A taste of luxury
WORDS: Liam Stretch
Beginning life as a stall at the Christchurch Farmers’ Market, J’aime les Macarons has always celebrated beautiful food and has harnessed the French emphasis on quality, eating with all five senses, and appreciating small portions or ‘little experiences’.
The brand has seen a few different outlets and now has a chic boutique in Merivale Mall alongside its digital platforms. Owner Bridget O’Sullivan says that being face-to-face with their customers is imperative.
“Our mission is to provide busy people with the perfect luxury, sweet-treat solution for any occasion – and Merivale mall is an ideal location for us.”
“We also have an online store and can ship around the country, but the opportunity to connect, serve, and engage with our customers in person is a real treat. We love being part of special moments and helping a customer select a beautiful gift, treat for a loved one, or simply an afternoon pick me up for themselves,” she says.
Though France is 19,000 kilometres away, the art of making macarons is respected, with chefs baking seven days a week from a production kitchen in Sockburn.
“A perfect macaron is the successful sum of little details. [It’s] the highest quality ingredients, the perfect humidity in the kitchen, letting the meringue fall when mixing with almond paste (a process the French call ‘macaronage’), respecting drying times, eliminating air bubbles, and patiently waiting for the right resting periods between finishing the macaron to eating.”
Olivia Burtt, general manager, says this adherence to tradition is a sense of pride for the team and has seen many customers remain with them since the market days.
“We pride ourselves on celebrating the small details to create beautiful classic and modern macarons that delight our customers and anyone walking past our small but perfectly formed retail space in the mall.”
This doesn’t mean they don’t have fun with the range of macarons, and you can expect Birthday Cake, Belgium Biscuit, Lemon & Raspberry, alongside other treats like brownies. Though, some favourites have remained in the range since the very beginning.
“Our Salted Butter Caramel macaron remains our number one seller (for a reason), and we know that if we did ever (foolishly) think about not having it in the range, there would be some serious complaints.”
The range also changes with the seasons, with new flavours always in the works.
“The current winter and Mother’s Day macarons are stunning, and we are already working on Christmas,” Olivia says.