A pâtissière, eating around the world
![[Paris] Le Petit Bleu](https://www.sugarednspiced.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/L1122295.jpg)
Follow me on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, & 微博! Le Petit Bleu Add: 23 Rue Muller, 75018 Paris Tel: 01 42 59 27 01 Hours: 6pm~1am (open everyday) Price: [salads] €7 [cous cous/tajines] €10~12 Visited on: Oct 2014 Le Petit Bleu isn’t the fanciest spot you will find in Paris, but it’s got delicious couscous worthy of your stomach space, at very affordable prices too! If you…Continue Reading “[Paris] Le Petit Bleu”
![[Paris] Folks & Sparrows](https://www.sugarednspiced.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/L1122144.jpg)
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Folks & Sparrows
Add: 14 rue Saint-Sébastien, 75 011 Paris
Tel: 09 81 45 90 99
Hours: [Tue-Sun] 10am~7pm
Website: www.facebook.com/folksandsparrows
Price: [sandwiches] €6.50-7.50 [coffee] €4-5 [pastries] €4
Visited on: Oct 2014
Folks & Sparrows recently opened on the borders of Le Marais, just across Boulevard Beaumarchais from Merci. This coffee shop / épicerie fine is opened by Franck, a French man who has spent quite some years in New York before coming back to Paris. What you can find here: hip and cosy decor, coffee and cakes, sandwiches, a selection of artisanal packaged foods, and a slow and easy ambience. What I liked most about this place is that, unlike many Parisien cafes, it does not tries to maximize seating by stuffing in as many tables as possible. The breathing space is definitely appreciated.
![[Paris] Un Dimanche à Paris](https://www.sugarednspiced.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/R1126877.jpg)
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Un Dimanche à Paris
Add: 4 Cours du Commerce Saint-André, 75006 Paris
Tel: 01 56 81 18 18
Hours: [Mon] 12~8pm [Tue-Sat] 11am~8pm [Sun] 11am~7pm
Website: www.un-dimanche-a-paris.com
Price: €5~6/pastry
Visited on: Aug 2014
Un Dimanche à Paris remains one of my favorite pastry shops in Paris, largely because I spent 5 very happy months here as an intern right after Ferrandi. It is in this kitchen where I first learned the ways of a professional pâtissier – sure, the pastry program at Ferrandi is wonderful and I wholeheartedly recommend it, but school just can’t prepare you enough for working in a real kitchen. The team at UDAP has almost totally changed since then – only one current pâtissier (salut Alex!) was there during my epoch – but I happen to know the new chef, Nicolas Bacheyre, as we had worked together for a little bit at Fauchon where he was the sous chef. It is indeed a very small circle, this pastry world in Paris, and thanks to that I can go back to snoop around in the kitchen from time to time :)
It’s barely over half a year since Nicolas started working as the chef pâtissier at UDAP, but he has already came up with plenty of new creations, many with interesting flavor combinations that you can’t find elsewhere. When I saw the picture and description of the latest Chou Bijou, for example, I simply had to go taste it…and of course came back with a bit more than just that.
Here it is, Le Chou Bijou (€5.40), a jewel-like chou filled with black currant compote and topped with mirabelle tea chantilly cream. Black currant is not new to me as it’s a fruit frequently used in French pastries, but I had never tasted it in combination with the mirabelle tea flavor (and for that matter, I’d never had mirabelle tea before) and it’s really quite a lovely match. Like all the choux and éclairs at UDAP, this one is baked with crunchy bits of cocoa beans for extra flavor and crunch.
![[Paris] Le Clos Y](https://www.sugarednspiced.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/L1105451.jpg)
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Le Clos Y
Add: 27 Avenue du Maine, 750015 Paris
Tel: +33 (0)1 45 49 07 35
Hours: [Tue-Sat] 10am~7pm (7:30pm on Thu-Fri, 8pm on Sat)
Website: www.le-clos.jp/paris
Price: [lunch] €25 [dinner] €40~60
Visited on: Jul 2014
Le Clos Y by Japanese chef Yoshitaka Ikeda (previously at Guilo Guilo and Taillevent) opened very discreetly near Le Tour Montparnasse last December. It is the first European outpost of Le Clos restaurants by chef Isao Kuroiwa, based in Osaka, Japan. The style is – unsurprisingly – a fusion of French and Japanese, and very beautifully done for that matter.
The space is minimalistic and sober, a conscious effort to focus attention to the food. The highlight of the space is undoubtedly the 11-meter long cherrywood counter directly imported from Japan. Behind the bar, chef Yoshitaka Ikeda is quietly at work.
![[Paris] Frenchie Bar à Vins (2)](https://www.sugarednspiced.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/L1104696.jpg)
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Frenchie Bar à Vins
Add: 5-6 Rue du Nil 75002 Paris, France
Tel: 01 40 39 96 19
Hours: 7pm~late
Website: www.frenchie-restaurant.com
Price: [small plates] €9~18
Visited on: Jun 2014
Frenchie Bar à Vins is always a good choice when you are looking for something casual and delicious, given that you can arrive before 7pm to snatch a seat (no reservation). Here are some snapshots from a recent visit.
Burrata, peche, basilic pourpre, balsamique (€16), burrata with peach, purple basil, and balsamic.
Tortellini a la ricotta, petit pois, beurre noisette (€14), ricotta tortellini with peas and brown butter.
Continue Reading "[Paris] Frenchie Bar à Vins (2)"
![[Paris] Verjus Sandwich Lunch](https://www.sugarednspiced.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/L1104576.jpg)
Verjus Bar à Vin Add: 47 rue Montpensier, Paris 75001 Tel: 01 42 97 54 40 Hours: 6~11pm (closed on Sat & Sun) Website: www.verjusparis.com Price: [small plates] €4~14 [wine] €6~13/glass [lunch set] €15 Visited on: Jun 2014 2015 update: please note that Verjus Bar à Vin no longer serves this lunch set, but the same fried chicken can be found at the newly opened Ellsworth. If you are not sure…Continue Reading “[Paris] Verjus Sandwich Lunch”
![[Paris] Café Marlette](https://www.sugarednspiced.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/MG_9552.jpg)
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Café Marlette
Add: 51 rue des Martyrs, 75009 Paris
Tel: 01 48 74 89 73
Hours: [Tue-Fri] 8:30am~7:30pm [Sat] 10am~7:30 [Sun] 10am~6pm
Website: www.cafemarlette.fr
Price: [coffee] €3~5 [pastries] €2~6
Visited on: Jun 2014
Marlette, a French organic bread and cake brand, opened its cafe a few months ago on rue des Martyrs, steps away from Kooka Boora and Sebastien Gaudard. Despite the heavy rain, I trekked all the way up there for my breakfast date with Carin. The cafe turned out to be cute, and the company was (as always) more than lovely, but breakfast itself, unfortunately, was rather disappointing.
I chose Le Marlette (€12.50), which includes a hot drink, orange / lemon juice, housemade compote / cottage cheese with jam, chestnut cream, or granola, and a Marlette pastry. I wouldn’t mind paying €12.50 for these if they were good, but nothing from the set really impressed. One can easily pull together something better than this at home.
![[Paris] Gâteaux Thoumieux (2)](https://www.sugarednspiced.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/R1075488.jpg)
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Gâteaux Thoumieux
Add: 58 rue Saint Dominique, 75007 Paris
Tel: +33 1 45 51 12 12
Hours: [Mon-Sat] 10am~8pm [Sun] 8:30am~5pm (closed on Tue)
Website: www.gateauxthoumieux.com
Price: €4~6/pastry
Visited on: Jun 2014
I went to Gâteaux Thoumieux when it first opened in November 2013, and wasn’t too impressed by what I tasted. It wasn’t until more than 6 months later that I went back to this pastry shop, and this time, I was pleasantly surprised by the changes that have taken place here. The prices are higher, but the pastry display was also looking a lot more attractive – seems like Jean-François Piège and his pastry chef Ludovic Chaussard have been coming up with some lovely ideas lately.
As I so rarely go to Gâteaux Thoumieux, it was very tempting to get a little bit of everything, but I managed to limit myself to just four pastries on this visit…
I started with Chou Chou Coco Passion (€4), a large chou filled with coconut cream, enveloping a mini chou filled with passion fruit compote. Lovely flavor combination, and a good balance between the sweet and the acidic.
![[Paris] Sebastien Gaudard (4)](https://www.sugarednspiced.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/R0075190.jpg)
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Sebastien Gaudard
Add: 22 rue des Martyrs, 75009 Paris
Tel: 01 71 18 24 70
Hours: [Tue-Fri] 10am~8pm [Sat] 9am~8pm [Sun] 9am~7pm
Website: www.sebastiengaudard.fr
Price: €4~6/pastry
Tasted on: Jun 2014
To compensate for a rather disappointing breakfast at Cafe Marlette (more on this later in a separate post), Carin and I strolled along rue des Martyrs to Sebastien Gaudard for some sweet pick-me-ups. For previous posts on this cute pastry shop (which has one of my favorite lemon tarts in Paris), see here, here, and here.
For those who wish to take photos in the shop, do note that only 2 photos are allowed per person. Ahem, yes, they are actually that strict about it. On another note, special thanks to Carin for lending me her camera for the morning! Can’t believe I left my battery at home, yikes.
![[Paris] Tea Time at Le Burgundy](https://www.sugarednspiced.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/L1104101.jpg)
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Le Burgundy
Add: 6 Rue Duphot, 75001 Paris
Tel: 01 42 60 34 12
Hours: [tea time] 3:30pm onwards
Website: www.leburgundy.fr
Price: €50~70/tea set, €12/individual pastry
Visited on: Jun 2014
Stéphane Tranchet of Le Burgundy Hotel may not be on the radar for many people, but this talented pastry chef is well known in the industry. I first heard about him from my chef at Un Dimanche à Paris, then subsequently from the head pastry chef at Le Meurice, both of whom highly applauded chef Tranchet’s work. He started at Pierre Gagnaire (three Michelin star restaurant in Paris) as a commis, then worked his way up to become the head pastry chef at Pierre Gagnaire’s tokyo outpost. Upon returning to Paris, he worked as sous-chef of Christophe Michalak at Plaza Athénée, then moved over to Le Burgundy as the head pastry chef. Pedigree, check.
To sample some of chef Tranchet’s work, I went to Le Burgundy on a quiet Monday for afternoon tea in their lovely courtyard.
Tea time at Le Burgundy, just like at most other hotels, comes in two options. The first is the a la carte option, where you choose individual pastries (€12 each) from the pastry trolley. Just look at this display. Wow.
Le Fraisier, strawberry pistachio cake.
Continue Reading "[Paris] Tea Time at Le Burgundy"