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David Lebovitz Archives: Pastry Shops The Pâtisseries of Paris: A Paris Pastry Guide April 24, 2008 |
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 I've been reading through a nifty, new guidebook to the bakeries, chocolate shops, and tea salons, called The Pâtisseries of Paris. This handy little book is full of great addresses and tips, and is just small enough to slip in your shoulder bag when hitting the streets of Paris, should you come to Paris on a mission for sweets. I was surprised at how in-depth this guide takes you. Naturally, the usual suspects, like Ladurée and Stohrer, are in there. And chocolatiers like Jean-Charles Rochoux and Patrick Roger are always a stop whenever I'm on the Left Bank, so I was happy to see the nods toward them. There's few places that aren't worth the trip. Such as Au Panetier bakery, where the dry cookies don't make up for the glorious art nouveau tilework. Continue reading "The Pâtisseries of Paris: A Paris Pastry Guide" »
Exceptions Gourmandes-Philippe Conticini March 13, 2008 |
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Now that you've all seen everything I have in my kitchen, I thought I'd show you a place I just discovered this week not far from where all that pastry magic happens. (And I'm sure a few of you remember where all the magic that doesn't happen around here ends up.)  Someone chided me for having French Wine For Dummies on my bookshelf, but gave me a pass for having Rocco's book. Hey, it was a gift from him. What was I going to say?—No? Continue reading "Exceptions Gourmandes-Philippe Conticini" »
February 17, 2008 |
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 I don't know where they get these, and I don't really care. But if you stop in da rosa and don't pick up a bag of them, you're making a terrible mistake. These little dusty ovals of chocolate enrobe a Marcona almond tucked in the middle and there's just a touch for the smoky taste of pimente d'Espelette, the bright-red Basque chili powder that I like to sprinkle over everything from pumpkin purée to chocolate-peanut bark. Once I open the bag of Pimandes, it's assured that the rest will soon be history. To be honest, I wanted to show you the inside of one. Really I did.
The Best Marshmallows in Paris November 14, 2007 |
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I've been trying to convince my French friends that yes...marshmallows do go atop sweet potatoes. But only once a year. And only on Thanksgiving.  Maybe more than Americans, French people do like marshmallows. A lot. You see them in many bakeries and pastry shops, often in long strands, on display either in lengths or tied into knots, in apothecary jars. It's a tradition that goes back, before the advent of gelatin, when marshmallows were made with mallow extract which was (and still may be) considered good for your respiratory system. Nowadays the French eat lots of marshmallows, not necessarily on sweet potatoes, but as a candy or le snack. And my local pharmacy still carries them...although I don't think they're covered by my health insurance. Continue reading "The Best Marshmallows in Paris" »
November 5, 2007 |
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If G. Detou didn't exist, I couldn't live in Paris.  Seriously. The overstocked, but impeccably neat shelves at G. Detou do indeed have everything, as the name implies in French (J. Detou is a play-on-words, meaning "I have everything".) But when you're someone like me that does an inordinate amount of baking, plus loves...and I mean loves...to discover new and unusual foods and chocolates, a place like G. Detou is truly pastry paradise.  This little shop near Les Halles is stocked, literally, floor-to-ceiling with everything a cook or baker could want. There's chocolates from across France, including a huge (and I mean huge) selection of bars including Michel Cluizel, Valrhona, Voisin, Weiss, Bonnat, Cacao Barry—the best of l'hexagone. But even better are the big tablets and sacks that range from 3 to 5 kilos, that hard-cores bakers like me depend on. Although I'm not the only avid chocolate baker in town: When I was in last week, a tiny, meek little old lady came by and left hefting a 3-kilo sack of white chocolate, and a man in a hurry, who didn't remove the cell phone from his ear while he rattled off his order to the red-coated salesclerk, left with five enormous sacks of chocolate, as well as assorted other goodies.
La Boulangerie par Veronique Mauclerc September 6, 2007 |
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I'd like to introduce you to someone you may not have heard of: Véronique Mauclerc. But I hope on your next visit to Paris, or if you live here, you'll make the trip to see her gorgeous and very special bakery.
 
And what a magnificent oven it is! As the morning continues, and perhaps the coffee kicks in, the bakers start adding wood until the temperature of the oven's just right for baking bread, 275C (about 530F). Then each hand-shaped loaf is baked off to crackly-crusty perfection.
 
Continue reading "La Boulangerie par Veronique Mauclerc" »
August 21, 2007 |
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As you probably have guessed by now, I'm quite different from the other Parisians. Aside from my less-than-stellar command of the language and a rather bizarre desire not to walk right into others on the sidewalk, I don't buy that many baguettes.
Continue reading "Baguettes" »
10 Insanely Delicious Things You Shouldn't Miss in Paris August 9, 2007 |
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"We're coming to Paris!"
"What's there to eat that we shouldn't miss?"
How about a pain aux cereales?
Still, I get this question frequently asked and while I'm usually organized (Can you say pastry chef?) with everything listed in the Category box to your left, I still kinda have to point folks there. And...hey, did you know that we're coming up my 500th post here on the blog? I was thinking of having some kind of contest with really cool prizes, like an all-expense paid trip to Tahiti...but then I thought some of you might balk at shelling out money on a nice trip for me. And to be honest, the thought of relaxing somewhere on the beach being surrounded by oily, lithe, tanned bodies with the scent of vanilla lingering in the air while listening to the sound of the surf isn't exactly paradise compared to all the treats I have access to below. Now is it?  Lemon Tartlets from La Fougasse
And seriously, you shouldn't miss them if you come.
I love les macarons and although I still think the classic ones at Ladurée are tops in town, Over at Pierre Hermé, he's always experimenting with unusual flavor combinations so you never quite know what you'll find here. But if you happen to be there and see pastel-orange cookies the color of apricot with a soft, creamy filling oozing out, hiding a nugget of crackly almond croquant covered with fine pieces of pistachio dust, I urge you to try one. Although each time I go in, the amount of filling seems to be increasing to the point of excess, I can't resist popping one in my mouth. And in fact, when I go in now, my favorite saleswoman there instinctively hands me one over the counter. (And people ask me why I live here all the time as well...) One tip: The shop on the rue Bonaparte is usually mobbed and it's difficult to see anything or linger. Head over to the Pierre Hermé shop at 185, rue Vaugirard, which is much more spacious. And while you're there, stop in at des Gâteaux & du Pain at 63, boulevard Pasteur; the pastries and breads are drop-dead gorgeous there as well.
 Les Baguettes Monge from Kayser
Continue reading "10 Insanely Delicious Things You Shouldn't Miss in Paris" »
July 12, 2007 |
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Acting on a hot tip....(aka, I was just walking by)...I noticed a new face in the Marais: Gérard Mulot. Sure there's lot of shoe shops, sunglass boutiques, and questionable "art" galleries in the Marais. But there's a dearth of bakeries and pastry shops.
 
For those of you who don't know who I'm talking about, Gérard Mulot is most famous for his Left Bank shop on the rue de Seine, where he turns out magnificent fruit tarts, from simple to architectural, buttery pastries which include a rich-rich-rich chocolate coconut fondant that's barely finish-able (if that's a word), and an impressive selection of hearth-baked breads for the appreciative crowds that are always oogling the pastries in the shop. (A few months ago I was fortunate to visit his workshop and watch his chocolatier make all sorts of things, as well as the rest of the staff, who demonstrated how they make their rather colorful macarons.) His new shop is just one block from the Places des Vosges, so if you're exploring the Marais or the Bastille, you're not far from pastry paradise. And even better...now I am too!
76 rue de Seine (6th) 93 rue de la Glacière (13th)
C'est Extraordinarie: Moisan's Ficelle Apéritif May 21, 2007 |
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A ficelle is a small baguette, whose name actually means 'string'. But in French bakery lingo it means a thin little crusty baguette. A ficelle makes a perfect petit snack, especially one like this that's crusted with lots of poppy and sesame seeds.
But what makes this little devil so appealing to me is the heavy-hand the baker lavishes it with sea salt.
(Which is a good thing, since salt can lead to thirst and thirst leads to water and...well...we all remember where that leads in Paris.) Continue reading "C'est Extraordinarie: Moisan's Ficelle Apéritif" »
The Best Madeleines in Paris-Ble Sucre May 16, 2007 |
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The best Madeleines in the world are right here in Paris. Well...duh. You don't need to visit my blog to know that, do you? I've never been one of those people who waxed poetically about Madeleines, invoking Proust's name whenever I can. So although I don't have nostalgic ties to Madeleines, I do like the idea of something a bit buttery, with a gilded crust, relatively portable, and not too-sweet for my afternoon gouter, or le snack, as it's often referred to around town. But most of the time (ok...always) I'm disappointed. The Madeleine I buy is either too dry, too floury, or worse, has the acrid taste of baking powder. But then the skies parted one day when I was at a new bakery in Paris, blé sucré, in the vastly pleasant, but out-of-the-way Square Trousseau. This new boulangerie and pastry shop is owned by Fabrice Le Bourdat, who worked with Gilles Marchal, the pastry chef at the esteemed Bristol.
I mean, what little sweet thing doesn't? Continue reading "The Best Madeleines in Paris-Ble Sucre" »
Paris Ice Cream: Les Glaciers de Paris May 4, 2007 |
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Here's my address book for the most popular, and my favorite places for ice cream in Paris.
Many of the places keep curious hours, some of which I've noted. Most don't open until mid-morning, and one, Deliziefollie, simply closed for the winter while Berthillon closes mid-July for the summer. I've listed phone numbers so you can call in advance.
Little needs to be said about Berthillion that hasn't already been said. This most-famous of all Parisian glaciers makes what many consider the best ice cream in the world. Go see for yourself! I was a fan of their glace chocolat until I saw the light and switched to the chocolat amer sorbet, which has the deep intensity of chocolate but without the distraction of cream. Their Caramel Ice Cream is excellent, but I think the Caramel-Buerre-Salé doesn't measure up to it. The fruit sorbets are excellent and the one made with tiny wild strawberries, fraises des bois, is worth the supplement. Berthillon is served at many cafés in Paris, and other locations near the original also scoop it up, which is helpful when they're closed. Beware of other storefronts nearby which some people confusing think serve glace Berthillon as well. (They'll always display a Berthillon logo if they do.) Berthillon
Popular with tourists and locals, Amorino does quite the business, making delicate 'flowers' of gelato on cones. I'm not a huge fan (one of my Italian readers called it "...an insult to Italians everywhere."), but that doesn't stop folks from lining up day and night. Interesting flavors include Bacio, the Italian-style 'kiss' of hazelnuts and chocolate and Amarena, candied sour cherries embedded in vanilla custard. Those of you who are lactose-intolerant can find digestive comfort in Amoriso which they say is made with rice and rice milk. Twelve boutiques in Paris. Amorino
More often than not, you'll find me at Pozzetto, waiting from my scoop of sticky gelato in a cone being handed through the window to me. Continue reading "Paris Ice Cream: Les Glaciers de Paris" »
April 16, 2007 |
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A blog is an online diary where you can write about what you see and what you eat. It's a marvelous thing that you can use to share your culinary experiences for everyone to read. The flip side of having a blog is that others can, and do, read it. A while back I wrote something about a chocolate shop in the Marais that I once walked by with a friend, a very talented chocolatier from Brussels. He looked in the window and didn't find the presentation all that enticing. So I wrote a few words about the place here on the site, a comment he made in passing, that wasn't necessarily glowing nor was it desultory. (Either way, I'm off the hook. He said it, not me.) But it was enough to invoke an email from someone at the company about a year later. But it wasn't signed by Joséphine Vannier.
Seizing the opportunity, I responded, saying I'd love to come in and get shown around, hopefully by the elusive Joséphine herself, and to be properly introduced to her chocolates with her expert help. Continue reading "Who Is Josephine Vannier?" »
April 4, 2007 |
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Don't hate me when I tell you this: Last week I was invited to La Maison du Chocolat.
Robert Linxe, who was born in the Basque region and founded La Maison du Chocolat, was one the major proponents of using ganache in his chocolates; that slightly-airy amalgamation of chocolate and cream. Then he went on to develop a flavor palette of ganache-based chocolates...and the rest is one of the most successful stories in chocolate history. Continue reading "La Maison du Chocolat" »
February 8, 2007 |
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Yesterday, I decided that since I was the last person in the world to be using Safari as a web browser, I should switch to Firefox. Everyone says it's better and since I use Movable Type for the blog, Firefox has little buttons to make things bold or to italicize, so I don't need to type in a bazillion symbols everytime I do that.
 When you work in a restaurant, you develop a rhythm, especially when it comes to setting up your statio in preparation for the rush of customers. If you have a fixed menu and you've been working in the same place for a while, when you arrive, you can almost work on auto-pilot to make sure everything's in place (called mis-en-place), so when the rush comes, you're full-organized and never get buried under orders (or as they say, 'in the weeds'). If you've done it right, the evening runs like a finely-tuned Swiss watch. If not, you've got no business in a restaurant kitchen. So one evening, someone brought in something which we ingested that was terribly strong and radically alerted our 'perception of reality' (yes, even vegetarians have their vices). As we started our work, though, the owner arrived and surprised us with a brand-new menu, full of items we'd never seen before. So we had to completely change our set-ups and prepare all new dishes. It's like your computer crashing, taking everything with it, and you need to re set-up everything again. To make a long (long) story short, once the customers arrived, it was like your worst dream coming true, the kind where you're running towards something, but the faster you run, the farther away it gets. So as the order tickets started coming in, we all panicked and found ourselves seriously in the weeds (in more ways than one), and the evening was a catastrophe. When I installed my new browser yesterday, everything changed on my little Mac. My beloved bookmarks, which I've spent years collecting, I cherished as your grandmother cherishes her Hümmel figurines, were gone. And the look of my blog platform changed: Yes there were those terrific little buttons that add links, italics, and what-not, but each time I used one, it jumped up to the top of the document, meaning I had to re-scroll back to where I was typing, prompting a mad dash to find where I left off. So like coming down from a bad high, back to my familiar reality, I've returned to Safari. I guess old habits die hard. Like my love for rustically grainy breads, and had a chance to return to one of my favorite bakeries in Paris yesterday when I had a doctor's appointment on the other side of the city. Continue reading "Browsing in Paris" »
February 5, 2007 |
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I Ate A Croissant Yes, I know. I'm sure on one of those bulletin boards somewhere, someone will be making fun of me, "Wow, David Lebovitz is bragging about eating a croissant. Who does he think he is anyways?" It's a common joke among Americans who live here that people think all we do is sit around eating croissants, visiting museums, praying for salvation at Notre Dame, and climbing the Eiffel Tower every afternoon.
Although stories abound, no one quite knows who invented le croissant. It's believe to be in an invention of the Austrians, who created a crescent-shaped pastry to oppose the Ottomans, who had invaded their country. They symbol of Turkey is a crescent, and granted, who doesn't like to eat Turkey? Except maybe vegetarians. (Surely followed by, "And who does he think he is anyways?") But today, I think few would argue that the croissant is most closely associated with France and in fact, one rarely comes across a bakery in Paris that doesn't offer their own version. If you need further proof of their proprietary aliance with French gastronomy, ask yourself when was the last time you heard the words das croissant? (Ok...case closed.) Continue reading "The Best Croissant" »
January 21, 2007 |
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One of my favorite things to do in Paris is just wander around, often in neighborhoods that aren't really known for anything special. There's always something interesting to find; shops specializing in vintage hairbrushes and combs, a locksmith for doors installed only during the reign of Napolean III, or the recently-departed Reptiles World (sic), which was one of my favorite places to pass the time while waiting for a train at the nearby Gare du Nord. And of course, I'm usually on the lookout for food, and am especially keen when I come across a shop specializing in candymaking or chocolate. If I get lucky, I discover some little treasure, often in the most unlikeliest of places.
Sure, their chocolates aren't nearly as sleek or refined as their Left Bank counterparts, but I appreciated their handmade charm all the same. Especially the petits dark squares filled with a crisp morsel of mint fondant cloaked in brusque, dark chocolate. And the chocolates filled with caramel and feuilleté were certainly as delicious as those found in swankier boutiques. One chocolate that picqued my curiosity was flavored with chanvre, a word I wasn't familiar with. Although I've been previously familiar with the green leaf embedded atop the chocolate in my younger days, she offered a sample since she was having difficulty explaining exactly what was inside. (The French word for what I thought it was is a four-letter word in English...madame might not have appreciated my translation.) But then, in that little shop, I learned my Word-For-The-Day: the ganache was infused with hemp. (For the record, I'd advise against overseas shipping.) But should you find yourself near the Gare du Nord or Gare d'Est, and need to pass a bit of time (or want try to get a bit of a buzz)...or if you just want to take a journey to a less-visited quartier of Paris, Le Furet Tanrade certainly makes a tasty stopping point.
John-Charles Rochoux, Parisian Chocolatier January 8, 2007 |
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One of the hardest things about writing about food is coming up with that killer opening sentence. It should start with something that grabs your attention right away, tickles your curiosity, then encourages the reader (which would be you) to follow the writer (which, or course, would be me) deeper into the story. Thankfully when writing about chocolate, I can include pictures to help me get going, so most of the work is already done.
 A Handcarved Rabbit Made of Pure White chocolate.
 Slender Orangettes; strips of candied orange peel flecked with crunchy nougat, dipped in dark chocolate.
 Paris Chocolatier Jean-Charles Rochoux
I was fortunate enough to take some time from my busy schedule to pose for Monsieur Rochoux, so he could create one of the most iconic pieces in the shop: Le torse. Continue reading "John-Charles Rochoux, Parisian Chocolatier" »
December 19, 2006 |
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I don't know how someone would brave getting one of those home on the métro, but I'd surely appreciate their efforts if I found one under my tree!
December 4, 2006 |
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At last count, there are 1263 bakeries in Paris. On just about every street, there's at least one, if not two, or even three bakeries. Some of them are very good, a few are perhaps not so fabulous, and several are excellent. Parisians eat a lot of bread, far more than their American counterparts. Visitors often wonder, "How come we don't have bakeries like this is America?" "Because people won't eat bread in America anymore. Everyone's afraid of it." I respond Tragically, most nod in agreement.
And for some reason, I'm always in front of the most impatient one, who firmly keeps nudging me forward. My strategy against those Parisian pests is to gently innocently start backing up, which kinda freaks them out and invariably causes a chain reaction, since the person behind them is usually pressed up against them as well, nudging them forward too. It causes a certain amount of shuffling and mild hysteria, but tant pis. Or at least a loaf of bread. But when there's a bakery as good as 140 in town, Parisians have good reason to get pushy about their bread. And neighborhood residents buy stop here once, or even twice daily to get theirs. And like many of them, I'm happy to stand my ground for a crisp, golden baguette de campagne that feels crisp and warm when it's handed over the counter to me. Or for the buttery-mouthful of a flaky croissant that shatters into a gazillion crackly shards when you bite into it. These are some of the daily rituals that go on around here, of which I'm frequently guilty of taking part. (The pushing part I'm still getting used to.)
Paris Hot Chocolate Address Book October 9, 2006 |
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People come from all over the world to sip le chocolat chaud in the busy and cozy cafés in Paris. Here are some of the top addresses in town to warm up.
This famous hot chocolate salon is getting a well-deserved makeover. But no matter; the place is always packed-full of French society women and tourists side-by-side spooning up their gloriously rich, and impossibly thick, le Chocolat Africain. The service has taken some knocks, but most chocophiles forget any glitches in exchange for the priviledge of sipping the world's most famous hot chocolate.
Pair a mug of frothy hot chocolate with a scoop of Paris' best ice cream for a decadent afternoon snack. Their salon de Thé next door to the ice cream shop has terrific desserts, including perhaps the best, and most perfectly caramelized, tarte Tatin in Paris. Pair it with a scoop of caramel ice cream making it a wedge of heaven. Closed Monday and Tuesday.
Overlooking the extraordinary Opéra Garnier, this is the most picturesque spot in Paris to sip hot chocolate. Be sure to request fort en gout (strong flavor), unless you prefer your hot chocolate touché delicate, with a delicate touch. Open late in the evening for those after-the-opera chocolate cravings.
Revitalize in this tiny, modern chocolate shop near bustling Les Halles on the trendy rue Montorgueil with a cup of their dark, bittersweet brew which gushes from their well-polished copper cauldron.
Shoppers make a beeline to delicabar in Le Grand Epicerie to savor chocolate créateur's Sébastian Gaudard's dreamy concoction of chocolate and milk in this hip café. Non-purists (and hedonists) may choose to enhance their chocolat chaud with an optional dose of cassonade, the sticky dark cane sugar. The salty, buttery sablé cookies are delicious, and irresistable, as well.
Unwind in fabulous gilded splendor at this chic address across from the Jardin des Tuileries. The ultimate luxury here is ordering your hot chocolate according to the cru (tropical origin), including fruity Manjari chocolate from Madagascar and intense Guanaja from South America.
Divine hot chocolate is served in the upstairs tearoom. I challenge any die-hard chocoholics not to resist one of the rich, elegant chocolate cakes as well.
This funky tearoom serves their ultra-thick le chocolat chaud in tiny Japanese cups, encouraging you to savor it one chocolaty dose at a time. La Charlotte got a boost from a favorable write-up in The New York Times a few years back, so the cluttered shop can get a bit cramped on weekends.
Only a few locations of La Maison du Chocolat have tasting 'bars' where you can sit in the summer, slurping down a chocolate frappe or during the winter, treat yourself to a steaming mug of hot chocolate made from the world's finest chocolate. The exotic Caracas hot chocolate is not for the timid, nor is the Bacchus, with a rather adult shot of dark rum. Continue reading "Paris Hot Chocolate Address Book" »
Pierre Marcolini's Chocolate-Covered Marshmallows September 30, 2006 |
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The hardest of all foods to photograph, I've learned, are chocolate-covered marshmallows.
I futzed around a bit, trying to figure out how to show the lofty-white cubes in juxtaposition to the coating of pure, dark chocolate. They're such diverse colors and textures that I tried several variations and lighting situations, until I decided that they'd looked best with a piece broked off. So I took a bite out of one. Then I took another bite. And then, I stopped shooting... ...and ate the whole pack. Sorry.
June 11, 2006 |
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Wandering the streets of Paris, I feel fortunate when I stumble across a great boulangerie. In a city with 1263 bakeries (at last count) many of them are good, a few great, and some are disappointingly ordinary.
While I waited, I craned my neck to look at their beautiful breads on display. In Paris, once it's you're turn in line, if you haven't figured out what you want, you're messing up the whole system, since indecision is not a Parisian trait. But I honed in immediately on this pain Auvergnate, a dense, dark loaf dusted heavily with flour. Sliced open, the dense mie, or crumb, smelled rich, sour and medieval. I would imagine it going well with a full-flavored mountain cheese, like Comté or Cantal, or a tangy, fresh goat cheese with a dribble of dark chestnut honey. I also bought several palets Breton, crumbly butter cookies, a specialty of Brittany where butter rules...especially butter flecked with fleur de sel. Unfortunately I made a stop to visit a local chocolatier, who helped himself to my stash. And before I knew it, they were gone and I had nothing but a bag of crumbs (which, by the way, were rather good.) Luckily, he made up for it in spades, which I'll write about soon.
(other location)
May 8, 2006 |
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Financiers from Kayser bakery: Green Tea and Black Sesame, Chocolate, and Nature (Almond).
January 30, 2006 |
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American's often wonder how French people know they're American before they even say one word. It used to be the sneakers; they were the dead giveaway. Nowadays, wearing sneakers, or les baskets, in Paris is as carrying a baguette. The other way they can tell us-from-them, is that Americans tend to smile. A lot. We are a rather happy tribe. And Americans tend to eat and drink while walking (or while driving, which I've explained to some of my French friends, but they look at me in disbelief). Although in Paris it's becoming a bit more common, it's still unusual to see someone chowing down while walking on the street or in the métro. It's just not done and people will definitely give you funny looks if you're, say, cramming a Pierre Hermé pastry into your face while sitting on a sidewalk bench. Or shoving a sublime, cream-filled éclair au chocolat from La Maison du Chocolat into your mouth, trying to make sure not one precious drop of bittersweet chocolate pastry cream lands anywhere but in your tummy. But one little nugget of Parisian tradition still amuses me every time I see it.
I usually end up with a mess of flour on my dark overcoat, since one of my favorite breads in Paris, le Bazinette, has a fine dusting of flour on it's crackly crust and permeating all the little brittle crevasses. If you're lucky enough to get to Bazin early in the day, a favorite baguette of mine is available with a hearty mixture of grains; flax, sesame, and poppy seeds. The one shown above is their baguette de tradition, a hand-shaped baguette, slightly sour from the addition of un peu de levain, natural sourdough starter, which gives the bread a hearty, earthy character and allows it to remain fresher longer than the usual 4-hour lifespan of a good Parisian baguette.
I once asked them why they don't make more, and they just looked at me, and shrugged their shoulders, as if to say,
January 11, 2006 |
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I had an Epiphany this weekend...
 140
January 4, 2006 |
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One of the great things to do in Paris is to wander. The 13th arrondissement of Paris is a real cross-cultural quartier. On a recent stroll through the neighborhood, I stopped by one of my favorite out-of-the-way boulangeries, Le Grenier à Pain and found these whimsical chocolate-covered Pain d'Epice...
I turned around, considered getting another bag but instead spotted a beautiful loaf, le pain aux ceriales, on the wooden rack behind the counter.
November 27, 2005 |
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The worst thing about the pâtisserie of Arnaud Larher is that it's too damn far away from where I live. The best thing, though, is once I arrive, I forget the arduous journey when I see all the terrific cakes and candies and treats waiting for me...
November 1, 2005 |
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Perhaps my favorite pastry shop in Paris is Sadaharu Aoki. And I know I'm not alone. I ran into a famous chocolatier from the neighborhood during my last visit, who was picking up his goûter, or afternoon snack, as they call it in Paris. We recognized each other and he smiled at me while choosing a Thé Vert Napolean; layers of vivid green tea pastry cream stacked between dark-golden puff pastry. A wise choice since Sadaharu Aoki is widely-regarded as the master of puff pastry. After one buttery, crackly bite...you'd agree.
October 29, 2005 |
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Since we're on the subject of chocolate macarons, I stopped today at Ladurée, after the end of a long week: I renewed my Carte de Sejour, braved the hectic but incredibleMarché St. Pierre at the foot of Montmarte...and tried to get an answer about why after 10 days, I still don't have internet access or cable tv. With all that stress, I felt it was an absolute necessity to visit Ladurée twice this week, especially since all my homemade chocolate macarons got wolfed down at my friend Heather's wild birthday party and I forgot to stash away a few for myself. I needed to get my fix...and I needed it fast. But sometimes life tosses the weak a life preserver...
...and where have they been all my life?
The Sweetest Woman in Paris: Denise Acabo at A l'Etoile d'Or July 2, 2005 |
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Forget Catherine Deneuve and Carole Bouquet. The most photographed and revered woman in Paris is Denise Acabo. With her braided pig-tails, necktie, and crisply-pleated kilt, Denise is the sweetest babe in Paris. Her shop, A l'Etoile d'Or, has an etherial selection of artisan confections and chocolates from France and whenever I go, I invariably find something new to try, something tasty, something that is so amazing, that I'm compelled to go back for more. What's a guy to do?
Don't understand a word of French? Continue reading "The Sweetest Woman in Paris: Denise Acabo at A l'Etoile d'Or" »
Vandermeersch: King of the Kouglof June 29, 2005 |
Comments (1)
I've been meaning to cross Paris to make the trip to Vendermeersch for months. Actually, make that years. Really. For some reason, I never made it. Maybe it's because they're closed at the wrong time. Maybe it's the idea of taking the Métro to a firmly, fairly distant residential arrondisement of Paris. I don't know. But lots of Parisians have made the trip to Vandermeersch. According to Dorie Greenspan in her superb book Paris Sweets, the year Le Figaro newspaper declared their Galette des Rois (a marzipan-filled puff pastry dessert, created to celebrate Epiphany) as the best in Paris, they sold 1600 that weekend alone! When I first walked in, I was assaulted by the "wall of Kouglofs". There were tons of them, in every size, in every price. (Although I don't understand why places price things like 3.86€ or 7.51€... I know they're sold by weight, but can't they just add or subtract a couple of centimes? Like pennies, who wants centimes?) 
And did I mention the compact loaf of grainy bread I discovered nestled in their wooden baking molds?
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