If you are walking through Garden at the Botanical Garden will hardly go unnoticed by the ‘absurd ‘, new confectionery Rio de Janeiro. Commanded by the chef Henry Rossanelli, the site opened 1 month and a half ago in one of the historic and listed houses that the region is home to.
The house is already crowded, with queues of those who want to try the traditional desserts with original touches that the pastry chef offers. There, the classic condensed milk pudding with caramel is available in a jar (R$ 22.50). Quindim, in turn, is served in a rectangular shape with passion fruit flavor (R$23.90); eclair is found with different fillings, including chocolate with coffee and hazelnut (R$ 22.50).
Chefs are part of its history
Henrique had his first contact with the universe of restaurants in a natural way. His family has always owned diners. He liked the idea of working with the public and became more and more interested in the subject. He took a course in gastronomy techniques and got his first job in the area in 2013, in São Paulo. That’s when he met the pastry chef Lucas Corazza, who played a key role in its development.
“I offered to work with him and everything I know about baking I owe to him. I learned a lot. I was part of his team and we worked on several events, I took the boom street fairs”, he recalls.
Then, he entered the culinary school and decided to enroll in a television program that had the proposal to be a competition between amateur cooks, The Taste Brasil, on the GNT channel. Renowned chefs would form teams and serve as judges. one of them was Felipe Bronze .
Henrique participated in the attraction and placed sixth, but he won much more than that: he was invited to work on the gold Felipe’s starred restaurant, which at the time was being reopened in Leblon.
Never having set foot in Rio de Janeiro, Henrique faced the challenge and moved to the totally unknown city that would still be his home, six years later.
The pandemic and the creation of Absurda
At Oro, aged 26, he was appointed pastry chef by Bronze, who insisted on presenting him in this way to customers. Different techniques, such as desserts made over coals, gained prominence there.
“I watched the look of a chef and also that of an administrator that he had, always unfolding in a thousand, and I learned a lot from it. Always very helpful, he gave me carte blanche to create the dessert menu. He collaborated and helped me, giving all the necessary support. It was a very special professional maturation and experience”, he emphasizes.
After about two years, Henrique understood that it was time to look for new paths. After a long conversation with the chef, he resigned. He went to work at Lilia Coffee , also in Rio, which had a more casual approach, and started teaching. Until at the end of 2019, at an event, he was invited by a Canadian chef to work in the country.
“A little bit crazy, I accepted the invitation to move to Canada. I saved money, organized the trip and said goodbye to everyone. When the week of departure arrived, the borders were closed due to the pandemic and I had to stay here, ”she recalls.
Online classes were the solution at first, but something called him back to the kitchen. Together with friends, he decided to undertake and make sweets at home. created the ‘Bounce it’ – the name came from a joke with his nickname “Quique”, by Henrique.
“We dived into it and everything got lighter. We entered delivery and structured our small business. We sold sweets in the pot, made the menu of the week and shared it on social media. It was crazy. The door of our house was always full of motoboys. This sustained us between 2020 and 2022,” she points out.
With many compliments and products they believed in, the friends decided to bet on the idea of a coffee shop. They went in search of a house and created a name from scratch, which would mark this new moment. Then, in September 2022, he was born Absurd Bakery.
“The idea is that people eat and think exactly that: what an absurdly good dessert. We don’t want to invent the wheel in the pastry shop. We take old sweets and give them new flavors. We visit classics with a greater focus on execution. I like the new old, ”she emphasizes.
Initially, the operation worked only for delivery while bureaucratic issues related to the physical space were being resolved. After five months, in Horto, in an almost 120-year-old house completely renovated in front of the Botanical Garden, the bakery opened its doors.
Absurda Confeitaria’s menu
Cozy, the place has sofas and tables distributed in two environments that can seat about 25 people. Inside, it is possible to observe the movement of the kitchen through a window. Those who prefer or have pets can order at the cashier and eat on benches outside the bakery.
On the menu, desserts stand out. In addition to condensed milk pudding and passion fruit quindim, customers will find cookies with milk and dark chocolate flavors (R$ 12.50); brownie (R$ 12.90); banana cake with cinnamon (R$ 12.50); carrot cake, one of the chef’s most famous, with carrots, nuts, cinnamon, orange zest, lemon and cream cheese filling (R$ 23.90); brigadeiro cake (R$ 25.90); red fruit cheesecake (R$ 29.90); cookie pave, with white chocolate mousse covered with dark chocolate ganache (R$28.50) and eclair and tarts of the day in assorted flavors.
Hot and cold drinks, as well as savory snacks, such as “the knee of the house”, a puff pastry stuffed with locally made ham, cottage cheese and Minas Padrão cheese (R$ 22.50), also have their place there. On the first page of the menu, there is a special sheet with the “options of the day”, which vary.
There are also items ready to be taken home, such as homemade granola (R$37); chocolate babka (a buttery pastry filled with cocoa – R$38.50); the whole cinnamon banana cake (R$36.90) and the jam of the day (R$35.90).
Absurd Bakery: Rua Pacheco Leão, 792 – Jardim Botânico, Rio de Janeiro/ Tel.: (21) 99193-3440/ Opening hours: Tuesday to Friday, from 11 am to 7 pm; Saturday and Sunday, from 9am to 7pm. Closed on Mondays.
Source: CNN Brasil
Johanna Foster is an expert opinion writer with over 7 years of experience. She has a reputation for delivering insightful and thought-provoking articles on a variety of subjects. Her work can be found on some of the top online news websites, and she is currently lending her voice to the world stock market.
