At the latest Fashion Week, on October 5 to be exact, Le café de la Paix
presented the latest creation in its ambitious project, Le Bric, c’est chic !
Launched in 2010, this initiative highlights the Bric, a group of promising emerging economic powers. The acronym stands for Brazil, Russia, India and China. The famous house asked a fashion designer from each of these countries to work with its chef, Christophe Raoux, and pastry chef, Dominique Costa, to create an unexpected and elegant dessert.
After Alexandre Herchcovitch for Brazil, Valentin Yudashkin for Russia and Manish Arora for India, Frankie Xie has been chosen. The Chinese designer, a regular at Paris Fashion Week, attended the press breakfast this morning. Surrounded by two Chinese actresses, Gao Yuanyuan and Zhou Xun, he embodies the quintessence of Franco-Chinese cultural exchanges. These have been particularly valued in the fashion world since the merger of the French Couture Federation and its Asian counterpart. The presence of actress Gao Yuanyuan, Chanel’s muse in China, confirms this.
Sweet Fang is a delicate fan-shaped pastry. From the dark chocolate cover adorned with a cherry blossom branch to the crunchy shortbread, the cake is a real attention-getter. The subtle contrasts of chiboust cream and grapefruit confit create surprising flavors.
The eye can linger on the red chocolate pompom cord surrounding the fan, and the cup filled with Long Jiang tea. Both are part of this extreme Asian refinement.
Precious to the taste buds, this dessert will be featured on the menu of the famous café from January 16 to May 15, 2012.
To find out more about these cross-cultural and interdisciplinary exchanges, we put a few questions to the designer, Frankie Xie.
What is your interest in gastronomy, and more specifically in this alliance between Couture and gastronomy?
For me, ready-to-wear is the interpretation of fashion. This can be translated even more deeply into gastronomy. Many of my motivations and sensations are inspired by the culinary arts.
Did the Café de la Paix appeal to you? Did it enhance your image of France and Paris?
China and France are two countries rich in the culinary arts. When it comes to patisserie, France has an inestimable status.
I’m very honored to be here, and to be connected via the Café de la Paix with 150 years of French history.
I’m delighted to be taking part in the development of this project.
You were seduced by the adventure. What do you have to say about working with Christophe Raoux and Dominique Costa?
It’s a great honor to work with them. The adventure has gone through various stages. The work began two years ago with an exchange of ideas, then continued and evolved. We tried out different cake shapes, tastes and so on. The result is a successful meeting.
Sophia Lafaye
Cette publication est également disponible en : Français (French)
