AT LARTIZAN, PASSION LINGERS ON THE PALATE

Johnlou Koa is the man synonymous with the very popular French Baker, a chain of bakeries around the metro serving up delicious breads and pastries.

- VICKY VELOSO-BARRERA

If you go early enough, you may be able to snag bread bowls for your soup. Me, apart from the baguettes, I cannot help but buy the chewy raisin bonnets which I so love. For my mom, we always have to pick up croissants.

But Johnlou wasn't content with the French Baker, despite its queues and great sales.

"It's not French enough," he told himself as he stood in front of one of his branches one day. That discontent led to French lessons and an immersion in France to learn what French baking was really all about, including the making of 36-hour sourdough bread. Mastering this bread and other French specialties led to Lartizan (l'artizan means "the artisan"). Lartizan supplies Santi's and opened its first restaurant slash salon de the slash boulangerie at BGC. I was pleased to come across a smaller outpost at Century Mall when I was taking a break from errands at the Makati City Hall.

When I attended the inauguration of Lartizan at S Maison recently, I had just arrived from Paris. This was for our daughter Hannah's continuing fashion education, and it was one for the palate, too.

We didn't get to visit the Michelin-starred restaurant near us, yet the French food we ate at regular cafes, brasseries and seafood restaurants was invariably superb and very refined.