It seems like every day now that Dangerous Dan's (the long-running greasy spoon burger house at Queen East and Broadview), finds itself with new upscale neighbours and an alien clientele storming the former destitute streets. Only a couple of weeks since the opening of Loic Gourmet down the street, LPK's Culinary Groove has opened up shop. Places like these and Burger Shoppe are noticeably at odds with mainstays like Jilly's (the sketchy street corner strip club) and the aforementioned Double D.
Just a few years ago the opening of a chocolate and pastry shop would likely refer to a smoke-filled coffee and donut joint, but LPK's much higher on the dessert spectrum. Rather than crackheads, homeless people, and homeless crackheads, LPK is designed to attract sweet-toothed gourmets. While this is the first flagship location, the pastry company has actually been in business for a whole decade. After studying pastry-making in New York, Lesia Kohut (Executive Pastry Chef at LPK) worked as a baker at All The Best Fine Foods, head cake decorator at Sweet Kitchen, pastry chef at Canteen, then worked at Flo's Diner and Byzantium. LPK existed throughout those ten years as a side business, but it wasn't until Lesia took maternity leave that she decided to make it her full time gig. With a reputation firmly in place and some high-powered clients such as Daniel et Daniel, Presidential Gourmet, and Rose Reisman Catering, she finally found herself in a position to open up shop for herself.
And she's surrounded herself with some really talented people. Pastry Chefs Steve Song and Lani Sopman's resumes read like a guide to Toronto's hottest restaurants: Ultra Supper Club, Sen5es, Canoe, Mildred Pierce, Susur, and North 44 just to name a few. With them overseeing and cooking up Lesia's signature organic cakes, pastries and chocolates, these treats are intricately crafted, experience tested, and pretty damn tasty. Signature cakes like the Devil's Chocolate Food Cake with Bittersweet Caramel Ganache and Salted Chocolate Buttercream demonstrate a willingness to experiment with convention to create desserts that are both intriguing and cavity-inducing. Other favourites include Coconut Lime Cake with Lime Scented Frosting and other treats like Peanut Butter Mousse in Edible Chocolate Cups and truffles in flavours like Vanilla Cardamom, Honey Lavender, and Toasted Sesame.
Even while you gorge on chocolate, you can keep your conscience clear. Everything in the store, from the kitchen to the packaging to the uniforms, are environmentally sensitive (or "green" for those of you in the church of Al Gore). The store strives to use certified organic, fair trade, local, and seasonal products whenever possible in an effort to create, in Lesia's words, "beautiful, delicious products without compromising the livelihood of people all over the world". I choose to take that as a license to binge on cake. - R.T.
718 Queen Street East, Toronto, ON
Toronto, ON
416-461-6440
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