We are living through a renaissance for the boulangerie in Japan. In just about every city and town across the country you'll find artisanal bakers making quality baguettes, epi, croissants and pain au chocolat.
Le Sucre-Coeur — a deliberate and saccharine play on the famous basilica perched atop Montmartre in Paris — expands on the above list. They take their bread seriously, and the lineup on display behind the glass counters should render even the most impulsive indecisive.
Le Sucre-Coeur is located on the ground floor of a sleek 32-story skyscraper completed in 2015. The developers tried to incorporate nature in the forms of trees and shrubs and statues of sheep in the concourse. Le Sucre-Coeur takes it one step further. On the second Saturday of each month there's a Green Market — essentially a farmers market — consisting of producers drawn from across Japan selling their produce outside the cafe.
Baker and owner Ayumu Iwanaga takes most of his cues from the classic French boulangerie: the salmon quiche with tendrils of spinach, parmesan and a hint of dill was as light as the pastry encasing it. There's also a worthy sandwich line-up, especially the terrine forcemeat loaf, Dijon mustard and pickled cucumber on a mini bread roll. If you're eating in, you could try the daily salad and choose your own bread.
There is much that is sweet, too. The ganache was sublime: a bread roll filled with cream and chocolate. Le Sucre-Coeur offers the simple pleasures of everyday French food right in the middle of Osaka.
Japanese and French menu; some English spoken