Parisian pastry store Hugo & Victor recently unveiled its first storefront outside of France. It's located inside South Beach's cutting-edge fashion boutique, the Webster.
Not just any ol' sweet shop could keep company with the likes of Valentino, Marc Jacobs, and Chanel, and indeed, the concoctions of award-winning pastry chefs Hugues Pouget and Sylvain Blanc are anything but ordinary.
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In 2010, the childhood friends opened Hugo & Victor hoping to break away from traditional pastry techniques and let the seasons dictate their menu.
Along with mainstay flavors such as chocolate, caramel, grapefruit, and key lime (created exclusively for Miami), desserts change five times a year to ensure the use of fresh ingredients. To make this possible, the chefs source top quality products from around the globe. They even own a farm in the south of France that produces kaffir lime, bergamot, verbena, and finger lime.
Similar to the surrounding clothing and accessories, every pastry resembles a work of art -- and many have prices to match. Arranged in a box specially designed for the Webster, twelve chocolate spheres cost $32. But after being blown away by the burst of flavor in the key lime variety, it became clear what all the fuss was about.
A grapefruit tart is more reasonably priced at $10.
Inside the former hotel building, you can enjoy a treat in the swanky minimalist café, which was once the location of the lobby. Or you can grab a bite outside and gaze at the South Beach crowd.
While the emphasis here is certainly on the sweets, Hugo & Victor serves savory options for lunch, as well as afternoon tea, cocktails, and eventually, weekend brunch. Stop by before January to catch the end of passion fruit and pistachio season!
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