Page 280 - The Bite Magazine - Issue 11

The Passion of Soho
From Soho beginnings to countrywide, Patisserie Valerie has provided
scrumptious delights since 1926. Fiona James tries hard to resist their
range of delicious goodies.
While Virginia Woolf was making what
she called her ‘usual round’ in Soho
during the 1920s, from Gordon Square
and Charing Cross Road, straight down
to Shaftesbury Avenue and Gerard Street,
there was another lady making her mark
in Frith Street. Madam Valerie, a Belgian-
born pastry chef who had decided to
come to London in a bid to introduce
fine continental patisserie to the English,
opened her first shop in 1926. Customers
attracted by her reputation would flock
from far and wide to the shop and choose
from an array of cakes placed on a stand
on each table, paying for the number
consumed. During the Second World
War, the premises were bombed by the
Luftwaffe, but Madam Valerie refusing to
allow this unfortunate incident to put an
end to her dreams, subsequently set up
shop around the corner in Old Compton
Street where her legacy continues to this
very day. The unique café atmosphere at
the Soho shop includes the décor left over
from the 1950s epitomised by the now
famous Toulouse-Lautrec style cartoons
by Terron.
Up to 1987, Patisserie Valerie had
operated as a single shop until
the three Scalzo brothers
– Enzo, Robert
and Victor – acquired the business and
grew it to eight in central London. In May
1993, Sagne in Marylebone established in
1921 by a famous chocolatier and pâtissier,
M. Sagne from Verlay, Switzerland joined
the group, bringing its delectable expertise.
This famous patisserie, with its Palladian
style murals was carefully restored to its
former 1920’s glory. The eight Patisserie
Valerie openings included the Kensington
shop which opened in October 2002 and
took over the site of the former Patisserie
Français owned by the Pechon family for
over three generations. The Belgravia
store opened its doors in Motcomb Street
in March 2003 and despite being smaller
and more intimate than the others, it
proved popular with local residents and
many of the visitors staying at the hotels
close by. The Belgravia shop also offers
a pleasant and calming garden area that
has been christened a ‘haven’ by Valerie
regulars. Other branches include Duke of
York’s Square in Chelsea which was one of
the first businesses to open in the square,
Piccadilly, Spitalfields and Queensway. In
early 2007, Patisserie Valerie joined
forces with Druckers Vienna
Patisserie which shared the same
belief and pride in the quality
of hand-made authentic
continental pastries and
confectionary.
Today, Patisserie Valerie
still provides a haven of
self-indulgence at each of their locations,
displaying delicious and sumptuous cakes
that are too good to walk past. During
your visit, you’ll discover the unique
quality of their cakes and patisserie as well
as their continental breakfasts, lunches, the
finest teas and coffees and an atmosphere
that is unique to each location. Patisserie
Valerie has worked hard to achieve an
international reputation built on the quality
of their products, where their cakes and
patisserie are hand-made using
artisan craft bakery skills, fresh
ingredients and traditional
baking methods resulting in
award-winning croissants
and viennoiserie.They have
a selection of popular and
bespoke special occasion
cakes and celebration
cake service that offers
outstanding
quality and
value. All of
their products
are made in-
house at one
of their seven
bakeries
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