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Safiya's Latest Passion!
Cuisine
Sunday, October 11, 2009
"My plan," explained Safiya Burton two years ago as she addressed food industry insiders at The Jamaica Observer Food Awards seminar, "is to raise the level of pastries available locally. I want it raised (insanely) high and my plan is to open several pastry stores islandwide." Seems her formula might very well be working based on the many faces pressed against the impressive shop window of her recently opened Pastry Passions Manor Park location to add to her Sovereign Centre flagship store. Burton has got her wish this time with an interior as whimsical and eclectic as the recently concluded Betsey Johnson fashion presentation held at the Plaza Hotel.
Interior designer Calibe Thompson, who studied architecture at the University of Technology (UTech) and who was further tutored by the late Wanda Stephenson, tells SO that the pastry boutique is not yet complete and shows us the blank entry wall, which will in time carry sweet adages. What it does have however, is Safiya's passion and her desire for an upscale French Caribbean experience with a massive dose of whimsy and vignettes as exquisite as the pastries on display. Inside the seductively sweet 800-square-foot dessert heaven are coquettishly dressed mannequins sporting pink wigs and fascinators expertly balancing plates of desserts. Elsewhere a dark-head mannequin pushes a dessert trolley whilst another stands by a bicycle laden with assorted breads. It's brilliant and affords just the right dose of optimism needed at this particular juncture.
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| The opulent counter area in rich brown and cream hues complete with mini chandeliers and jars filled with sweet treats. (Photos: Bryan Cummings) |
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| A mannequin 'pushes' a dessert trolley. |
"Pastry Passions is the theatre and the players the pastry," explains Thompson as she points out the signature PP ceramic tile at the store entrance and the chandeliers that add further opulence to the space. "Safiya wanted rich brown countertops and hot pink silk drapes, plus the boas that line the shop window, wrought-iron pub tables and jars that overflow with lollipops."
"This location," says Burton-Chisholm (she got married two Saturdays ago), "will tap into the special occasion dessert market and as soon as I've got all the kinks out we'll commence an aggressive marketing campaign." It's no idle boast, the one-time financier will unveil her Christmas collection on November 5, at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel. A look through yet another vignette - this time an opened window with its own flower box that affords a magnificent garden view - speaks loudly of dreams and possibilities. We make a mental note to return but at dusk, for desserts this decadent and boxed in pink should be purchased ostensibly to seduce.
- NMW
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