Parisian Chocolate Shops

The French do so many things right and chocolate is one of them.  There are some excellent chocolatiers that have shops in Paris.  I made it my goal one day to scout out a few favorites for you, dear reader.  I promise it had nothing to do with my own sweet tooth.  This one was all for you.  Enjoy.

Debauve & Gallais

Those are not golf balls, but exact chocolate replicas.  Very impressive.

The wood paneled shop was beautiful and the assortment of chocolates quite good.  The boutique had a slight sense of being a bit uppity.  Although considering the fact that this place has been around since the 1800's and their chocolate is divine, maybe they have a right to be so.

Michel Cluizel

Again, delicious chocolates.  The selection was good, but oddly similar to that of Debauve & Gallais.  The good news there is that one is on the right bank and the other on the left so you can get good chocolate in both places.

Patrick Roger

Famous for ornate window displays.  However, don't stop at the window.  Go in.  It's worth every penny and calorie, I promise.

The boutique has a modern feel.

As does the simple packaging.  Perhaps Monsieur Roger's reasoning is that his absolutely amazing chocolate needs no fancy package.  If that is the case, then he is right.  This would be my pick for favorite chocolate shop in Paris.

Jean-Charles Rochoux

The things he can build out of chocolate are impressive.

All kinds of chocolate animals adorned his store when I went there.  The chocolate was impressive as well :)

Pascal Caffet

Now, we all know how excited I get about a MOF (Meilleur Ouvrier de France - Best French Artisan), especially a MOF of chocolate.  Well, imagine my excitement when I saw that Monsieur Caffet is also "Champion of the World."  I mean, how do you become that?  I think it is safe to say that it is a pretty big deal.  So, my hat is off to Monsieur Caffet.  I have tasted your chocolate, and it is worthy of champion of the world status, I do believe.

The shop is bright and the salespeople friendly and helpful.

All the chocolates were kept at a carefully controlled temperature in a futuristic looking case.  Pretty cool.

Debauve & Gallais

www.debauve-et-gallais.com

30, rue des Saints-Pères

7th Arrondisement

Paris

Michel Cluizel

www.chocolatmichelcluizel.com

201, rue St. Honoré

1st Arrondisement

Paris

Patrick Roger

www.patrickroger.com

108, blvd. St. Germain

6th Arrondisment

Paris

Jean-Charles Rochoux

www.jcrochoux.fr

16 rue d'Assas

6th Arrondisment

Paris

Pascal Caffet

www.pascal-caffet.com

40, rue Jacob

6th Arrondisement

Paris

Lyon Food Shops

By now you probably think I've changed the blog to Pink Slip Gourmet in Lyon, but I haven't.  It's just that there is so much to share from my time there, especially when it comes to food.  Today, I bring you all the "food shops" I visited while roaming the city.  And by "food shops," I essentially mean all the patisseries, boulangeries, chocolatiers, and the one actual local food shop I tried in the name of food research.

   La Marquise d'En Face is a lovely food shop/tea room that both sells local favorites and serves them too.  It's a tiny little place, but a perfect pit stop (excuse the expression) in old town after a long day of sight-seeing.

Quaint looking, isn't it?

Bags of pink pralines, a local specialty.

They are frequently used to make tarts (among other goodies) that are seen all over town.  I had never seen anything like it before, so I snagged both a bag of the pralines and a piece of the tart.  Unfortunately, I never tasted the pralines themselves (although I had my fair share of tart slices) because I set them down at a restaurant where I was having lunch and forgot them.  When I returned an hour or so later after realizing my devastating loss, they were no where in sight.  Who steals a little sachet of pralines?  I mean, really, people.

Another favorite stop was the Boulangerie du Palais.

It was tiny, but the smell of fresh baked breads was intoxicating.

They even had brioches made with the local pralines.

On my way to check out another Chocolatier, I ran across this one, Tourtiller, and figured the more the merrier. 

The shop was clean, modern and filled to the brim with almost every kind of chocolate confection you could desire.

Like these little chocolate fish. 

Bernachon was the chocolate shop I was originally headed for and don't worry, I made it there.

It had some gorgeous looking cakes and pastries in the window.

The store was huge compared to the amount of things they had for sale.

The sales staff was happy to accommodate my every chocolate desire.  This place did not disappoint; the chocolate was extremely flavorful.

Another day in Lyon, I found this shop by accident.  Perroudon.

I was intrigued by what I thought looked like quite large tuiles in the window.  When I entered the store to investigate further, I was told they were indeed tuiles.  There must have been seven or eight different types.  Heaven!

I chose this one.  It was chocolate, almond and toffee.  Yum!

La Marquise d'En Face

66 rue Saint-Jean

Lyon

Boulangerie du Palais

8 Rue Palais de Justice

Lyon

Tourtiller

www.tourtiller.com

4 Cours Franklin Roosevelt

Lyon

Bernachon

www.bernachon.com

42 cours Franklin Roosevelt

Lyon

Perroudon

6 Rue Barre

Lyon

Lenôtre

In my final installment about the upscale patisseries of Paris, I bring you Lenôtre. Gaston Lenôtre, who recently passed away in January of 2009, was a French pastry legend.  His pastry empire lives on in France and around the world.  The delicious confections he created over the years have fed many dignitaries and commoners alike and will likely continue to do so considering there are stores in Paris, Cannes, Nice and in 12 other countries.

On the Champs-Elysées in Paris, you can get the best of both worlds at Lenôtre Café, which serves lunch as well as the chef's pastries.

It also has a boutique and cooking school.

One afternoon, for my snack (or goûter in French), I headed to Café Lenôtre and ordered the pastry plate of the day.  I was brought this lovely assortment: chocolate millefeuille, succès, religieuse, macaron.  How can it get any better than that?  My favorite, without a doubt, was the famous succès invented by Lenôtre himself.  Believe me, though, the others weren't too shabby either.

On the other end of town close to Place des Vosges and the Bastille, there is a Lenôtre store where you can pick and choose your pastry poison.

And there is a lot from which to choose.  So, take your time and pick the perfect one or just try them all!

Cafe Lenôtre

www.lenotre.fr/en/cafe-lenotre-paris.php

10 avenue des Champs Elysées

8th Arrondisement

Paris

Lenôtre

Bastille Boutique

10 rue Saint Antoine

4th Arrondisement

Paris

For a list of all stores visit: www.lenotre.fr/en/liste-boutiques_lenotre.php

La Durée

Last week, I introduced you to Pierre Hermé. This week, the subject of my high-end patisserie post will be La Durée. If you are an avid reader of the blog, you might remember the appearance of La Durée in a post from October entitled, "A Parisian Institution." The blog focused on the noteworthy macarons produced by this pastry powerhouse. Today, I plan to focus on the store itself and what it has to offer (with a minor detour regarding some caramel macarons).

The Champs-Elysees location is famous for ridiculously longs lines.  There is always one for the to-go pastry counter and there is usually one for the salon de thé where you can have a light lunch and enjoy a delicious confection afterwards.  Do not be put out by these lines, though, because there is a magical place waiting for you that has no line.  If you would like to both enjoy the goodies La Durée has to offer and get a seat quickly, then head towards the back of the store to Le Bar.  B and I stumbled upon Le Bar this past Fall and have been keeping it a secret ever since so that when we go we won't have to wait in line.  Today, however, I am sharing this secret with you.  So, I'll only have you to blame if the next time I go there is a line for Le Bar.

Le Bar at La Durée.

At Le Bar, you can order an array of savory and sweet dishes along with all kinds of beverages.  This past week, I had the almost too thick and chocolatey hot chocolate with whipped cream along with four perfect fleur de sel caramel macarons.

Ok, I ordered a praline millefeuille too.  I can't lie.  In the name of food research, I needed to order something other than the macarons and this caught my eye.  How could it not?  It is thin layers of puff pastry filled with praline cream and candy coated almonds and hazelnuts.  Heavenly, I tell you.

Before you head back out to the streets of Paris, you must take a trip back in time by visiting the fancy period style bathrooms upstairs.  This will also give you a chance to look at those waiting in line for a tablein  the salon de thé and think how lucky you are that you've already been served in the cool and chic Le Bar.

This is the side entrance to Le Bar.  If you wish, you don't even have to deal with navigating the crowds to get through La Durée's front rooms to where Le Bar is located.  You can simply walk in a side door that leads directly to Le Bar.  You'll feel like a local in no time.  Just make sure to ask for a mac-a-ron and not a mac-a-roon to keep that local feeling alive.

La Durée

hwww.laduree.fr/index_en.htm

75, avenue des Champs Elysées

8th Arrondisement

21 rue Bonaparte

6th Arrondisement

Pierre Hermé

There is no shortage of patisseries in Paris.  However, that does not mean they are all created equal or perhaps more importantly that they are all equivalent when it comes to quality and price.  My goal in the coming month is to introduce you to some of the higher end patisseries in Paris.  Places that you should visit if you are in Paris even if just to check out what is in the display case.

Today, I introduce Pierre Hermé, a place that is known for innovative and elegant pastries. 

This is not your normal patisserie.  You have to look to find a croissant in the whole place and when you do it's probably something like this:

An Ispahan croissant.  Don't worry; you are not alone if you have no idea what ispahan is or even how to pronounce it because I didn't either.  That is, until the other day.  After buying the above croissant and sitting down in front of Saint Sulpice to enjoy it, I discovered that ispahan is a rose and raspberry flavored concoction.  Mighty fancy croissant if you ask me.  So fancy in fact that I couldn't finish it because the flavor was so intense.  This is definitely something to share.

The store on Rue Bonaparte is tiny and thus a line coming out the door on Saturday afternoon is not an anomaly. However, I find it is worth the wait just to see Pierre Hermé's creations. There is a reason why he's so famous in the French foodie world, and you can see it right when you walk in.  The pastries are gorgeous and unique.  Flavors are not subtle here; they take front stage and can be as diverse as rose and olive oil (yes, I'm still talking about sweets here).   So, head on over to the Left Bank and indulge in one of Pierre Herme's fabulous pastries.

Pierre Hermé

www.pierreherme.com

72 Rue Bonaparte

6th Arrondisement

Paris