At Pantopia, everything revolves around one idea: pâtisserie as a work of art. Owner and pastry chef Alexandre Scour has created a studio gallery here where each pastry piece is treated as a solo exhibit. No overstuffed display cases, but individual pedestals with one carefully placed pastry. You really walk past the table as if you were strolling through a small exhibition.
The basis is French, refined patisserie. Think croissants, viennoiserie and cakes, made with techniques you would normally expect to find in a patisserie in France rather than in the ring of canals. The flavors are inspired by travel: combinations you don't see everywhere, but in a recognizable, accessible form. That makes it interesting for fanatical sweet tooths as well as for people who want “just a good croissant,” but just a step higher.
The space itself is compact and feels more like a studio than a traditional bakery. There is a small cafe area with limited seating, where you can taste your pastries right away. The rest of the place is set up for looking, choosing and moving on again: a gallery-like setup with plenty of attention to how everything looks. The presentation is as important as the taste; you can see that in the neat glazes, clean shapes and how each item is given its own place.
The space itself is compact and feels more like a studio than a traditional bakery.
Alexandre Scour, meanwhile, is not sitting still: following the success of Pantopia, he is also collaborating on another bakery project, Layers. This shows that he seriously counts in the current pastry wave and that Pantopia is not just a nice side project, but a business with weight within the city. Here you can taste where that reputation comes from.