At first glance, some things appear as distant and different as can be. Take a sport and a coffee brand, for instance. Or asparagus and cold-brew coffee.

But there are people who can see past these superficial first impressions. They connect the dots, find common ground: at times, this can lead to extraordinary results. The necessary ingredients? Hard work, creativity and will to experiment.

During its time at this year’s Roland-Garros, Lavazza worked alongside two Michelin-starred chefs and the World Pastry Champion, combining the passion and expertise of the Lavazza Training Centre with two exquisite food service coffee products: Kafa and ¡Tierra! Brazil.

The goal? To embrace the aromatic notes of the two Lavazza blends within a top gastronomy menu developed by the chefs, featuring three perfect coffee pairings.

The pairings were led by the notes of ripe cherries, honey, dates and jasmine for Kafa; chocolate, caramel, hazelnuts and dried fruit for ¡Tierra! Brazil.

Lionel Giraud created “Esprit d’antipasti, olive café” paired with a Voix de la Terre façon sangria. Simone Zanoni’s menu featured “Voilaille au parfum de primavera” with Kafa en chaud-froid miel et romarin. And, ’dulcis in fundo’, as the Romans would say (very appropriately, in this case), Marc Rivière’s “Choux pas chous au cafè et noisette du Piémont”, with Kafa à la presse sur ratafia et citron.