Chocolate Lovers, Rejoice: A Belgium-Trained Pastry Chef Is Opening in Toronto
This new Roncesvalles pastry shop could rival Paris’s best patisseries
Toronto is in for a super sweet fall this year as a rising pastry chef and winner of the Spring Baking Championship is realizing his “lifelong dream” of opening his very own brick-and-mortar pastry shop in September.
“It’s been a long journey to get to this point where I can finally say this is me and this is what I want to present to the public,” says chef Steven Tran. “I’m really excited about it because it’s going to be not just chocolate, but also a reflection of my experiences as a pastry chef whose been in the industry for 20 plus years now, honing my craft, and developing my skill.”
Tran started his career in Vancouver at 16, but it wasn’t until moving to France at 18 that he discovered his passion for pastry.
“Because I wasn’t exposed as much to it here in Canada, I didn’t realize baking and pastry was actually a production,” he says, noting he returned to Vancouver to take a course on baking. “It became some of my most favourite school memories because it was so much fun that I never went back to cooking.”
Fueled by ambition, a love of pastry, and the guidance of acclaimed mentors, Tran built a career that’s taken him from Michelin-starred kitchens in the U.K. and Tokyo to the pastry capital of Paris and the chocolate capital of Belgium, before becoming sous chef under Daniel Boulud in New York. His jet-setting journey eventually brought him to Toronto, a city he grew up visiting, where he crafted confections at Café Boulud in the Four Seasons and, more recently, at the Shangri-La.
Prior to Shangri-La, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he launched Steven Tran Patisserie Chocolatier, in Vancouver. When he moved back to Toronto, his friends at Roselle Desserts encouraged him to host pop-ups to sell his chocolates, bonbons, macaroons and his myriad of other rich, sweet treats. All the while he knew that in checking off some bucket list items — working under top pastry chefs, working in Michelin-awarded kitchens, working in the pastry capitals — his next step was to open his own brick-and-mortar location.
“It’s been a long ride and it’s been five years since I started my business, but I’ve always continued doing pop-ups on the side (while planning to open a brick-and-mortar location),” he says. “I wanted to do it right, and I wanted to make sure that I found the right space.”
The right space was at 476 Roncesvalles Avenue. Even though he has lived across the world, Tran knows Toronto was the perfect place to open Steven Tran Patisserie Chocolatier.
“It’s very multicultural, and I love the city for what it is,” he says. “Toronto is where I feel most at home.”
With minimal seating and a Japandi design (Scandinavian Japanese aesthetic), the shop will be focused on grab ‘n’ go treats, designed as a modern French patisserie with chocolate, petit gâteau, French patisserie cakes, log cakes, bonbons and other sweet-tooth satisfiers, with plenty of gift-giving boxes available. There will also be a limited drink menu including coffee and tea.
“I always say it’s modern patisserie with a Canadian twist,” he says. “It’s a Canadian twist because there is no definition of what Canadian is. For me, Canadian is what I grew up with, as someone born and raised in Canada, it’s my influence — so whether it’s from France, whether it’s influence from Japan, or whether its influence from my own cultural background, it’s my vision of what I want to put out in the world.”
Though he admits launching his own venture is “nerve-wracking,” Tran isn’t fazed — it’s what he’s always wanted.
“I do stress the art of the craft and craftsmanship put into it because it’s a lifelong dedication and that’s important to me because this is the only thing I’ve ever done,” he says. “It’s built up this career I love because of the people that I’ve met, the people I’ve shared experiences with, the chefs I’ve worked for, and I think that’s why I really appreciate the career in itself — because it’s been such a journey and opening the shop is the next part of the journey.”
