For those with a Marie Antoinette complex, London now has another top cake shop to rival Ladurée in Knightsbridge, and Parlour at Sketch.

Macaron in Clapham is quickly becoming notorious locally as 'the shop that sells a £7 Loaf', but there's much more than overpriced bread here.

The new French boulangerie and pâtisserie, is the lovechild of Roger Rolland and Bertrand Lenet, who own the French bistro Gastro, and Ni Lenette who previously ran Tsunami, a UJ fave.

Apart from being one of a few female top sushi chefs in the UK, Mauritian-born Japanophile and Dita Von Teese look-a-like Lenette has a taste for performance, and at Macaron you get a bit of burlesque thrown into the mix: the pâtissiers wear toques, and the waitresses don corsets, fishnets, and heels, making the whole experience fruitier than a slice of the exotically named Amère des Tropiques.

French head pâtissier, Nicolas Houchet serves up a menu of traditional confections such as the Paris-Brest, a doughnut-shaped ring of choux pastry filled with vanilla crème and topped with toasted almonds. Meanwhile the denizens of SW4 can congregate at the generous shared table and enjoy a nice cup of green tea with their pastry.

Which is a damn sight more appealing than popping into Starbucks for a limp croissant and a latte.