A decade ago, Pooja Dhingra launched Le15 Café in Colaba, an extension of her much-loved Le15 cake shop, founded in 2010. Located opposite Ling’s Pavilion and diagonally opposite Bademiyan, the café quietly gained a loyal following. So much so that even six years after its closure during the COVID-19 pandemic, Dhingra is still asked, “When will you bring Le15 Café back?”
On Thursday it finally returned to the coffee format, but not with Le15 Café. Instead, it launched Pardon Our French, which it describes as “a new coffee from the Le15 team.”
“He was so loved that people really missed him and there’s a lot of nostalgia associated with him,” she said. “But it was time to stop living in the past and move toward the future, to build something new. It seemed like the right place and the right time.” The idea took shape mid last year, when Dhingra approached her friend Purva Mehra, group creative director at creative agency Please See//.
A Parisian cafe with SoBo energy
Located in the Ballard Estate near IF.BE, Pardon Our French advertises itself with a matte ink blue façade and soft cream signage, giving it a very Parisian energy in SoBo. Inside, the palette shifts to creams, muted burgundy and dusty rose. The interiors seem deliberately calm. While bell-shaped pendant lights cast a warm, intimate glow and burgundy painted ceilings add drama, painted curtains, scalloped details, and beaded mirrors introduce a playful, bakery-like lightness.
“I started Le15 when I was 23. I turned 40 this year,” said Dhingra, who intuitively wanted to make something that looked like a more mature version of herself. “The idea was: what if a 40-year-old woman came back from Paris and wanted to start something? What would it be like?”
Cafe interiors and (right) Banoffee French Toast (archive)
In matters of taste
Unsurprisingly, the heart of the cafe is the food. The menu was put together organically and, coincidentally, with an all-female team. Coffee consultant Geetu Mohnani curated the beverage program, chef Anandita Kamani handled the food, and Dhingra focused on desserts. “The three of us were playing together to create something cohesive,” he shared.
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We loved the toasted coconut mocha (Rs 350), served in a lovely handmade mug by Hyderabad-based on Jojo’s Pottery Studio, as well as a Bisou Bisou (Rs 400), a citrusy frozen drink that had a happy combination of double espresso, Valencia orange and raspberry, and was finished with raspberry powder. There’s also a banana bread latte and a brown butter cappuccino. “I wanted everything to lean a little bit toward dessert,” Dhingra said, adding, “It comes from the Le15 house, but it has its own personality.”
The dessert menu includes a delicate lemon cake (Rs 325) with black sesame, lemon cream cheese frosting and lemon curd, topped with blueberries; a dense POF chocolate cake (Rs 325) with mousse, sea salt and olive oil; a lightly salted vanilla soft serve (Rs 300), served alone or with chocolate sauce or alongside cookies; and brown butter and date muffins (Rs 350) with miso caramel and honey cinnamon butter on the side.
*From left to right: Lemon Cake, POF Chocolate Cake and Strawberries with Cream.
(Express)
The highlight for us was the Strawberries and Cream (Rs 550), an eggless dessert that featured strawberry compote layered with mascarpone and generous chunks of fresh strawberry, enhanced with olive oil and basil, the ingredient that takes it several notches higher. It rewards a deep, committed spoonful with a full appreciation of its balance and texture.
What also stands out is the moderation: none of the desserts are too sweet. “The idea was to keep the sugar profile slightly moderate,” Dhingra said, adding that as a pastry chef, it’s easy to get overcomplicated. “This time, I wanted to tone it down, simplify it and still be comforting. Maturity is not just about how the place is designed, but also how the menu is conceived. I want people to try something and just think, ‘Damn, this is delicious.’ I want to come back for it.”
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Dhingra also has fun pushing the boundaries, with a dessert like chiku and hazelnuts being one of her favorites. “It’s polarizing. People love it or hate it. But those who love it, really love it.”
While the tasty menu wasn’t available during our visit (it’s likely to start from mid-February), Dhingra is particularly excited about Pardon Our French Toast, a desi version inspired by her childhood. “As a child, I always thought French toast was tasty because my dad made it like French toast with tortilla masala. We always ate it with Maggi sweet and spicy chilli sauce,” she said. “It wasn’t until I moved to France that I realized French toast was actually supposed to be sweet.”
At the cafe, sentimentality comes in the form of a cheese sandwich dipped in tortilla masala dough, folded and finished with a sweet and spicy Maggi sauce. There’s also avocado toast (non-negotiable, he insists), akuri tofu, burrata salad, tartines and chia puddings with dessert-inspired flavours.
Completing the circle
For those who loved Le15 Café’s avocado toast, there’s a nostalgic callback. “I’ve always liked mine with pickled jalapenos and pickled onions, just like we did at Colaba,” Dhingra said, adding that he brings it here along with hot potatoes – a comforting bowl of mashed potatoes topped with a poached egg, salad and a generous parmesan.
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A corner of the cafe also doubles as a florist called Fortune Flowers, with notes from Dhingra herself. “Why wait for someone else to buy you flowers?” she said. “You can buy them yourself, a little pick-me-up for the days you need them most.”
One of the fortune-telling says: “You are allowed to overcome old recipes.” It seems an appropriate note for Dhingra’s final chapter.
Where: Sushila Bhavan, Ballard Estate, Fort, Bombay
When: Tuesday to Sunday, from 12 to 8 p.m.