Savoury 'eclairs' on the menu at Bondi's La Maison

First the friand was edged from centre stage by the cupcake, then macarons sent cupcakes back to the chorus.

Now there's a budding new star in town. Pastry chefs Frederic and Laurence Caillon are waging the eclair can trump them all.

The owners of Croquembouche Patisserie swing open the doors at La Maison de L'eclair on Thursday, a new concept shop at Bondi devoted to the eclair. And if you think the words chocolate and eclair belong exclusively in the same sentence, then its eclair range might unsettle you.

Laurence Caillon doesn't share her husband's sweet tooth, so her savoury creations include foie gras and fig, another of duck, gorgonzola, pear and walnut and not forgetting the avocado and prawn.

Not quite the eclair you might have snacked on as a treat after school. But the pastry chef argues the merits of the savoury eclair.

"It's a little like savoury crepes. There's an earthy flavour from the buckwheat, it isn't doughy and there's still a bit of crunch," Laurence explains.

The line-up has plenty of choice for those in search of gluten-free, and traditionalists have an ensemble of sweet options to choose from. La Maison de L'eclair, which opens at 91 Bondi Road, the one-time site of Paris Cake Shop, will bank on the recent success of standalone eclair start-ups in France and Britain.

Aussie bakers are no doubt plotting return fire – surely it's time for the finger bun to be reinvented and presented in glass jewellery cases?