EDIBLE ARCHITECTURE

YF Patissier-Chocolatier crafts world-class pastries and chocolates in Creemore.

BY ANYA SHOR // PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANYA SHOR

ONE BITE INTO the delicate fig tart at YF Patissier-Chocolatier in Creemore and you know you’re tasting something extraordinary. Light-as-air puff pastry—buttery, crispy with a subtly savoury finish—delicately caramelized amber-coloured fruit exploding softly into tartly sweet syrupy pools, with a fairy dusting of confectioner’s sugar. Well, you simply can’t leave with just one. Before you can exclaim mon dieu! without sputtering flakes of pastry down your chemise, you’re surveying the vitrine and wondering where that generous pair of trousers might be.

Suddenly, you’re speaking French, uttering words you never knew you could. “ One tarte Tropeziénne , one mille-feuille , one tortillon , one lemon bichon, and two pain au chocolat, of course, see-voo-play.” YF is certainly a destination in and of itself.

When Yoonhee Chang’s business partner,

François Rahier—of the famed Rahier Patisserie on Bayview Avenue in Toronto—suggested opening a patisserie in Creemore, Ontario, the young baker had never heard of the place. When she looked up the small Simcoe County village and learned it only had a population of about 1,200 people, she was dubious.

“When I saw this tiny town, I thought, who are we going to be selling all these pastries to?” laughs Chang. “But when I came up here and saw this beautiful place and spoke to the other businesses and learned about the weekenders and tourists, it started to make sense.”

The YF Patissier-Chocolatier opened on Mill Street in February 2022, and Chang, who was born in Korea and immigrated with her family to Toronto 20 years ago, now calls Creemore home. And you can bet your frangipane; the business gamble paid off. Customers from all over the region and beyond make the trip to the picturesque village just to take home a box of the

“One tarte Tropeziénne, one mille-feuille, one tortillon, one lemon bichon, and two pain au chocolat, of course, see-voo-play.” YF is certainly a destination in and of itself.

Chang says her favourite things to create are seasonal desserts for special holidays. “That’s when I get to make something different, out of the ordinary.”

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