GoodSide Pastry House

They call it GoodSide Pastry House, but for me, it might be more aptly called the dark side.

By Cinda Chavich

Photography - Elizabeth Nyland

NOT THAT THERE’S ANYTHING nefarious or dark about it—save the dark chocolate peeking out of my perfectly laminated pain au chocolate, or the mirror glaze (yes, you can see yourself) in the exquisite little hazelnut mousse cake topped with a shard of chocolate and a drop of gold. I just know, the minute I step in the door, that this lovely little pastry shop is destined to be my undoing, or at least the undoing of my promise to cut back on buttery pastries and sweets, dragging me away from my best intentions, and back to the dark side of decadence.

But this is my kind of candy store and, like a kid, I’m in it. It’s impossible to resist the beautiful bites that pastry chefs Haley Landa and Curtis Helm have on offer at GoodSide, a new bricks-and-mortar version of the pop-up baking business they’ve been running in Victoria for nearly two years, with beautiful baking and terrific technique not often seen in the city.

The power pastry couple arrived in 2020 from Vancouver, both with several years of experience working in high-intensity kitchens alongside some of that city’s top bakers and chocolatiers, including the famed Thomas Haas, who both count as an important mentor.

Since landing in Victoria, they’ve been working their magic from commissary kitchens and building a loyal following among food lovers via an Instagram account that’s dripping with moreish photos of their sweet art—like the crunchy, almond-crusted, double-baked croissants, big cream puffs filled with vanilla diplomat cream and salted caramel jam, or gorgeous citrus tarts sporting asymmetrical swirls of torched meringue.

GoodSide specializes in croissants, laminated pastries, and an array of artful, individual, filled mousse cakes—think hazelnut and dark chocolate mousse domes atop rounds of chocolate jaconde, or little strawberry bombs with strawberry gelée on olive oil sponge. It’s a patisserie where you’ll find cakes to impress someone special and new daily addictions.

Clockwise from top: Brûlée Spiral, Pain Au Chocolat, Almond Double Bake, Roasted Hazelnut Choco Chunk Cookie (GF), Butter Croissant, Cowboy Twist, CheeseyThyme Twist, Black Sesame & Sundried Tomato Danish

Clockwise from top: Whiskey-Dulcey Mousse, Dark Chocolate, Candied Pecan & Salted Caramel Puff, CaramelApple Almond Tart, Aged Earl Grey & Grapefruit Puff, Tequila-Lime Tart, Hazelnut-Kalamansi Mousse Dome

It’s all taking traditional French pastry in a new and modern direction, making it accessible and fun.

“We like to say, ‘We make simple things complicated,’” quips Helm of his obsession with cream puffs, in all of their inventive iterations, and Landa’s devotion to exquisitely layered mousse cakes.

“We both chose pastry as an artistic expression,” adds Landa. “We’re constantly pushing modern trends, perusing our craftsmanship, and expanding our skill set.” Double-bakes are an old-school solution to use day-old croissants, says Helm, but they’re so popular at GoodSide that the two now must bake off extra croissants in order to fill them with an array of creamy fillings and rebake them encrusted with nuts. Those buttery croissants are a treat in themselves, created in a 48-hour process with milk poolish dough, extra layers of lamination, organic dairy products, and premium butter with 84 per cent milk fat imported from Quebec.

After meeting in the baking program at the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts in Vancouver, and working in the city for a decade, the baking couple came to Victoria to realize the dream of their own bakery. Now, with help from Landa’s brother Charles, who moved here from Saskatoon, they’ve opened a little storefront in a strip of historic retail shops on Fort Street at Richmond Road.. Why GoodSide? Like their cheeky Mr. Croissant-head logo, it’s the laminated pastry profile they want to show the world, a skill that’s at the core of this new trend-setting baking business. But it also reflects their baking and community-focused philosophy.

“GoodSide, it’s multi-pronged,” says Helm, “one being the ethically sourced ‘good side’ of ingredients, but also that having a pastry puts you on the good side, on the happy side of life. It’s a slice of enjoyment you can have in your day.”

There are already lineups of fans down the block for their croissants, creative cream puffs, and big, glutenfree, roasted hazelnut and chocolate chip cookies. But do note that hours are restricted (Thursday through Sunday), and they sell out quickly.

Which may be the only way for me to limit my intake of their creative cream puffs and double-bakes. Welcome to the GoodSide!