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Published on January 30, 2008

What do Coco Chanel, Marcel Proust and Karl Lagerfeld have in common? The answer: They all fell in love with the hot chocolate and a sweet pastry called Mont Blanc served at a Parisian pastry shop that opened in 1903.

Angelina still has only one cafe in Paris, located in front of the Louvre, but there are now no less than 12 in Japan. Just like the old days, each branch attracts a discerning mix that includes artists, novelists and models, there for the pleasure of a chat over afternoon drinks and delicate pastries.

The history of Angelina begins with Austrian confectioner Antoine Rumpelmeyer who owned and managed the business for 60 years before handing it over in 1963 to the family that until recently ran the shop. Not long ago, Angelina was taken over by the Bertrand Group, a company with more than 120 restaurants in its portfolio.

Late last December, the first Angelina in Southeast Asia became an instant favourite among Bangkok's gourmets, a classic meeting place on the third floor of Central Chidlom. The opening of the cafe was the fruit of a partnership between Bertrand Group and Central Group.

Thierry Laval, head of international development for Bertrand and CEO of Bert's Cafe, was recently in Bangkok to check if everything at the new branch met the group's high standards.

"Angelina is loved by people all over the world and is a tourist destination for visitors to Paris. If you come to the French Angelina, you'll see a queue outside. Mainly, customers are from Asia," says Laval. "We maintain the tradition and the recipes - the quality and the standard. Famous social figures are regular visitors. Those are some of the reasons we are so successful and doing so well."

Bertrand Group is also developing Angelinas in Middle East countries such as Kuwait and the UAE. In the near future, the company plans to expand to China, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam.

For over a century, the secret recipes for Angelina's hot chocolate and mont-blanc gateau have remained closely guarded. Laval says that you cannot find chocolate like theirs elsewhere.

"When people think of hot chocolate, they think of cocoa powder in boiled water or milk. Here at Angelina, it's not like that," explains Ann Cha, manager of the Bangkok branch. "We use very good chocolate straight from Africa. We cut up the bars and melt them in simmering milk. The experience is a very rich, hot-chocolate taste that you get nowhere else - and you have to take it with cream."

Cha has enjoyed cooking since she was young, and is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education in New York and Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.

She takes her business seriously. Last year she made her debut as culinary manager at Bert's contemporary cafe in Zen Department Store, and now she's well into her stride with Angelina.

Apart from the celebrated hot chocolate (Bt95), visitors can also order iced chocolate (Bt95) and chocolate frappe (Bt160).

The other signature product is the Mont Blanc (Bt110), for which all ingredients are imported from France. Angelina's pastry chefs are trained in Paris to ensure that the secret techniques are passed on to a select bunch of experts.

The Mont Blanc rises from meringue foothills to a sweet chestnut puree then a whipped-cream summit.

Although the core business of Angelina is pastries and sweets, the shop in Bangkok also offers light lunches. The main menu is made up of French-Mediterranean dishes, but they also serve fusion fare.

"If you take the kind French food we used to eat in the past, it doesn't work anymore," says Laval. "French cuisine is moving more towards a mix of traditional French and Asian influences".

So don't be surprised, then, to see a full page of Thai-French specialities among the Parisian-style snacks. And health-conscious customers should note that the chef uses olive oil in place of butter.

For a light lunch, Cha recommends you choose from the croque monsieur - grilled ham and Emmenthal cheese served with a salad of mixed baby greens (Bt190), the foie gras de canard mi-cut - pan-fried spiced foie gras served with mango chutney and toasted country-style bread (Bt550), the molten green-curry cake with sauteed prawns and salad of spinach shoots (Bt320), and the pan-fried snapper fillet with spicy Thai-style ratatouille and jasmine rice (Bt290).

For afters, there are 13 types of French pastries on the menu plus ice creams, sorbets, crepes and French toast, making Angelina a heaven for the sweet of tooth.

Angelina is on the third floor of Central Chidlom. Call (02) 793 7793 for reservations.

Juthamas Cholthavornpong

The Nation