Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters
A local artisan coffee shop, Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters is a homey place that makes a might fine cup of coffee, complete with coffee art. With two locations, one in Marda Loop, the other in a far-flung corner of Chinook Mall, it’s worth seeking them out.
The lattes they produce are spot on with perfectly steamed milk giving it just a hint of sweetness, topped thick rich foam and adorned with beautiful latte art.
Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters
1159-6455 Macleod Trail SW
Calgary, AB T2H 2W1
403-255-4900
Twitter: @philandseb
Jelly Modern Donut
I had heard rave reviews of Jelly Modern Donut from various people on Twitter who had been to #yyc recently and always ensured they brought a box home with them. With innovative sounding flavors like maple bacon, I was expecting something much different than your average donut. Now to be honest, I am not a fan of donuts or anything with a doughy texture for that matter. Yes, I know, I have a bunch of weird food aversions, all of which are textural in nature. However, on the odd occasion, I will partake in a donut, but I generally stick with a Tim Horton’s honey glaze donut or better yet, Tim Bit, so I am not eating very much of this texture I rarely enjoy.
When we arrived at Jelly Modern Donut, we opted to try a few different flavors in their miniature sized donuts. We picked out Irish Cream, Nenshi’s Salted Caramel, Maple Bacon, Valrhona Chocolate, and Classic Jelly.
I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed when I first bit into the donuts as I had hoped that Jelly Modern Donut would somehow be different. By this I mean I was hoping perhaps it would have flavored dough, or dough laced inside with pockets of filling. Instead the donuts were just donuts with flavored icing on top and in some cases, the donut hole was filled with a flavored filling. I found the maple bacon glaze far too sweet for my liking and the rest of the flavors just ok, with the varhola chocolate icing probably being the best of the bunch. However, the donut itself had no flavor and was doughy, and if you take away the icing, there would be nothing special about the donut.
This brings me back to the cupcake adventure I went on with @thepolishviking and @michpetersjones. A cupcake consists of both a cake and icing portion, if the icing or the cake cannot each stand on it’s own, then the sum of the whole does not make for a good cupcake. The same I believe holds true for a donut, it doesn’t matter how good the icing is, a donut is both the donut itself and the icing combined. If only the icing is good, then what is the point of the donut other than a vehicle for the icing? It becomes a pointless waste of space, like why bother eating a good cheese or a crappy tasting cracker when you can take the cheese off and have it taste better eaten on it’s own?
I’m sorry to say to my friends that despite their rave reviews, I didn’t find these donuts to be particularly delicious or rave worthy.
More photos at PhotoBucket.
Jelly Modern Doughnuts
100 1414 8 Street SW
Calgary, AB T2R 1J6
403-43-2053
Twitter: @jellymodern
Yann’s Haute Pattiserie
Yann’s Haute Pattiserie is located in what looks like used to be a home. Upon entering, the clean interior makes their case filled with pastries the star of the room. The only improvement they could make is tagging their pastries as we had the lady go through each pastry with us one by one, making us think the people waiting behind us were going to kills us.
We got a whole lot of different pastries to take back to #yeg with us to try, but I’ll just give you a highlight of our favorites and our least favorites. Firstly the lemon tart, this insanely bulbous shaped concoction was lemony but not overly tart. The filling was as light as air, resting upon a moist cake base and a crispy cookie bottom, giving it a nice contrast in textures from gelatinous, soft, and crispy.
The chocolate cake consisted of thin layers of chocolate wafer, alternating with layers of light as air chocolate mousse. The mousse had a dark chocolate flavor and was not too sweet and as we devoured it, we only wished we could have more.
The croissant was flaky on the outside with a soft buttery inside, and the mini chocolate cakes were nice and dark, just the way I like it.
As for the low lights, the pain au chocolat wasn’t as good as the ones we’d had in Europe. Although the croissant was as it should be, the inside only had a small strip of dark chocolate along one side, leaving you yearning for more chocolate. The rum cake unfortunately did not taste like much of anything, and the macarons couldn’t hold a candle to @mirabellemacarons. None of the flavors tasted quite like what they purported too, with the flavor either being far too weak as was the case in the chocolate or in the case of the peppermint, far too overpowering. Also the texture of the macarons were not quite right as they were a bit chewy throughout.
Overall, I would go back particularly for their cakes, but would perhaps forget about their other pastries.
More photos at PhotoBucket.
Yann Haute Pattiserie
329 23 Avenue SW
Calgary, AB T2S 0J3
403-244-8091
Twitter: @YannBoutique
 |
| Beautiful Latte Art |
The lattes they produce are spot on with perfectly steamed milk giving it just a hint of sweetness, topped thick rich foam and adorned with beautiful latte art.
Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters
1159-6455 Macleod Trail SW
Calgary, AB T2H 2W1
403-255-4900
Twitter: @philandseb
Jelly Modern Donut
 |
| Many flavors to choose from! |
When we arrived at Jelly Modern Donut, we opted to try a few different flavors in their miniature sized donuts. We picked out Irish Cream, Nenshi’s Salted Caramel, Maple Bacon, Valrhona Chocolate, and Classic Jelly.
 |
| The finalists |
This brings me back to the cupcake adventure I went on with @thepolishviking and @michpetersjones. A cupcake consists of both a cake and icing portion, if the icing or the cake cannot each stand on it’s own, then the sum of the whole does not make for a good cupcake. The same I believe holds true for a donut, it doesn’t matter how good the icing is, a donut is both the donut itself and the icing combined. If only the icing is good, then what is the point of the donut other than a vehicle for the icing? It becomes a pointless waste of space, like why bother eating a good cheese or a crappy tasting cracker when you can take the cheese off and have it taste better eaten on it’s own?
I’m sorry to say to my friends that despite their rave reviews, I didn’t find these donuts to be particularly delicious or rave worthy.
More photos at PhotoBucket.
Jelly Modern Doughnuts
100 1414 8 Street SW
Calgary, AB T2R 1J6
403-43-2053
Twitter: @jellymodern
Yann’s Haute Pattiserie
 |
| Tons of Macaron flavors |
We got a whole lot of different pastries to take back to #yeg with us to try, but I’ll just give you a highlight of our favorites and our least favorites. Firstly the lemon tart, this insanely bulbous shaped concoction was lemony but not overly tart. The filling was as light as air, resting upon a moist cake base and a crispy cookie bottom, giving it a nice contrast in textures from gelatinous, soft, and crispy.
 |
| Very cool looking and delicious lemon tart |
The croissant was flaky on the outside with a soft buttery inside, and the mini chocolate cakes were nice and dark, just the way I like it.
As for the low lights, the pain au chocolat wasn’t as good as the ones we’d had in Europe. Although the croissant was as it should be, the inside only had a small strip of dark chocolate along one side, leaving you yearning for more chocolate. The rum cake unfortunately did not taste like much of anything, and the macarons couldn’t hold a candle to @mirabellemacarons. None of the flavors tasted quite like what they purported too, with the flavor either being far too weak as was the case in the chocolate or in the case of the peppermint, far too overpowering. Also the texture of the macarons were not quite right as they were a bit chewy throughout.
Overall, I would go back particularly for their cakes, but would perhaps forget about their other pastries.
More photos at PhotoBucket.
Yann Haute Pattiserie
329 23 Avenue SW
Calgary, AB T2S 0J3
403-244-8091
Twitter: @YannBoutique
Mr. Moo you are so adorable and you know your food. For Yann Haute Patisserie, I agree they should tag their pastries. Many things were not apparent, and they seemed really annoyed that we were asking what some things were. We felt uncortable being there and have not gone back. We were there sometime in the middle of 2012, so maybe things have changed since then. I really liked the lemon tart I had, and will give them another try, but if the service is the same I will not return.
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