By THÉRÈSE MARGOLIS    

Ah, dessert! That delicious, delightful, delectable palate-pleaser that is the nectarous climax and true pièce de résistance of any great meal, enthralling your taste buds with luscious sweetness and providing an ambrosial flourished finale to the dining experience.

Whether it be a simple bowl of vanilla ice cream or an elaborate Parisian profiterole, no meal is truly complete without a benevolent dose of sacchariferous indulgence.

And when it comes to desserts, no country’s chefs can compete with those of France.

French pastries are – and always have been – the gold standard for culinary excellence in the world of confectionaries, the crème de la crème of sinful gastronomic intemperance.

And with that in mind, Cedrón – arguably the best French restaurant in Mexico – has launched a month-long festival of pâtisserie francaise, a sumptuous and indulgent celebration of all things sweet, offering a selection of 15 desserts daily (served with or without a glass of French or Mexican rosé), each lovingly prepared by the restaurant’s pedigreed pastry chef Vidal Villa and supervised by Cedrón’s award-winning master chef Alejandro Fuentes.

The festival, which runs through May 9, is called Tardes de Primavera (Spring Afternoons) and includes a rotation of 20 traditional French desserts, all faithfully reproduced in accordance with the same exquisite ingredients and laborious detail that they would be in France.

Among the desserts included in the festival are chocolate éclairs, guava tarts and, of course, that incomparable classic Saint Honoré cake, an opulent pastry invented in 1847 at the Chiboust bakery in Paris and named for the patron saint of bakers, the Bishop of Amiens.

“We have pretty much stuck to the original recipes because, in the field of pastries, there is very little that can be added to the wonderful gamut of French pastries,” said Villa during a media preview of the festival.

“These recipes represent the perfection of French confectionaries.”

Perfection, indeed, and a true exercise in culinary delight for dessert lovers, French and otherwise.

More information

The Tardes de Primavera French dessert festival at Cedrón will run through May 9.

Cedrón is located at Mazatlán Avenida Mazatlán 24 in Colonia Condesa (tel: 2155-6403). 

It is open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner from 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., Sunday through Wednesday, and 7:30 a.m. to 12 midnight Thursday through Saturday. 

There is a live jazz band in the evening starting at 8 p.m. on Wednesdays, Thursday, Friday and Saturdays. 

All major credit cards are accepted and valet parking is available in front. 

Reservations are highly advised, especially on weekends.