Walking Gastronomy Tour

Prepared by Brian Dokko

I love Paris. Specifically, I love eating in Paris. Breton lobster, the potato purée at L’Atelier du Joël Robuchon, the lentils at Ambassade d’Auvergne, beurre bordier (best butter in the world, in my opinion)—I love it all. I keep a list of restaurants and shops I’m working my way through, but I can never seem to keep up because I’m always adding new places. However, there are a handful of places I’m sure to visit every time I’m there.

I’ve curated this Walking Tour of some of my favorite sweet eats, and I’ve organized it to be self-guided, if you prefer to do it independently. I’ll highlight my favorite bites, but also mention some items that you might also like. Let’s jump in!

If you’re doing this as a self-guided experience, or just want to follow along, click here for the Google Map!

Stop #1 - Ladurée

The Ladurée macaron (or more formally, the macaron parisien) is unofficially the gold standard for the macaron, which is not to be confused with a macaroon, that coconut THING made with condensed milk, shredded coconut, egg white, and vanilla. The macaron is a combination of egg white, finely ground almonds, sugar, and various fillings, yielding a delightful combination of textures and flavors.

A proper macaron should possess all of the following:

• An incredibly light and delicately crispy exterior “shell”

• A soft, gently chewy inside

• A flavorful filling (fillings range from creamy frosting to fruity preserves)

Macarons are notorious for being difficult to produce in the home kitchen, mostly because the labor involved is very much about feel, as opposed to following a fixed set of instructions. Additionally, it can be challenging to marry all the textures together in a harmonious way.

At Ladurée, I particularly enjoy the following flavors:

• Caramel a la Fleur de Sel (caramel with sea salt) - the balance of caramlized sugar and sea salt is lovely: not too sweet, as can be with many typical caramel confections.

• Pétale de Rose (rose petal) - you have to be ok with eating the fragrance of roses, which for some might just trigger thoughts of grandma’s perfume, but if you dig it, it’s a lovely culinary incorporation of the lightness of rose petals. ALSO - some Ladurée boutiques also sell a rose sorbet, if you’re interested. If you can, split it with someone, bc one “serving” of rose sorbet can overwhelm your olfactory system.

• Réglisse (anise, or black licorice) - definitely an acquired taste, but if you enjoy fennel/anise/black licorice, you might enjoy the réglisse. It’s not an overpowering licorice flavor; it’s rather well balanced and definitely not overwhelming.

• Guimauve Fraise Bonbon (strawberry candy marshmallow) - think strawberry with freshly made marshmallow.

• There aren’t really any “bad” flavors..Ladurée often features seasonal flavors, so be on the lookout for those.

Additionally, you will find a fine selection of vienoisseries (baked goods) and petit fours (mini cakes) at most Ladurée boutiques. Yes, most taste as good as they look.

• Ladurée has several locations throughout Paris, including at CDG airport (no promises, but you might have an opportunity to get last-minute macarons before your flight home). Not all serve the same items, though.

Stop #2 - Pierre Hermé

If Ladurée is the gold standard, consider Pierre Hermé platinum. Walking into a Pierre Hermé boutique immediately feels considerably more elegant and refined, as if you walked into Cartier. One clear difference you may notice are the flavors presented, which are anything but ordinary. My faves:

• Ispahan - a flavor profile created by Pierre Hermé himself, it’s a combination of rose, lychee, and raspberry. Ladurée also sells a pastry by this name—a spiral rose macaron shell, lychee filling with fresh raspberry.

• Infiniment Caramel - caramel with salted butter. ‘Nuff said.

• Mogador - milk chocolate, passion fruit

If we’re lucky, we might see some of his truly unique flavors, like églantine, figue, & foie gras (églantine is a subspecies of the rose flower, fig, and goose liver), or huile d’olive à la mandarine (olive oil and mandarin orange).

You know how I said Ladurée macarons are fragile? Pierre Hermé macs are even more so. Transport carefully, or just eat them all and bring the box back home.

I would be cheating you if I didn’t also mention the Miss Gla’Gla. The easiest way to describe it is a macaron/sorbet sandwich aka IT’S RIDICULOUS. They’re not always on clear display, usually held in a freezer case behind the counter.

Stop #3 - Georges Larnicol

We’re now moving on to one of my favorite vienoisseries, the Kouign-Amann. If you’re not familiar, it’s laminated pastry dough (like in a croissant), in those laminated layers sugar has been incorporated. This creates something similar to a dense croissant with layers of caramelized sugar layered throughout. Just trust me, they’re delicious.

The only thing better than a Kouign-Amann, IMHO, is the Kouignette at Georges Larnicol. They’re essentially mini versions, which means you can try more of them! They create them in a few flavors, including amandes (almond), caramel au beurre salé (caramel with salted butter), framboise (raspberry), ganache chocolat (chocolate ganache), orange confite - Cointreau (orange preserves and Cointreau orange liqueur), pâte de pistache (pistachio), rhum raisin (rum raisin), and nature (nothing else added). Not all flavors are always available, but I usually go with the caramel with salted butter and/or the nature.

Also for sale are gourmet bulk candies sold by weight. Nougats, chocolates, nuts, etc. It is generally acceptable here to serve yourself when it comes to the bulk candies.

Stop #4 - Aux Merveilleux de Fred

There’s really no accurate way to describe what a merveilleux is. It’s basically a small cake made of baked meringue, whipped cream, crushed meringue pieces, and other flavors. At Aux Merveilleux de Fred, they make six different flavors. Conveniently for you and me, you don’t have to choose, as they make a sampler pack of all six flavors. You ostensibly could share a sampler pack, but I don’t share food… Here are the flavors:

• Le Merveilleux (“The Marvelous’) - meringue, chocolate whipped cream, coated with shaved dark chocolate.

• L’Incroyable (“The Incredible”) - meringue, speculos biscuit (think spiced cookie like a Biscoff), whipped cream, coated with shaved white chocolate.

• L’Impensible (“The Unthinkable”) - meringue, coffee whipped cream, coated with crystallized meringue.

• L’Excentrique (“The Eccentric”) - meringue, cherry whipped cream, coated with crystallized meringue.

• Le Magnifique (“The Magnificent”) - meringue, praline whipped cream, coated with crushed caramlized almonds and hazelnuts.

• Le Sans Culotte (“The Commoner”) - meringue, caramel whipped cream, coated with crystallized meringue.

Stop #5 - Berthillon

Familiy-run glacier creates house-made ice creams and sorbets from scratch daily, with incredibly true flavors, derived from the original ingredients and without any preservatives or sweeteners. Fruit flavors are delightly light and pure, tasting as if fresh-picked fruit was simply puréed and frozen (maybe that’s what they do?).

Warning: flavors are posted daily, and when they run out, they run out. If you’re desperate to try a flavor that sold out before you get to the counter, many of the other shops on Île St. Louis also sell Berthillon ice creams and sorbets. However, the texture won’t be quite the same. Berthillon makes their stuff fresh, and they serve it at the desired consistency, but the other vendors selling it tend to keep it more frozen so as to make it last longer (remember: no preservatives added).

Honorable Mentions:

I could talk for DAYS about delicious things to eat in Paris. There are so many delicious things to experience!

Unfortunately, we don’t have unlimited free time, so I won’t send you on an extensive scavenger hunt, seeking out very particular shops. Here are just a few more things/ideas/shops

• BREAD = LIFE

  • If you’re like me, a satisfactory lunch is a crusty baguette, butter, some berries, and perhaps a glass of wine. Since time is short, go to either Galleries Lafayette Gourmet (the food market in the basement) or La Grande Epicerie (connected to Le Bon Marche department store). Get a basket of gooseberries, currants, and fraise de bois, or wild strawberries, a baguette traditional, and a package of beurre bordier. I prefer the salé 4% (4% salt) for putting on baguettes, second choice is the demi-sel, or semi-salted butter. If you find yourself at La Grande Epicerie, look for caramel beignets in the boulanger area.

  • Then, take your snacks to a nearby park and enjoy your meal under the Parisian sun!

  • If you’re looking for a dedicated boulangerie:

    • Poîlane (multiple locations) - famous for their sourdough loaf and punitions, or shortbread cookies. They’re called punitions (French for “punishment”) because Lionel Poîlane’s grandmother would call him over as if he were in trouble, only to give him a few freshly baked shortbread cookies! Made with THREE different kinds of butter!

    • Eric Kayser (multiple locations) - a good spot to get consistenly high quality breads, and they usually have some savory sandwich options too.

• TOO PRETTY TO EAT

  • If you just want to see some pretty treats:

    • Sadaharu Aioki - impossibly beautiful cakes and pastries

    • Blé Sucré - omg the frosted madeleines

    • La Pâtisserie du Meurice par Cédric Grolet - the fruit sculpté, and everything for that matter, is a work of art

    • Condé Nast published this article, entitled “The 20 Best Pâtisseries in Paris.” Naturally, there’s a bit of subjectivity here, but it’s a solid list.

• SAVORY BITES

  • Crêpes are a quintessential Parisian street food, which is ironic because Parisians don’t generally eat on the go. That said, you’ll see crêpe stands all over the place. Things to look for:

    • Crêpes MUST be made fresh. Some vendors will keep a stack of pre-cooked crêpes to keep up with demand, but fresh is best. Look for a vendor pouring and spreading batter à la minute, or prepared on the spot and served immediately.

    • Most of us know crêpes of the sweet variety. Banane Nutella (banana and Nutella) is a classic, as is fraise Nutella (strawberry and Nutella). You might not have heard of the delicious crêpe Suzette, which is made with caramelized butter and sugar, orange zest, and usually a generous pour of Grand Marnier.

    • As for savory, jambon/oeuf/fromage is a classic ham, egg, and cheese. The good vendors will crack a fresh egg into the cooking crêpe, and some will leave at an equivalent to “sunny side up.” If you want it fully cooked, you can always ask for the oeuf (egg) to be cooked bien cuit (“byah(n) kwee”), which means “well cooked.” From there, the sky’s the limit for ingredients. You might see champignons (mushrooms), epinard (spinach), herbe fines (fine herbs), or any combination of ingredients you might have to Google…