Diana and Géraldine, gave up their high flying careers to become bread makers and cake makers in Bedford! Here they are today with a lovely café serving artisan tea, with gorgeous breads and wonderful patisserie. All produced out of their kitchen at the back of the premises, with two giant windows so you can see all the wonderful goods being made!
It is so very hard to find real French bread out of France, but I do believe we have a little gem here in Bedford. Made with traditional French flour with traditional methods this is the closest I have seen to a true baguette outside of France for a long time. Alongside their bread they do some great pâtisserie.
Of course there is a place in the UK for our British bakeries filled with British fair of doughnuts, flapjacks, cookies and other such products. Yet French pâtisserie and cakes have that ‘je ne sais quoi’ so much more delicate, prettier, light and flavoursome than their British counterparts. Yet these are hard to find outside of the chain stores in the main cities in the UK so it is so wonderful to stumble upon something a little different in the heart of Bedford.
Géraldine and Diana are constantly innovating with their range, growing and developing it to make it better than before. Over the last few months they have been putting together an Afternoon Tea menu for adults and children.
Although it is rather expensive at £22 per adult and £10 per child you certainly would not need to eat for the rest of the day and potentially the next day as well! It’s not what one would expect from a traditional afternoon tea, with bitesize delicate pieces, this is more of a huge feast. The baguettes are filled with a variety of delicacies ranging from chorizo, pesto and brie to houmous, cucumber and roasted peppers. You will be getting a workout for your facial muscles with these huge baguette style sandwiches. With the amount of bread I think that sharing an afternoon tea between two is definitely an option. The tea that is served with it is from the wonderful house of ‘Palais de Thés’ with some delicious flavours to really work your tastebuds, I think one day I would like to work my way across the whole shelf of flavours!
So onwards to the pâtisserie. The French douceurs and gâteaux were rich and sumptuous. You could taste the joy that had gone into making them. They use some great seasonal ingredients and have created some super treats.
For the Afternoon Tea I think the attention to detail could improve, personally I love a large table when taking tea, so you have enough room for your plate, teacup and platter of food without everything fighting for space on the table and at £22 per head I would hope for a linen napkin rather than a paper one, putting this aside Délices is definitely worth a visit to relax with a wonderful gâteaux and cup of tea or to take some nearly French bread home for tea!
I shall definitely be visiting in the Summer so I can sit and enjoy a rather delicious French pastry on the terrasse, though I am not sure the view will be the same as that perfect image of a French artisan street! However it is always so wonderful to see true passion in a business and you will certainly see this with Géraldine and Diana. I wish them luck in their exciting venture.
Délices
7 Howard Street, Bedford, MK40 3HS
01234 353280
Date visited: Feb 2018