Recently in Chocolate & Pastry Shops category

I don’t think there’s anyone happier than I am now that we now have our very own bean-to-bar chocolate maker in Paris. I remember when the movement started in America, and small chocolate manufacturers started popping up in the most unlikeliest of places by people curious about roasting and sourcing their own beans, then grinding them into smooth tablets of chocolate. I was impressed, but skeptical when it all started. But am thrilled the movement has taken off in so many ways and directions.

For the past five years, Alain Ducasse has been nurturing the same vision in Paris, along with pastry chef Nicolas Berger, who is now running La Manufacture de chocolat, their chocolate atelier not far from the center of the city.

Continue Reading La Manufacture de chocolat Alain Ducasse…

To begin the New Year on a sweet note, the publisher, Fleur de Lire, and I are offering free downloads of my Paris Pastry Guide app on iTunes.

There are over 300 bakeries, chocolate shops, ice cream salons, and more in this app, which features over 500 color photos of my favorite desserts and sweet treats in Paris.

You’ll also get my Top 25 list of my recommended “must go-to” visit places, an expansive glossary of French pastry terms, new GPS integrated maps that will guide you to the closest addresses, and more! Head over to the iTunes store and download it.

The Paris Pastry Guide app will be free only from noon on December 31th to 10am January 2th (Paris time.)

(UPDATE: Please note that this give-away has now ended. The app is available for purchase, and the Paris Pastry Lite version will continue to be available for free.)

Continue Reading Happy New Year-Free Download of Paris Pastry App!…

We’ve completely revamped and rebuilt the Paris Pastry app, starting with adding updates and the latest information about Paris pastry shops and updating my favorite addresses. But we’ve also rebuilt the app from the ground up, including a scrollable, enhanced French pastry glossary and dynamic maps searchable with a tap, to find the pastry shop nearest to wherever you are in Paris!

To celebrate the re-release, it’s being offered at a special price for $3.99 for a limited-time. Once you download the app, all future updates are free. If you already have the app, simply update it now and the new version with all the updates will be downloaded for free.

To use the app, open up the home page and you’ll find categories for everything, from delicious scoops of ice cream to where to find the best hot chocolate. There’s also an introduction by me about Paris pastries, as well as a glossary of terms you might come across in a bakery or chocolate shop. If you’re looking for a quick “Best of Paris” overview, check out my Top 25 Places in Paris for Pastry.

Continue Reading Paris Pastry App Update – Version 2.0+…

I first met Jacques Genin a number of years ago when he was (somewhat famously) working out of a battered storefront, on an uninteresting street deep in the 15th arrondissement of Paris.

I say “famously” because as he became quite a bit better known, many folks learning about him through Mort Rosenblum’s book, Chocolate: A Bittersweet Saga of Light and Dark. And subsequently, people started gathering outside his workshop door with the one-way mirror, which allowed him to decide whether he wanted to open the door or not. I think I was too timid to give it a try on my first go-around and after pacing at the end of the block for a while, I ended up leaving.

If nothing else, longevity has its rewards and eventually I made it past that mirrored door and into his workshop. It was rather tight in there, to say the least. In order for someone to walk past you, you had to back up and get out of the way while someone held a tray of just-dipped chocolates high in the air, sidestepping someone else walking the other way with a tray of hot nougat.

Continue Reading Jacques Genin…

I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I rarely go over to the Saint Germain des Près area much. I know, it’s a popular destination for many, but if I head over there, it’s usually for one thing, and one thing only: Chocolate.

Most of the chocolatiers are clustered over there because, well, if you can afford to live over there, that’s where most of the folks are who buy boxes of chocolate. Well, except me. So I make the trek over there to get my licks in, and say hi to the folks who haven’t seen me in a while.

One such person is Jean-Charles Rochoux, whose chocolates are at the top of my list in Paris. He has just one shop, not an enterprise, and is one of the few people who makes his chocolates in Paris; real estate prices make it hard for people to set up candymaking operations. So every day, Monsieur Rochoux gets started in his basement workshop, and every few months, I go over there and see what’s new.

Continue Reading Rochoux’s Hazelnut Praline Paste…

Today is election day in France, and la République has the choice of re-electing the current President, or ushering in a new one. For people who usually have a lot of opinions, my French friends aren’t all that enthused about either one of the fellows. One is hoping to come into office, promising to represent Changement, and the other came into office five years ago, vowing changement, too. Sound familiar?

The polls opened at 8am and the only change I was feeling was in my pocket, as I roamed the streets looking for a baguette. However instead of the buttery, yeasty aromas wafting forth from my usual arsenal of boulangeries, none were open. It wasn’t because it was election day, it just happened that every one I hit had the shades down and the door shuttered closed for various reasons.

Continue Reading Kouign Amann at Le Grenier à Pain…

I remember with curiosity, walking by Comme à Lisbonne shortly after it opened. The shop was merely a tiny storefront that featured Pastéis de nata, the famous tartlets from Portugal that are often served by the platter since it’s often not possible to stop after eating just one. Interestingly, a number of bakeries in Paris do make pastéis de nata – some good, some just okay – but I don’t usually order them, preferring to stick to something French. But I was lunching with a friend in the Marais, and she’s a big fan of these Portuguese custard tarts, so I suggested we stop in for a taste.

We each took one of the two low stools and sat down, ordering a couple of coffees. (I noticed a clean, well cared-for coffee machine, which is an encouraging sign in Paris.) Then we were each handed a warm little tartlet. Taking my first bite was a revelation; I’d had the pastries in Lisbon and remember liking them a lot, but the ones at Comme à Lisbonne just might give any French pastry a run for its money.

Continue Reading Comme à Lisbonne…

A place like A l’Etoile d’Or could not exist anywhere else in the world but Paris. In this charming shop up by Montmarte you find a carefully selected assortment of candies and chocolates from the best artisans across France. Darting from shelf to shelf, owner Denise Acabo charms patrons with animated descriptions of every sweet bonbon in her collection. It’s always a pleasure to chat with her in her shop, which I visited on a rather chilly day in Paris. (Hence the trouble I had wrapping my frozen lips around the word “Lorraine”.)

Every time I go into her shop, I am helpless against Madame Acabo’s charms and I always leave with something special tucked in my bag, whether it’s a Kalouga chocolate bar filled with gooey salted butter caramel from Bernachon, almond-rich calissons d’Aix from Provence, or bright jellies flavored with the tangy juice of the elusive bergamots made in Alsace.

Even if you can’t make it to Paris, I hope you enjoy this visit to her shop as much as I did.

-David

(You can watch the video here by clicking on the arrow. To view it in a larger version, click on the title, which will take you to Vimeo.)

Continue Reading A Visit to A l’Etoile d’Or (Video)…