The name Monofu is not an acronym or a Japanese expression, but an abbreviation of “mono food”. The concept of this new boutique sweet shop on Margaret Boulevard is as follows: every few months, they choose a French dessert and experiment with its main concept at the highest levels of culinary art, selling the end results in stylish and practical packaging. In addition, they also have wonderful coffee and fruit-infused waters. In any case, Monofu entered the culinary bloodstream of Budapest with a strong opening concept: crème brulée, served with gourmet style.
Évi and Domi are no hobby confectioners. They’ve been working with gastronomy for many years, so it was about time they had their own place. As fans of French cuisine and the concept of “mono food”, they brought the two together and created a dessert workshop with a periodically changing sweet – meaning that they will come up with a new “collection” every few months. This business policy is quite novel in Hungary, as here everyone wants everything available all the time: the best cakes, sandwiches, and lemonades at coffee shops, and both street food and fine dining at restaurants. Monofu focuses on one thing at a time.
The bijou shop is sleek and attractive with subtle colors, focusing on the dessert counter and its contents. When switching dessert collections, the interior design will be easy to change as well, both in terms of colors and shapes, which ensures perpetual renewal. It’s a new approach, but one that is very likeable and progressive. After all, fashion stores change their storefronts with new collections, and while this formula might not be all that familiar to gastronomy yet, we greet such novelties with excitement.
A rather well-known chef recommended Monofu even before its opening – none other than Péter Várvizi, the head chef of Larus Restaurant, whose work we adore. Therefore, it’s no surprise that we were eager to taste the work of Évi, Domi, and Olivér. The crème brulée collection consists of ten variations of the French dessert, each offered for a very reasonable 680 forints. The sweets line up behind the counter in appetizing little jars, equipped with a small spoon (naturally, we can take the jar home). The flavors include classic crème brulée, along with the following amazing variants:
pistachio/strawberry/rhubarb, salted caramel/passion fruit, pecan/tonka bean/blueberry, milk chocolate/apricot/salted peanut, mango/passion fruit/coconut, blackberry/yogurt/lemon, raspberry/vanilla, dark chocolate/orange, and caramelized white chocolate/grapefruit.
We tasted the three most promising combinations. The genius of the mixtures lies not only in the superb ingredients, but also in the textures: the creamy base is matched with sour ingredients, fresh fruit, and crunchy toppings. The pecan nut/tonka bean/blueberrybrulée is definitely not an everyday mixture, while the mango/passion fruit/coconutbrulée combines all of our favorite exotic fruits, and the pistachio/strawberry/rhubarbbrulée builds masterfully on the contrast of salty and sweet. When taking the photos for this article, we had to hold ourselves back from violently devouring the desserts, since even the looks of the sweets are unbelievably inviting – just like colorful jewels in a tiny jar.Monofu focuses mainly on takeaway consumption, so their main goal is to have customers grab one or two jars of brulée on their way home or en route to a picnic. The jars are easily transportable, and their contents don’t shake up too much, so they could also serve as cute gifts. The owners didn’t tell us what the next theme is going to be after the brulée, but considering the desserts of French gourmet cuisine, we can expect mousses, tarts, éclairs, and many other patisserie delights – c’est magnifique!
