Often found at theaters and museums, Kwon Mee-yoo has covered a wide range of cultural fields from K-pop and dramas to theater and fine art for over a decade. Now as K-Culture Desk editor, she tries to connect Korean culture with global readers through fresh perspectives.
Christmas delights at Wood & Brick
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Festive feasting is a mainstay of the Yuletide season and would not be complete without the special cakes and sweet delights that brighten up the year-end holiday spirit.
The Wood & Brick, known for its European style bread and fine Italian dishes, offers a variety of Christmas cakes for those who are craving some of the traditional treats from their childhood beginning Dec. 15.
The restaurant and bakery’s patisserie chef Franck Colombie introduces Buchette De Noel, a petit version of the representative Christmas cake Buche de Noel to Korea. Colombie worked at Michelin-starred restaurants such as Marc Memeau and Les Elysees and also taught in Le Cordon Bleu Korea from 2007 to 2009.
By Kwon Mee-yoo
The Buche de Noel is a traditional Christmas dessert in most European countries including France. The dessert came from a tradition of sharing Christmas cake next to a glowing fireplace. The Buchette is a miniature version of Buche, not a sliced piece of the log-shaped cake.
“Our Buchette de Noel has exactly the same structure as the original Buche and it requires the same amount of care required to prepare the Buche,” the restaurant’s spokeswoman said.
The Colombie introduces five kinds of Buchettes. In addition to traditional cafe, chocolate and praline, Mango Buchette de Noel is full of caramel mousse, mango puree and lychee, while Buchette Mandarin gives a pleasant surprise of mandarin cream inside milk chocolate cream raked to resemble logs.
Other than the gourmet Yule log cakes the bakery is offering Tiramisu glazed with chocolate and Vanilla Red Fruit, vanilla cream filled with red fruit coulis.
The cakes are available at the Wood & Brick Gourmet location in Je-dong and its bakery now relocated but still in Gwanghwamun. The restaurant/bakery will open another branch in Seongbuk-dong next spring.