Ah, Paris. If you’ve ever longed for Paris in the fall while stuck in the Paris of the Plains (Kansas City!), there’s a cure for your erstwhile European desires. KC MOlière: 400 in 2022 is bringing some of the Sun King’s favorite vices to you—chocolate, coffee, and wine.
The organization, which is ramping up for the 400th birthday of French playwright Molière, aims to showcase the joie de vivre of French court life through the artistry of some of Kansas City’s best food and drink producers. In October, three Kansas City favorites, André’s Confiserie Suisse, Les Bourgeois Vineyards, and Messenger Coffee Company, are collaborating on a sweet experience worthy of Louis XIV himself.
Andre’s executive pastry chef, René Bollier, created the Molière as a marriage of three flavors popular in the playwright’s time. His mini bundt-shaped pastry is a mound of almond cake flecked with candied orange peel blanketed in André’s signature dark chocolate.
Of course, what’s chocolate with the appropriate beverages? While Bollier was creating in the kitchen, David Weber of Messenger Coffee was roasting and cupping his Molière 400 blend, which features bright citrus notes melting into toasted almond and caramel sweetness.
Looking for something a bit—stiffer? Master Sommelier Doug Frost worked with Le Bourgeois Vineyards in Rocheport, Missouri, to create the Joie de Molière, a sweet dessert wine blended from traminette and valvin muscat grapes. The dessert wine should complement the bittersweet almond and orange cake for a luxurious nibble and sip session that would make dear old Molière jealous.
Swing by André’s Confisserie Suisse at 5018 Main Street for your goutêr and remember what Molière said, “I prefer an interesting vice to a virtue that bores.” Chocolate, coffee, and wine certainly fit the bill.