Saturday, June 22 is National Chocolate Éclair Day. Did you know that éclair is the French word for lightning? It is believed that the pastry received its name because it describes the speed at which these delicacies will disappear. To prepare you for this day, I recently visited La Chouquette, a French pâtisserie.
La Chouquette is located on Melrose Ave just west of La Brea Ave. Owners Elodie and Dan Darmon spent their honeymoon in LA and noticed an absence of European influence in the pastries available. They made a decision to open La Chouquette so that they could offer traditional French pastries in LA.
Elodie’s strong love for éclairs came from her French roots. Her grandfather was a pastry chef. Her future husband Dan had a passion and deep knowledge for eclairs and their relationship was a match made in heaven. La Chouquette’s mission is to reinvent traditional choux pastry recipes while introducing contemporary flavors.
Chocolate Ganache / Lemon 
Mango and Vanilla with Berries
The beautiful eclairs under their display case take center stage and reflect their mission. Instead of a typical chocolate eclair, La Chouquette offers a decadent chocolate ganache. Others include vanilla with red berries, mango, lychee cream, and lemon.
The storefront is small and only has a few tables inside. It had an elegant feel to it and I felt like I walked into a Paris bakery. La Choquette’s éclairs are platforms for works of art. Each has pops of bright colors from fruit garnishes or elegantly piped cream. They are Instagram-worthy, so get your phone ready.
Their croissants are also remarkable. In addition to plain, they offer chocolate, almond and Nutella croissants. Elodie & Dan use butter imported from France which establishes both the taste and the texture of a true French croissant. The croissant is both flaky and crunchy on the outside and soft with a generous amount of Nutella inside.
Chocolate with Salted Caramel 
Meringue filled with berries and cream
In addition to éclairs and croissants, they also have other French pastries such as tartelettes, madeleines, meringues, croquettes, macarons, sandwiches, and coffee. You will be happy to know that all of their pastries are gluten-free.
If you are invited to someone’s house for dinner and want to bring something thoughtful, consider taking a box of eclairs from La Choquette.
I was able to find metered parking on Melrose not far from their pâtisserie. Don’t let parking be the reason that you aren’t celebrating #NationalChocolateEclairDay
La Chouquette, 7350 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046; 424.362.4380
lachouquette.com
Hi Bryan,
I am drooling looking at these pictures. From your great review, it would be fun just to go there and try them. Also, not far from “El Coyote” Mexican restaurant……so bonus!!! Dean