There are the classic caramels, the famous ones au beurre salé (salty butter caramels) from Brittany and then there are the flavored ones such as the passion-mango caramels from Jacques Genin that are absolutely decadent and probably some of the best in the world—I weigh my words. Other flavors are: pistachio, almond, hazelnut, coffee, vanilla, ginger, cinnamon, licorice… They are so soft and buttery you wonder how they manage to keep their shape and you tell yourself you can’t eat more than one but you can’t stop going back to them. His chocolates drive me nuts—oh! the caramelized almond Rochers, mmm the hazelnut pralinés! They are made with the finest ingredients, the flavors are as delicate as the patterns drawn onto their perfectly square shape and their names are as playful as they are appetizing. And then there are Jacques Genin’s pastries: he has mastered the art of the classic French pastries (éclair, Paris-Brest, tarte au chocolat noir, mille-feuille…)
After years of working in his lab and selling his treats to high-end restaurants and hotels, Jacques Genin has finally opened his own shop/tea salon. It is located a few blocks away from the busy area of rue de Bretagne, its trendy cafés and popular shops.

Jacques Genin
133 Rue de Turenne
75003 Paris
tel: 01.45.77.29.01
Metro: Filles du Calvaire

Tu-Sun: 11am-7pm
Closed on Monday

map

| Share  Email  Print | 1 Comment

This is a perfect place for hot drinks on a cold and rainy day. La Patisserie Viennoise is a quaint, and almost centenarian, tea salon nested right between the University René Descartes and La Sorbonne. Located in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, at the edge of the Latin Quarter, it is often packed with students sipping the decadent house signature drink: a bittersweet hot chocolate topped with a mountain of homemade whipped cream (if you order the small hot chocolate I suggest you ask for half the amount of whipped cream so that you don’t end up with a lukewarm drink.) La Patisserie Viennoise serves traditional Viennese pastries (apfelstrudel, sacher torte, linzer torte…) and salads, quiches and pasta dishes for lunch. When in the neighborhood, do not miss the master chocolatier Patrick Roger located a block away.

La Patisserie Viennoise
8 Rue de l’École de Médecine
75006 Paris
tel:01.43.26.60.48
Metro: Cluny - La Sorbonne, Odéon

M-F: 9am-7pm
Closed on Saturday, Sunday

map

| Share  Email  Print | Comment

La Petite Rose in Paris is a great place to get some high quality pastries and chocolates. Along with Blé Sucré’s their mendiants are my favorite. The chef Miyuki Watanabe worked with renown pastry chef and chocolatier Gérard Mulot before opening her own shop a few blocs from the Parc Monceau and the Nissim de Camondo museum. La Petite Rose has a few tables in lieu of a tea salon and is located right next to the metro station Villiers.

La Petite Rose
11 Boulevard de Courcelles
75008 Paris
tel: 01.45.22.07.27
Metro: Villiers

Th-Tues: 10am-7.30pm
Closed on Wednesday

map

| Share  Email  Print | Comment

Created in the late 19th century, Ladurée—inventor of macarons—is one of the oldest Parisian tea houses. Today it counts several tearooms/pastry shops/restaurants in Paris and abroad. Ladurée is to Paris what sourdough bread is to San Francisco, catfish to New Orleans, BBQ to Texas and fried green tomatoes to the southern United States… It is part of the Paris’ culinary identity. As if Ladurée needed any publicity, Sofia Coppola’s visually stunning movie, Marie-Antoinette, made the Parisian tea house famous all over the world. Now the lines are even longer and sometimes stretch all the way around the street corner as if we were in cold war-era Russia. If you plan on eating at Ladurée on the Champs-Elysées I highly recommend reserving your table online. You can choose your day and time, and avoid the ridiculous wait in line. The online reservations will soon be extended to the other tea salons. Ladurée serves breakfast (morning pastries, bread, eggs any style, French toast, fresh fruit salads, juices…), brunch (it is served on Saturday and Sunday from 10am until 3.30pm and will cost you 35€) and lunch as well as dinner (main dish at 29€, menus at 34€ and 42€, club sandwiches from 15,50€ to 23€). Pastries and teas will coast you around 7€ each.
If you are visiting Paris in winter and wish to warm up in a cozy and elegant atmosphere, Ladurée is the place to be: it is sort of overheated and makes you kinda melt. And then you melt some more when you see the list of pastries.

Ladurée
6th arrondissement
Ladurée Bonaparte
21 Rue Bonaparte
75006 Paris
tel: 01.44.07.64.87
Metro: Saint-Germain-des-Prés
open 7/7
M-F: 8.30am-7.30pm
Sat: 8.30am-8.30pm
Sun: 10am-7.30pm
*Chocolate counter, open 7/7
M-Sun: 10am-7pm

8th arrondissement
Ladurée Royale
16 Rue Royale
75008 Paris
tel: 01.42.60.21.79
Metro: Madeleine, Concorde
open 7/7
M-Th: 8.30am-7.30pm
F, Sat: 8.30am-8pm
Sun: 10am-7pm

Ladurée Champs-Elysées
75 Avenue des Champs Elysées
75008 Paris
tel: 01.40.75.08.75
Metro: George V
open 7/7
M-F: 7.30am-11pm
Sat: 7.30am-12am
Sun: 7.30am-10pm
*Restaurant, open 7/7
M-Sun: 7.30am-12.30am

9th arrondissement
Ladurée Printemps Department Store
62 Boulevard Haussmann
75009 Paris
tel: 01.42.82.40.10
Metro: Havre-Caumartin
M-Sat: 9.35am-7pm (until 10pm on Thursday)
Closed on Sunday

map

| Share  Email  Print | Comment