Andy Pham was going to take a corporate job before he decided to throw caution to the mixer and become a pastry chef instead.
Kathy Tran
Andy Pham wants to make sure you know one thing before you enter the door to his shop: You won’t find baguettes at Le Reve Gelato & Patisserie. It’s just not that kind of place. What you will find at this unassuming strip-mall patisserie — Dallas is the kind of city where an old-world Parisian bakery can reside off a major highway, Chili’s-adjacent — is joy in pastry form. Yes, there are croissants; he makes a version of the one that went viral in New York: a big, dark, crusty whirling wheel that’s like a croissant replica of Captain America’s shield. But the 26-year- old’s main focus is on gelato and desserts that look like paintings. That’s not hyperbole, and it’s not just Instagram flash. His desserts legitimately look like oil-on-canvas masterpieces and are lightning bolts of flavor and texture.
Take the pastry that appears to be a tropical dragon fruit, for example. When it’s sliced, you discover it’s a magic trick — stuffed with dragon fruit mousse, passion fruit curd and vanilla sponge. You’ll definitely stop and gawk at the glossy lemon, which is a brilliant yellow, as if it were plucked off a tree in Eden; it’s stuffed with a silky, sweet lemon guava mousse.
Pham doesn’t come from a culinary background. He was going to take a corporate job but decided to throw caution to the mixer after learning to bake the best way anyone can: watching Grandma fix the classics (in Pham’s case, vanilla sponge cakes). “I grew to love baking because my grandma was always in the kitchen, cooking traditional Vietnamese desserts and whatever French pastries she knew.”
These stunners are some of Andy Pham’s hyperrealistic fruit pastries. The lemon one is filled with a sweet lemon guava mousse.
Kathy Tran
His family is Vietnamese and speaks fluent French, and Pham picked up the language. That turned into annual trips to France, where Pham has family, and he learned the Jedi ways of making real butter. He brings the good stuff back to laminate dough at Le Reve. His time in France also taught him the importance of handmade goods. Pham understands the value in creating something from scratch that’s truly artisan, a word that’s been so overused that it’s lost meaning. He keeps his products pure, without any dyes or chemicals, because that’s not the way. And he asks his customers for patience because it takes time to make something that tastes as brilliant as it looks.
“We work very much in a French style. It’s very artisanal. It’s very small scale,” Pham says. “We care more about quality over quantity, so sometimes we run out of stuff, and people come in later in the day and are not as happy. All we can really say is we’re sorry, that we put out as much stuff as we can and pay as much attention to detail as we can.”
The ‘Big Debra’
Tida Pichakron bakes treats with serious crowd appeal, including beautiful macarons and her signature “Big Debra,” an oatmeal cream cookie.
Kathy Tran
Over at Haute Sweets Patisserie, another shop where you’ll find French pastry delights adjacent to a major highway (a Chili’s is always nearby in Dallas), owner and executive chef Tida Pichakron is celebrating her birthday month. That’s notable because it means she’s going to cook some Thai classics inspired by the desserts she grew up making with her mom.
If you’re just learning about Haute Sweets, the patisserie is a tiny cookie powerhouse. The Keebler Elves fear Pichakron; Little Debbie kneels before her — no other oatmeal cream cookie can compare. (Pichakron calls her version a “Big Debra.”) She’s a Culinary Institute of America grad who sharpened her skills at humble spots such as The Adolphus Hotel’s The French Room and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Las Vegas. Her macarons are small Renaissance paintings on display in a strip mall along Northwest Highway. Nearby businesses are Rooster Home & Hardware and a Pizza Hut. In Dallas’ sprawl, you’ll find some of the most surprising gems.
Pichakron began weaving homemade Thai classics into the Haute Sweets menu during COVID-19. She pivoted to kits (that word may induce memory shivers) of Thai staples, and people embraced them. “Who doesn’t love coconut sticky rice?” she asks. Khanom mo kaeng — a coconut custard cake Pichakron’s mother used to make with mung bean, egg and palm sugar — is one dish the chef offers at Haute Sweets during her birthday month. Pichakron skips the mung bean in her version “because it’s a pain in the butt,” she says, laughing.
A colorful display of macarons beckons at Haute Sweet Patisserie.
Kathy Tran
Tida Pichakron’s signature “Big Debra” oatmeal cream cookies are a favorite.
Kathy Tran
Lod chong is another can’t-miss during her birthday month; the dessert consists of pandan noodles served with sweet coconut syrup and crushed ice. It’s a refreshing zap of flavor, instantly cooling and brightly sweet. Recently, a customer asked Pichakron to create a custom Pavlova, a very fussy meringue-based dessert popular in Australia and New Zealand. “Why not?” she muses about the intricate task.
“It’s the love of the craft,” she continues. “Why else would anyone do it? You have to love what you do to do this.”
Tour de Pastry
When was the last time you took a real pastry trip? It’s one of the most interesting food tours to take in Dallas: They’re in strip malls, born from true-blue home kitchens; you can find them in Old East Dallas, Oak Cliff and tiny farmers markets throughout the area.
Erika Lam Radtke’s Girl With Flour has walnut-dark, crusty croissants as big as a softball and lighter than fog (for delivery in select areas and at the White Rock Farmers Market on the weekends). Never skip a slice of cake and a Vietnamese coffee at 85 ̊C Bakery Cafe. Same with 9 Rabbits Bakery, where the sweet potato cake is rich and wonderful. Maria Becerra, a pastry chef with a fine dining background, opened up Lubellas Patisserie in 2022 — it’s like a French vacation in a Casa View strip mall. The almond croissants, blizzarded with powdered sugar, will transport you to a tiny Parisian cafe (no passport needed).
Le Reve Gelato & Patisserie is located at 12817 Preston Road, Suite 133, in Dallas.
Haute Sweets Patisserie is located in Dallas at 10230 E. Northwest Highway and 6959 Arapaho Road, Suite 106.
