Medan | THE GASTRONOMY AFICIONADO

As a newcomer in Jakarta’s fierce pastry shop competition, La Maison quickly announced itself as a pastry shop with an interesting specialty – macarons!

Established in 2011, the company actually started as an online shop. The drive to move forward came from the simple, pure love of baking of its owner Stella Lowis including the pursuit of building her own pastry shop one day.

For Ms. Lowis, her version of pastry shop should be a refined one, based also by her serious education background at Le Cordon Bleu, Australia. “I gained a lot of experience by working part time as a pastry chef at several restaurants and catering company that supplies pastry for five-star luxury hotels”, said Stella. When she returned to Indonesia, Stella worked together with his brother, Harryck Lowis, to experiment over many recipes until finally they’re ready to share it with everyone.

Persevering for several months initially, orders since then had been coming non-stop. After some time realizing, it’s time for her to build her first shop in Medan. Her unique take on pastry was warmly welcomed there. Years passing by and La Maison have started to take shape and grow into something more significant. Finally, it’s high time for her to spread out the wings of La Maison to Jakarta – the one city where appreciation of pastry is at its zenith in Indonesia.

Speaking about the characteristics of this pastry shop, La Maison is almost exclusively promoting a vast array of macarons – a complicated confection that has gained prominence over Indonesian pastry world for the past few years.

“This small tidbit requires delicate hands and a very complex balance between texture and flavor. Its smooth top, ruffled circumference, a flat base, has mild moistness, and it should easily melt in your mouth. Now that’s what we’re aiming for and the challenge proved to be exciting”, said Stella smiling vigorously.

Taking it to the next level, La Maison’s mind-blowing innovations are macaron flavors which are inspired by Indonesian cuisine – such as Nasi Uduk, Lemper Ayam, Martabak Bangka, or even Sate Padang. “One of our best-selling however, is the Salted Popcorn Macaron. Although people tend to perceive macaron as something sweet, the savory version is actually a success”, shared Ms. Lowis.

From the cakes department, Stella personally admits that each and every of them has to be made with passion by using the finest ingredients and decorated with utmost care. “Two things taken into consideration are taste and also the aesthetic elements”, she said. One of La Maison’s signature cake (and apparently everyone’s favorite) is the Mademoiselle – a refreshing take of almond cake with layers of fresh watermelon, strawberries, red dragon fruit, and decorated with red rose petals.

To fully proceed professionally, Stella observes the trend as well. “Locally speaking, pastry has come a long way in our country. People used to buy cakes only for special occasions but now they have found the simple pleasure of enjoying it any time”, she said. Her remark here pointed out how strategic this move to cater Jakartans who are increasingly fond of dining out and nibbling with pastry.

The pastry industry in Indonesia has grown exponentially for quite some time now and shops can be found in many corners of Indonesian cities. The global trends, more or less, influence the demands especially now in the digital era where customers can simply access interesting pastry innovations by browsing through the social media.

So the next question would be, what’s after this for La Maison? Stella is certainly aiming to expand to other cities and in-between, she hopes to engage in interesting collaborations with legends in pastry industry. What’s even bigger in mind for her though is to keep on improving and serving the best for her beloved customers. (RF)

LA MAISON | www.lamaison.com
Jalan Biduk no. 66, Medan
T: +62 821 6602 6668 / +62 61 4573 745
Opening hours: Mon-Sun, 11am – 5.30pm

Grand Indonesia, East Mall – Jakarta
T: +62 811 987 6668 / +62 21 2358 1331
Opening hours: Mon-Sun, 10am – 10pm

Original link:
http://www.passionmedia.co.id/b/la-maison-the-mansion-of-macarons

Images by: Passion

http://www.farragoindonesia.com/c/eatwell
http://www.farragoindonesia.com/read/1197/bakerzin

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Merasakan sejumput kesenangan tatkala menikmati berbagai sajian dessert segar dan menggoda di saat sinar matahari tengah terik-teriknya adalah dambaan siapapun di Jakarta. Satu kunjungan saya ke Bakerzin saat itu menjawab apa yang saya cari, bahkan apa yang saya lewatkan selama ini. Berlokasi di bagian ekstensi Plaza Indonesia, Bakerzin tampil berdampingan dengan restoran-restoran terpilih lainnya di mall tersebut.

Bakerzin sendiri terkenal sebagai restoran dengan pilihan menu yang ekstensif namun dengan sentuhan halus keahlian memasak seorang pastry chef dengan nama Daniel Tay asal Singapura sebagai sang kreatornya. Buku menu tebalnya yang berisikan foto-foto makanan yang menggiurkan saya tapaki halaman demi halaman hingga mencapai bagian dessert. Siang itu saya melayangkan pilihan pada Warm Melted Chocolate yang selalu menjadi kesukaan pribadi dan keluarga saya.

Bayangkan saja sebongkah kue coklat yang terlihat kokoh, namun tatkala kita membelah kue tersebut maka mengalirlah coklat kental dari dalam sebagai faktor wow yang tidak mungkin ditolak siapapun! Tidak hanya itu, sang kue coklat tersebut ditemani juga dengan es krim vanilla manis dan orange confit di bawahnya untuk member rasa segar. Selebihnya, saus berry dan buah-buahannya mengelilingi bintang utama dessert tersebut.

Sebagai pendampingnya, minuman segar khas racikan Bakerzin tampil dengan cantiknya. Siang itu tersaji di meja saya dua jenis minuman yang menggunakan berbagai bahan eksotis sebagai formulanya.

Pertama adalah Blue Passion Macaron Drink yang berisikan sirup blue curacao, lemon, soda, dan dihiasi blue curacao macaron yang ternyata sangat lezat! Sebagai seseorang yang sebetulnya bukan penggemar macaron, ternyata formula dari Bakerzin begitu cocok dengan saya. Tekstur yang terdapat pada macaron terasa sangat tepat dan aplikasi rasa blue curacao ternyata menjadi varian menarik di antara belasan yang tersedia di Bakerzin. Sebagai penutup, saya juga mencicipi satu gelas Italian Soda yang berisikan sirup lavender yang begitu unik dan wangi dan diiringi rasa lime yang melengkapi kesegaran yang saya cari siang itu. How refreshing!