L’appat Patisserie & Café

Wasn’t a fan. Sweets were good. But, then my mediocre lunch company may have affected my whole attitude towards the experience.

By far the best international fare I’ve had outside of Latin food! The service is always exceptional as is the impeccable quality of the cuisine. The menu gets switched up every few weeks, making for an experience that’s never boring. I look forward to their reopening in Clintonville.

An appreciation for the warm and generous owners of L’appat, who officially closed the doors of their Old Towne East location in late May. But no worries, they plan on reopening in Clintonville, so keep an eye on their Facebook page if you’re interested:
When I first tried L’appat, I was won over by the tropical touches to their European-​style pastries. Chaussons (French for turnover) filled with Japanese red bean, pineapple and coconut, guava; lemon-​lime and fig tarts; and classics like sweet potato pie. From a technical standpoint, the pastries at L’appat didn’t reach the same level of sophistication as Pistacia Vera, but I loved the constantly-​changing variety and the heart put into them.
But L’appat really hit its stride when they started doing dinner menus — Caribbean on Tuesdays, Pan-​African on Thursdays, Seafood on Fridays. The food was inventive, nicely presented, and most importantly, tasty. A cut above more modest places like Dabakh on Morse Road, but with food that rang with as much flavor and heart. The hours were a little irregular — their posted hours had them closing at 7PM — but if you called in advance they would keep the door open for you and you could eat your meal past closing time while they prepared tomorrow’s pastries in the kitchen.
That’s how I’ll remember their Old Towne East location — my wife and I eating a meal in the empty dining room past closing time, in the glassy corner seat, as the sun began to set and washed the neighborhood in golden light. It was a great dining experience, one of the best to be had in Columbus.
Here’s looking forward to their next incarnation.

Had the best dining experience of my life at this café. The place is small, but that comes with charm. We had breakfast, then took a few pastries to go. The staff are very friendly and accommodating. May have to come back to Columbus just to eat here again.

HURRY UP AND EAT HERE!!!
Having lived several years in Europe, I can still say without a doubt that this is one of – if not THE – best patisserie I have ever visited.
The flavors are profound.
Raspberry chocolate cake, lime tarts, Mexican chocolate cookies… they’re all just names until you put them in your mouth and then BOOM – it’s the flavors.
The husband and wife who run this sweet spot are a sincere, kind, hard-​working couple. I’ve walked by multiple times when the shop was closed but the doors were open, and they were always happy to say hello and help me out with whatever delicacy I happened to be eyeballing. They told me that they always welcome visitors, and they have even had visitors at 2am this way!
This is truly a special spot in the community and some of the best food around, so, seriously, hurry up and eat here!

What a little gem! I just happen to drive by last Friday and decided to stop in and take a look and I was not disappointed. I thought I would grab a coffee and a pastry but ended up sitting down for a proper breakfast with an open faced egg sandwich with spicy tomato basil sauce. The bread was perfect and so was the sauce! I will be back soon!

The food is amazing and fresh!!! Chef Didi and his team here are great! Love the rotating menu!

Wow, I can’t say enough about this place it was delicious. For a Francophile like myself it was certainly a treasure to find a French speaking owner/​chef behind all of the delectable flavors in this often Afro/​Caribbean themed rotating menu, (he’s from Benin, West Africa, here to get a PHD! AND run a resto he said!) The owner and chef explained that the menu rotated and today we had Carribean selections, he noted the menu was also posted on the Facebook page. I sampled the Jamaican curry chicken with dirty rice cabbage and plantains. It was delicious like someone’s grandmother had made it with loving care for her family. My friend had a shrimp dish with potatoes, green beans and potatoes and a flavorful red sauce. We washed it down with refreshing cucumber tea. I will be back, this place is charming and I really liked our chef, he’s a charming, kind man who takes pride in his work. I had a lovely time chatting with the owner in French and I will certainly come back here. It reminds me of some of the African cafés and patisseries I would frequent when I lived in France, I love it! I’m so happy to know this exists.

Beautiful, delicious food in a romantic, intimate setting. We had beignets and raspberry chocolate cake for dessert. I chose the spinach/​ham beignet and my friend had the plain. They are potato based, and little pillows of flavorful heaven. Served with a lovely bright side salad made up of mesclun greens, strawberries and apple it was a light, bright note that kept the fried beauty that are beignets form feeling heavy. The pastries are excruciatingly good– you can’t go wrong. They had lemon marshmallow sweet tea today and it was delicious, lemon with a brûlée flavor. This is not the best choice if you are in a hurry, but it can’t be beat if you have the time to spend. It’s slightly pricey but worth every dime. Service is accommodating, engaging and wonderful. This is an absolute jewel of a place– you gotta try it!

We stopped in on a Saturday afternoon and were impressed with how wonderful everything in the pastry case looked! The tables are beautifully set and staff was friendly. The menu was limited, as you might expect from a small café, but the choices were appetizing and we easily selected two very tasty dishes. However, mine came out of the kitchen well before my husband’s; long enough that my fritatta was cold by the time his omelet arrived.
The food was very good, high quality and interesting. This place just needs some better organization and timing to improve. We will definitely go back to give them a second try.

We went for brunch on a Sunday. I won’t tell you what we had because menus here change frequently but rest assure that wathever you order will be delicious. There is no place quite like this in Columbus. The owners greet you upon your entrance and make you feel at home. Not only the food — international fusion– is amazing and different, but this place also contributes to build a sense community you want to be a part of it. They have faith in the revival the area is experiencing and in Columbus over all. I commend them for that. We will come back as soon as possible, so many things we want to try!
Tip: Check their Facebook page as their ever changing menus are posted there :)

Two friends and I came to L’Appat for lunch and it was amazing! The menu is small, du jour, and full of colors and flavors. We were given small samples of two «iced teas» — marshmallow & chocolate raspberry. Both were subtle & the chocolate raspberry was begging to have a little rum added. I had the carrot and leek soup, and couscous salad. The soup was fresh, hot and flavorful rather than «dump ingredients in a pot & stir» or «defrost bag of frozen soup & place in heated tureen.» The salad — I could wax poetic — a mix of couscous, spring lettuces, carrots, spring peas, parsley, green beans, red cabbage and this wonderful, bright, citrus-​y vinaigrette. The owner came out and talked with us at length, gave us bites of a pumpkin cake he was making and generally was as charming as a Francophone can be. My tablemates had a curried chicken croissant and a chicken «brik» — a north African version of burek. There were noises of joyful eating throughout the meal, and Didi was proud to point out the lack of salt or pepper on the tables — «if the food is prepared properly, you do not need it!» — and indeed, we did not realize the lack.
Head a couple blocks away from Olde Towne central (corner of Oak and Champion) and try this place out. You won’t be sorry!

I’m a sucker for sweets, thus I’ve been wanting to stop in here for a while. Quant, homey joint! Simple yet nice décor. I was running ahead of schedule, thus decided to stop here before my doctor’s appt. The gentleman that greeted me behind the pastry counter was very polite and friendly. It was nice chatting with him.
At the time, they didn’t have any cheesecake — what I ultimately came for (the pics look super good!). Instead, I decided to go with their Lemon Pistachio Tart.
I was not wowed by this one. It didn’t taste bad, don’t get me wrong. The lemon flavoring was in a little blob, right in the middle of the pastry. Thus, there was a lot of pastry around it. The pistachio flavor was not very strong, either. I’ve had pistachio ice cream that you can taste it more. The item was flakey and good crust, but it didn’t earn a place in my mental trophy case.
I need to try one of their cheese cakes — the Unilocal pics make me salivate every time haha!

Charming, friendly café. Food was delicious, fresh, plentiful. Prices are great. We sat at a small table with a petite vase and candle. It felt like a bistro in Paris. This was our first visit and it will not be our last. Oh, and the dessert case was full of delicious looking pastries! But our tummies were too full to try any today. Another reason to return!

Great hole-​in-​the-​wall café and date spot!
The owners are so friendly and fun to talk to! Their menu changes weekly and the foods vary from quiche to tarts to stuffed pastries (and they have varying dinner options too).
Prices are moderate, but totally worth the experience. If you visit, talk to DiDi. Don’t be shy!
I’ll be back for a coffee and one of their breakfast specials when I’m in the area.

My friends and I stopped in after brunch elsewhere and loaded up on some pastries. I got a sweet potato pie, a cheese pastry (forgot what it’s called), and some cookies! The sweet potato pie was good and very filling, you almost get sick of it at the end. I loved the cookies I bought, they were crispy and you could taste the different flavors. The cheese pastry was so-​so. There wasn’t enough filling, it was mostly pastry.

Stopped in here for lunch on a regular weekday with a friend. We were the only customers in the café at the time, which usually makes me a little uneasy whether I’ve made the right choice. It sits in a neighborhood that’s a lil sketch and the café front doesn’t have anything outstanding so it could be easily missed.
I ordered the sweet potato tart per Unilocal’s common things to order here and my friend ordered an african influenced dish — some chicken with veggies from the menu. I had a bite of it and it was really good. Prices from the menu were a tad expensive, but the portion seems very big. My tart was heated so it was warm and crispy — and oh so delicious. The owner had alot of tarts with tropical flavors that I’m familiar with and would love to try later on. I assume this place is busy on the weekends.
From the name of the place, I was expecting one of those cutesy French café, and am so pleasantly surprised to see that it’s actually African. I don’t think I’ve ever been to place with what this place offers — African-​influenced pastries/​sweets and entrees. The motto of the owner is, «I don’t serve anything that I don’t consider good myself.»

Sup DiDi and Minerva? You have a great joint here! And one of a kind, too. DiDi was a biochemist in the Ivory Coast turned pastry chef and I for one could not be more thankful for that career move. I thoroughly enjoyed my mid afternoon pastries with my boyfriend – the chocolate date pastry and pistachio lemon tart – with a coffee. They heated our pastries to the perfect temperature and served our coffee in cute individual pots. Nice touch!
I can only imagine the line out the door on weekend mornings. The
place is very quaint (translate: tiny but cosy) and the pastries, delicious. DiDi said to come in the morning for the best selection, and I am sure that if you requested a certain pastry to be made available, he’d comply. He’s just that kind of guy.
Glad to see a place like this sprucing up old town east. Sidenote, they cater!!!

I highly recommend coming here for a meal or to get pastries. The owner Didi and his food are wonderful.
My folks live in Olde Towne East and come here a lot. My aunt, mom and I met a couple of family friends here for lunch yesterday at 11:30. We were the only customers for awhile, then two people came to occupy another table. The place is small, but there are about 7 tables. There are lovely tarts and cookies in the display cases as reasonable prices. Our party weren’t super hungry, so most of us got the soup of the day, which was double potato soup, with leeks. It was delicious. It came with perfect bread pieces for dipping.
Didi is very personable and enjoys chatting with his customers. The café is on the corner of Oak and Champion; it is worth seeking out.

I finally got around to going here
After hearing the recent Valentine’s day fiasco reported here on Unilocal,I was afraid that the owner was going to be a major butt but he was actually quite nice. His wife was really sweet and gave us samples of goodies and then the infamous owner finally came out to take care of our order. We chatted a great deal about his life and his family; he was really kind.
The treats were okay. I think it was a mistake on our part (me and my honey) to go near the end of the business day. You should never go to a bakery at the end of the day… at least that’s my motto but stupid us were in the neighborhood and couldn’t resist finally trying this place. My husband loved everything but I could pass. The whip cream that comes with the mini-​bundt cake is to die for, though. I’m now trying to eat vegan so no more cream for me. Perhaps I’ll see if they have vegan treats…
The café is cute and if you can make it here during the day, I would recommend giving it a try.