they were tasty.
Our meal opened with some fantastic starters. First up was a smoked salmon mille-feuille (NIS 38), which was absolutely delicious. The puff pastry sheets were light and flaky and paired very well with the salmon, gravlax sauce and roasted sesame.
This was followed by Fauchon’s signature salad 1886 (NIS 64), which signifies the year in which Auguste Fauchon founded the patisserie. It consisted of different kinds of meats such as chicken and smoked duck breast, as well as marinated mushrooms, artichoke, Gruyere cheese, cherry tomatoes, croutons and chives. The salad was huge and delicious, and the flavors blended together like magic. The only disappointing factor was the old style mustard sauce that came on the side.
Next up was duck liver foie gras terrine (NIS 88). The soft creamy texture of the foie gras balanced well with the fig chutney, and the sweetness from the chutney cut down the gaminess. I only wish there had been a larger pieces of toasted baguette so that every bite consisted of the perfect amount of each ingredient on this dish.
For mains, we were presented with a 200-gram beef fillet (NIS 138). The meat was cooked perfectly – it had a nice searing on the outside and was perfectly medium rare inside. The fillet came with fennel puree, tomato ratatouille and roasted pumpkin skewers. I loved the combination of all these ingredients, which I never would have thought to pair together.
This was followed by grilled sea bass fillet (NIS 118) served on a bed of green pea puree, mango puree and black rice.

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The fish was beautifully cooked and had just the right amount of seasoning. Overall, the dish was an impeccable marriage of flavors.
The chef insisted that we try the linguine chicken carbonara (NIS 78).
Most carbonaras are too creamy and heavy for my taste, but this one was very light and flavorful. The pasta was perfectly al dente, and the soft-boiled egg nestled atop the steaming hot pasta was a nice touch. The beef bacon bits and seared chicken breast gave it a bit of saltiness.
For dessert, we chose the salted caramel eclair (NIS 28). Biting into the eclair was like biting into heaven – a delicious, salted caramel cream-filled heaven. The mango mousse tart (NIS 28) was highly recommended by the manager, and it was our favorite, too.
The mango sauce on top tasted very fresh, and the tart was perfectly baked. Needless to say, we devoured this as well. At that point, you basically had to roll us out of there.
Until the next time.
The writer was a guest of the restaurant.
Fauchon
Not kosher
Sarona Market, Tel Aviv
(03) 750-1555