well here we are finally at what has been one of the city's most prolific eateries. anyone who has been here long enough as heard nothing but a glowing reputation for it, and hearing all the praises for flour and chocolate - particularly upon their specialty items that they do from time to time. pound for pound, it does such a great job putting in so much effort into a tiny area; many cues have been taken from new york and paris for how to make an effective bakery in which people will want to actively visit. until now there has been an image when it comes to bakeries in this part of the world, and that will change completely upon taking a visit into here. to think all of it is under some plain-looking apartments on the major road in morningside, tucked away into the corner.
during a breakfast out with my brother-in-law, the idea was to find another place in place of getting the sweets from the original location. he had seen a sign pointing to another coffee place, asking me if i had been which i have (though much recommended to him). as a rarity for me, thinking well enough on my feet, i suddenly realised what part of town we were in and that an opportunity was right there to finally get to it. i am talking none other than the flour and chocolate patisserie, and having a rating that is not only over 4.0 but damn well nearly 5.0 is an offer that is hard to refuse. for the longest time it had been on the radar, however the real mystery how to finally tick it off the list. this was the perfect opportunity if there ever was one. so off it was to one of brisbane's most well-lauded eateries. without seeing any coffee in sight, at least not from a separate location, the idea was to take the treats home and make some coffee there.
all of this excitement comes from tiny area, and one without any seating outside. this is purely takeaway. even in saying that, the interior is quite pretty, with a definite look of timber being the choice building material. it mixes the pantry store - off to the side - with both the bakery and the dessert parlour with heaps of finesse. though what might be the best site is all of the treats and stuff on display. just from looking at it alone, customers whom need insulin will have to have it on them - the sugar rush is present from the sight alone, much less the aromas. and all of them look good, glistening and everything.
down to the bone, the service only really extends to being a take-away but do they ever make sure it is efficient and at a high quality. this can be really busy as i have been told, with the line going out the door. that i not surprised by in the least, and we will get to that later (spoilers: it is all about the food). lady luck must have been on our side, since there was not that many people in the store at the time so even while perusing there was attention from the staff. the young ladies here are very polite and friendly, and are erudite with customer service.
the menu that they have is massive, and it will suit anybody wanting a snack. doesn't matter if it is something sweet or something savoury, they have you covered; to go through them all will possibly take all day. to make it brief, the range includes several breakfast pastries, cupcakes and brownies, tarts, eclairs, danishes, puddings, and sausage rolls.
it is doesn't stop there either, since this stopoff is not just for getting somepastrieseither; there is a good range of freshly baked breads as well as a whole pantry full of different produce from cheeses, to home-made preserves, to their own home-made biscuits. having all of this really makes it something different, and will certainly remind some clientele of paris.
then there is not to mention the daily specials they have each week, where it is doughnuts on wednesday, gonuts/bronuts on thursday, bagels and brownies on friday, foccacia on satuday/sunday, and come sunday it is all a surprise. whatever your opinion about this place is, what it definitely isn't is boring. and put it another way, sometimes it is good to live on the other side of town to a favourite gem such as this since many visits would have already happened as is with me involved.
finally, getting to the good stuff which is the food, both of us ordered a pastry each. for my brother-in-law, it was a pistachio eclair and for me it ended up being a chocolate-almond croissant. both of these were just as good as each other, and for different reasons as well. the custard in the eclair was thick and delicious, and definitely had a slightly nutty taste. the pastry was rich, buttery and moreish, then we get the great finish with the chocolate on top. it was essentially a well-made eclair, which only needs a few words to describe it. as does the croissant. if they did have a pain au chocolat, that was going to be the order - which they did, and they had several varieties. within less than a second from hearing there was an choc-almond one that was my confirmed order. it was delicious. everything that is great about the almond croissant is here, with the added element of some cocoa into the almond butter. that is all that is needed to sell this baby on the market. both great sweets, both tasty treats.
to make it even better, on the counter they offer samples of a couple of items that are available. there was one chocolate cake which i didn't get the name of, and a baguette (complete with butter to spread). the cake was very good, and i am kicking myself for not asking what it was because it was that good. the texture of it was rich and creamy, made with chocolate that quite dark. you would not much of it to be satisfied. and the baguette was fresh and crusty, plus it had well-churned butter to spread on it. in fact, it would well be in place in a fancy french restaurant.
this is certainly worthy of the hype that it receives in many ways. all of the sweets are constantly being prepared right in the backroom, not even 10 meters away from the front counter. from that, there is a constant buzz and new treats are being readily made to order. at many times there is a line that goes right out the door, or at least it would be hard to fit into the shop area at the busiest of times; all of it is really a crapshoot when it comes down to it - when the two of us were there it was quick and efficient. all of it combined to make something that is unlike a lot of other bakeries and patisseries that are around, and it is all the better because of it.
when giving out ratings, i attempt to make it as objective as i can and not in regarding what the eatery is along with the whole experience of the place. that doesn't mean biases will rear their heads from time to time, however as a whole it takes everything there is and isn't into account. this is said because a 4.0 rating to one of the most loved places on the east side might sound low, but in many ways it definitely would get a lot better. for one, there is not anywhere to sit which might disappoint some customers and for me coffee is part and parcel of having a good sweet treat which was not offered here. if so, that might well have jumped it up to a 4.5 - perhaps even nearing a 5.0. for what it is worth, this is basically as good as it gets for a sweet treat.
tl;dr: if you want that parisian, or new yorker, or wherever is trendy experience with lining up for a specialised item - in this case a sweet treat - this is about as close as it will get in brisbane. the produce is as good as it gets, it is exciting with offering different specials on certain days, and there is something lively about it. even if only once, this definitely needs to be ticked off the list, foodie or non-foodie, resident or visitor. now i can officially say i have been.