The outskirts of Old Town Pasadena are about to get an exciting new addition, with vegan diners in particular eager for a definitive opening date.
Award-winning French chef Romuald “Romy” Guiot plans to open a dual establishment on 169 West Green Street near Central Park, just off the main drag on Colorado Boulevard. The store will be La Cave, a wine bar offering plated desserts, and a brick-and-mortar ID-Eclair shop offering vegan and gluten-free croissants, macarons, cookies, and more.
Typically, vegans are often left out of French cuisine such as buttery croissants, meat-heavy stews, and cafe au lait. But vegetarian and vegan cookery and baking has come a long way in both home kitchens and commercial settings, with the wonders of aquafaba (chickpea water), oat milk, cauliflower, and wood ear mushrooms having their moments in the sun in recent years. We’ve got vegan Italian food in Los Angeles now: it was only a matter of time before a professional French chef created vegan versions of the classics with innovative twists like plant-based meringues, lemon and black sesame financiers, and matcha macarons.
French-born Chef Romy Guiot was a finalist on the 8th season of Food Network’s Spring Baking Championship, and grew up in a restaurateur family. After working as an executive chef for multiple patisseries in France, Guiot took his novel ideas to the vast vegan market in the US with LA’s vibrant vegan dining scene being the ideal soil to germinate that seed.
ID-Eclair is now open, with their Instagram also indicating La Cave will open in mid-January. ID-Eclair also currently has mail-order options and a presence at markets and events offering a wide array of artisan vegan versions of financiers, croissants, eclairs, and other French pastries that are normally dairy-rich. Desserts-in-a-jar, cookie spoons, and other treats can be found at ID-Eclair booths at flea markets and other pop-up booths.
But if you’re in Pasadena and hankering for vegan desserts, you can find ID-Eclair on Doordash, Uber Eats, and other food delivery apps.
