Minnà : a pastry shop with Latin influences in Lyon

In 2014, Marcela Acquarone Quintana from Paraguay swapped architng Lenôtre, Le Ritz and the Michelin-starred restaurant La Mère Brazier, before becoming the pastry chef at a Relais & Château hotel in Bourgogne. A few years later, she met Julia and Tiago, the happy founders of the ice cream shops Único and Fresco. Maecture for pastry-making. “Apparently, I enjoyed starting at 5 in the morning every day,” joked the young lady. In Asunción, the capital city, she began working for a Frenchman before making the journey across the Atlantic to Lyon, where she enrolled at Institut Lyfe (formerly Institut Paul Bocuse). Once in France, she worked at a series of renowned establishments, including Lenôtre, Le Ritz and the Michelin-starred restaurant La Mère Brazier, before becoming the pastry chef at a Relais & Château hotel in Bourgogne. A few years later, she met Julia and Tiago, the happy founders of the ice cream shops Único and Fresco. Marcela joined them in 2021, to head up Minnà, named after Julia’s Corsican grandmother. This traditional patisserie serving old-fashioned desserts also offers catering services and snacks: “each of us brings our own story, through the recipes and ingredients.” These include sweetcorn, which is often used in South American cuisine, as well as tonka and cocoa beans, vanilla, peanuts and guava, which are brought back from South America each time a member of the team returns from a trip. At Minnà, everything is home-made. The ingredients are fresh and healthy, contain no colourings or additives, and respect the seasons. The environmentally responsible and almost-zero-waste approach has attracted a relatively young customer base, which looks to consume less, but better quality food. This positioning also allows Marcela to be very creative with tastes, textures and baking methods, thanks in particular to the Paraguayan moulds that she uses to make unbelievably soft cakes. Her specialities include peanut cookies, apple-guava and apricot-rosemary turnovers, and her famous tiramisu, made not with coffee but beer, a very popular drink in Paraguay! 

© Susie Waroude

Bio express

• 2014 : Started her pastry-making career in Paraguay.
• 2015 : Arrived in France.
• 2016 : Worked at Le Ritz and then moved to Lyon to study at Institut Lyfe.
• 2021 : Opening of Minnà.