Romain Avril has posted 100 reviews of French and Toronto croissants over the past year, but the golden moon ahead of him when he met The duty is the only one to which he will award the almost perfect score of 9.9. “The crispiness is magic,” he says.
The chef is looking for the best croissants, a quest that has allowed him to see that France does not have a monopoly on this pastry, whether his country of origin likes it. “The Canadian croissants are much better than the French,” he told Toronto radio in January, when he was halfway through his first season of ratings.
His words went around the world. “Even the croissants from French grocery chains are better than Canadian croissants,” some have retorted. Four months later, Romain Avril claims that his comments have been misinterpreted: “I was saying that the best croissants I have tasted are here. That doesn’t mean I won’t find a better one in France! »
But sitting in a café in the heart of the Queen City, the one who has worked in some of Toronto’s greatest restaurants does not completely retract. “In France, all I heard was that we were the best at this and that. But when we leave the country, we realize that everyone is trying to beat us and question themselves, ”he observes.
“Since we are the country of the croissant, we think that nobody can beat us. But people looked at us, improved and overtook us,” says the chef.
If the best croissants from each country were put side by side, “there would be a better chance that the French experience would be better, because the flour is better and the butter is of very good quality”, argues Romain Avril. “But we are talking about volume. And in terms of volume, I think Toronto shows that there are at least fifteen bakeries with exceptional products. »
“Crescent 101”
“Beautiful light flakes, the honeycomb structure has a balanced density”, explains in front of the camera Romain Avril, a croissant from the Toronto bakery Pompette in hand, to his approximately 65,000 Instagram followers. As in his 99 previous videos, the French-born describes the viennoiserie in a surgical way, from the amount of fat to the level of crispiness, before diving into the tasting.
The leader has found a community of followers. He initially thought he would only do this series for three weeks, “but I could see that the videos had 15,000 views each time,” he says. The Franco-Toronto found that the product was much more international than he thought. And on a local scale, his evaluations take the form of a guide: “We are here because of you”, says a woman, smiling, as she enters the Le Génie pastry shop, where the chef meets The duty.
The Génie croissant — which Romain Avril gave a 9.1 in January, but which now scores a 9.9 now that a syrup has been removed from the crust — is emblematic of the difference that Romain Avril sees between France and Canada. At $6.50, this bakery’s croissant is a luxury item. In France, he says, “we don’t try to have a luxury croissant”.
Canadian croissants are much better than the French
“Here, it’s competition: it’s the North American concept of always being better than the other, always fighting, it’s a dogfight,” he explains.
On its website, the top 100 croissants are separated by city and country (six are in the Montreal area) and not a common list. Romain Avril does not subscribe to the theory that there is a “best croissant in the world”, since the products and the atmosphere are different from one city to another. “It will always be subjective: the way we breathe the air in France is different from the way we do it in Canada,” he explains.
Taste is also subjective, says the former chef of Toronto bistro La Société. This is why the entrepreneur prefers to give an “analytical critique”. “The series was centered on me, on what I like. There is still a chance that, if I like it, it will be good – my palate is quite educated”, says the chef.
“I’ve always said that I’m not looking for the best croissant in the world: I’m looking for the best croissant in the world for me. »
This story is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.