There’s a Patisserie Battle Royale Going on in Knightsbridge

Parisian patisserie master Cedric Grolet’s dessert tasting menu and cafe at the Berkeley Hotel, Knightsbridge will soon be facing off with another of the French capital’s heaviest hitters. Angelo Musa, currently head of pastry at Alain Ducasse’s Plaza Athènée, will open an outpost at Harrods this spring, kicking off an extremely specific battle royale involving pastry, money, and the SW1X postcode.

Musa’s pedigree includes working with Philippe Conticini, as well as Ducasse, and winning titles with names like “World’s Best Pastry Chef.” Older school than the likes of Grolet and Yann Couvreur, who is still to open his Mayfair boutique, his most famous desserts include “100 percent vanille,” which incorporates four textures of vanilla biscuit, cake, cremeux, and mousse, and “Papilio,” a chocolate cremeux with a passion fruit, mango, and coconut caramel, glazed, and decorated to give it the appearance of having wings.

Musa’s arrival is part of some serious flexing from the department store, which will also welcome Björn Frantzén, renowned for his eponymous three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Stockholm, later this year.

More soon on Musa’s arrival.