LAC

Diabolix, carrés pralinés, orangettes and pavés Masséna fill the confectionery side of the counter at LAC in Saint Laurent Du Var, with origin bars and filled tablettes beside them and a pastry case running in parallel. The shop belongs to Maison LAC, the chocolate and pâtisserie house Pascal Lac opened in Beaulieu in 1995 and now presents as artisanat contemporain.

Chocolate first, pâtisserie close behind

Chocolate sets the direction. The range covers filled chocolates, tablettes, confiseries and origin-led bars, and the house talks in provenance and percentage: the Pérou Chuncho 70% carries spice, vanilla, cinnamon and a light woodiness, while a 66% Caribbean couverture coats other pieces in the range.

The pastry beside it is classical French rather than bread-led. The fraisier is built on very tender génoise, light Madagascar vanilla cream and fresh strawberries. The moelleux fraises works the same fruit over an almond base with light cream, and the sablé breton fraise reworks the individual strawberry tart on Breton shortbread under a Madagascar vanilla whipped ganache. Macarons, cakes, confiseries and glaces round out the case.

A boutique, not a café

This is a retail room rather than somewhere to settle in. Guests read the display, choose boxed chocolates, tablettes, pastries, macarons or a gift assortment, and carry them out. The tone matches: polished, contemporary and organised around finished objects rather than table service. The house also runs masterclasses in what it calls une ambiance conviviale et raffinée, treating chocolate and pastry as crafts to teach as well as sell.

The credentials behind the counter belong to the whole maison. Maison LAC has been part of Relais Desserts International since 2006, has taken four Award du meilleur des meilleurs distinctions, and was named an Incontournable among France's twenty best chocolatiers by the Club des Croqueurs de Chocolat. Saint Laurent Du Var is one branch of that network.

Order the fraisier, then the chocolate

Start with the fraisier when strawberries are in: génoise, fresh fruit and light Madagascar vanilla cream, the cleanest read on the house's pastry hand. The moelleux fraises and the sablé breton fraise are the two variations worth comparing, since they show the same fruit handled across almond cake and Breton shortbread.

Then move across to the chocolate. Diabolix, carrés pralinés, orangettes, pavés Masséna and the filled tablettes cover the confectionery ground, and the Pérou Chuncho 70% is the clearest way into the origin bars. The house gift assortment gathers most of that into one box, which is the fastest route through the range in a single sitting.