Sweet Soul Patisserie
Monday8:00 am – 8:00 pm.
Tuesday8:00 am – 8:00 pm.
Wednesday8:00 am – 8:00 pm.
Thursday8:00 am – 10:00 pm.
Friday8:00 am – 10:00 pm.
Saturday8:30 am – 10:00 pm.
Sunday8:00 am – 8:00 pm.
A little slice of Paris in the form of Sweet Soul Patisserie can be found directly opposite Riverside Market on Cashel Mall. Step in through the floor-to-ceiling glass doors, and you will immediately be greeted with an air of amicable sophistication. The beautifully designed space has been purpose-created for the patisserie by a French architect with a polite nod to the culture at hand.
A cabinet filled with delicate edible art sits centre stage of the ground floor space, and small tables adorned with tiny hand-thrown bud vases line the edges of the room, with appropriate Parisian café-style bentwood chairs adding to the charming atmosphere. Upstairs offers more intimate seating and room for larger parties – not to mention elevated views across to the pedestrian mall; the perfect place to people watch.
Sweet Soul Patisserie is a family-run business of Brazilian-born sisters Taina and Ria Scur. You’ll find Taina leading the front-of-house team, always with a smile on her face and going the extra mile to make customers feel welcome and looked after. Ria works her magic behind the scenes, creating the incredible desserts you can admire and taste in this special store.
All the cabinet's desserts are made on-site with fresh ingredients daily. The trademark of the patisserie is the ‘Forbidden Fruit’, a cake shaped into a perfect red apple with a mirror-like glossy surface. While it’s hard to go past that intensely beautiful entremet, there is always a varying selection of other just-as-stunning options available, a good number of which are gluten and/or nut free. The sisters are also working on inventing more vegan options to add to the selection.
A family and dog-friendly space, Sweet Soul invites well-behaved k9’s indoors on the ground level and offers baby-changing facilities for young families. In the evenings, or why not during a special day too, you can pair your chosen dessert with a glass of Champagne – the perfect way to finish an evening out. The coffee machine here stays on until closing time as well, making Sweet Soul Patisserie one of the few spots in town that offer that post-dinner caffeine hit later in the evening.
Words by Petra Nyman & Photography by Nancy Zhou
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Location
1/79 Cashel Street, Christchurch Central City, Christchurch
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