If you’re planning a trip to Paris then there are so many bakeries and patisseries to visit. I spent five full days there and barely made it back to any of my favourites and didn’t even get to all of the new places on my list. There were so many new places to visit. Some had opened since my last visit in November 2018 and a few I’d somehow missed on my previous trips to the French capital.
So, here’s my Parisian list of patisseries and below is the detail of what I bought/recommend in each. Given COVID-19 I think I’m allowed to call anything that opened in or since 2019 “new”. There are many other places I recommend, beyond this list, but for those of you who are quite familiar with Paris, these are some places that might not be on your radar and these are places that should be on your “must visit” list.
New pâtisseries in Paris you must visit:
- Pâtisserie Tourbillon by Yann Brys
- Ritz Paris Le Comptoir
- Pâtisserie Le Bristol Paris (reopening late 2022)
- Pâtisserie Ginko
- Tapisserie
- Fou de Pâtisserie
- The French Bastards (opened in 2018 and more of a Boulangerie, but some pâtisserie, too)
- Plaq
- Laduree (I know, it’s old, but they have a new pastry chef!)
Let me know in the comments if you’ve been to any of these Parisian patisseries!
1. Patisserie Tourbillon by Yann Brys
Yann Brys is a pretty big deal as a pastry chef. He achieved his MOF in 2011 and is responsible for developing the technique of piping pastry cream on a turntable which is widely used now since he started doing it in 2009.
He’s written multiple books and appears on television. Like so many others in this list, he spent timing working at Le Bristol. It makes me smile to think that being the Executive Pastry Chef at the French Ministry of Defence is high on his CV (a role he held in 2000), and I have to wonder if all MoD’s have Executive Pastry Chefs on staff?
Yann’s first pâtisserie opened in 2018, about an hour outside of Paris in Saulx les Chartreux in Essonne, but he opened this one on the tiny island in the Seine the Île Saint-Louis. Not the tiny island with Notre Dame, the one next to that. It’s the island that’s famous for Berthillon ice cream, which you should also get, whilst you’re there.
There are a few small seats in the pâtisserie, though I didn’t notice if they also sell drinks.
On my first visit it was near the end of Sunday and their was one lone dessert left. I bought it, along with a jar of feuilletine praline.
This pastry, a raspberry and lemon layered entrement, was so incredible I knew I had to go back for more.
I did, and bought two more of the smaller pâtisserie and one of the larger round cakes. I bought the cake on our final morning and managed to carry it up and down stairs in and out of three metro stations and on the crowded trains, alongside suitcases a pram and a three year old, all the way through the Eurostar queue to London and two more trains… only to have it fly onto the platform at my home station. Luckily it was inside a large plastic box and still tasted brilliant, but that’s why, in these photos it looks a little worse for wear.
This is the chocolate cake with salted caramel and a layer of praline baked in the middle. In my mind this was going to be a crunchy praline with feuilletine. It wasn’t, but it was still a seriously satisfying chocolate cake.
2. Ritz Paris Le Comptoir
You can barely turn a corner in Paris before you encounter a pâtisserie/boulangerie, filled with delicious things. In most of these neighbourhood spots an eclair or tarte citron will set you back around 3-5 Euro. In the fancier places, mostly with chefs names above the door, the patisserie will be 5-9 Euro. Then Cedric Grolet came along and started charging 17-19 Euro in 2018. Actually, before this, the patisserie in XX was around 10-14 Euro. But now The Ritz and Hotel Le Bristol have joined the ranks of the 15 Euro + patisserie in Paris.
The Ritz pâtisserie has a big focus on madeleines. Most of these are filled, along with a classic plain and a plain chocolate option. These are 3.50 Euro each. Then they have their rice pudding desserts (see pictures below) and usually 1-2 other pâtisserie, a marble cake, some viennoisserie, fancy sandwiches and their “cake shakes”. There’s plenty of room to sit inside and I think the prices are the same as if you were to take your cakes away, and you can use the restrooms in the hotel next door (downstairs and as fancy as you’d expect).
They also do breakfast and lunch deals with their shakes or hot chocolate which seem like a good deal.
I bought a chocolate madeleine, a lemon dessert and the passionfruit rice pudding dessert.
I was nonplussed about the madeleine. I’d rather have had the tiny small ones from St John Food & Wine. But the lemon dessert was wonderful and the rice pudding one very good, too. Though next time I’d choose one in milk or dark chocolate instead. The chocolate to rest-of-the-dessert ratio was a bit too much white chocolate for me.
I’d love to go back for a cake shake, but I’d promised my daughter a park so I took our treats and ate them while she made friends with other kids on the seesaw.
3. Pâtisserie Le Bristol
I trekked all the way here in the hot sun on recommendations from friends, only to find they were closed. The pâtisserie opened as a take away in COVID, a temporary measure. It was so successful they decided to keep it but the space was too small so whilst I was there (late September 2022) they had closed it to renovate and expand.
I ogled the pâtisserie and cakes inside the hotel but desserts were around 25 Euros so I decided it would need to wait for my next visit. You should go though. I trust my friends who told me to go here, and it’s a 5 Star Hotel in Paris with a 3 Michelin Star restaurant and almost every pastry chef in this list spent time working there, so I think it’s a fairly sure bet it will be incredible.
4. Pâtisserie Ginko
I probably wouldn’t have come across Pâtisserie Ginko if I hadn’t used Google Maps to search for pâtisserie near our Airbnb in the 19th District. It’s near a large, hilly, woodland park (Parc des Buttes-Chaumont) and around the corner from a very good boulangerie, Boulangerie Milligramme, so I hope you’ll take the Metro out to visit.
Being in a neighbourhood, rather than central Paris, the prices are exceptional for the quality. I LOVED the vegan chocolate chip oatmeal cookie I bought and am just as evangelical about the Mirabelle plum galette that had a thin layer of beautiful frangipane and pastry that was crisped to perfection, and the chocolate dessert: a wonderful balance of textures and the right intensity of chocolate.
Patisserie Ginko opened in April 2022 and is run by a couple who make everything on site. Sayo Yamagata is Japanese-American and came to Paris, like so many of us, to eat patisserie (OK, she was already a pastry chef). She decided to stay and study further in 2018 and met her partner and fellow pastry chef, Othman El Ouraouiwhen they were both working at Le Bristol in 2018. They have a daughter as well as the business. I’m not sure how they do it, but lucky Parisians and visitors to Paris, that they do. (Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, but check for details.)
5. Tapisserie
This is the place I got told most often to visit. With good reason. It’s only a small range but it all looks beautiful and the two things I bought: the famous maple syrup tart and a chocolate Choux bun, were both fabulous. I wish I’d had the time and ability to visit their second location near the Eiffel Tower, where you can sit and they also serve lunch.
This is from the people behind Septime, though a completely different set of chefs. The standard is equivalently high.
6. Fou de Patisserie
A patisserie of patisseries! I love this concept! There are several locations, too. The owners select a range of products every month or so from patissiers and chocolatiers across Paris and beyond. The prices are a little higher than if you were to visit them but some of them don’t even have shops so it’s a brilliant way to get a sampling of the best of Paris.
After buying just one thing at Jardin Sucre on my first full day in Paris I was delighted to find the other patisserie I had struggled to decide between. The Pistachio and Orange Blossom Tart was every bit as good as the man in Jardin Sucre praised it to be, and one of my favourite things I ate in Paris.
7. The French Bastards
This small chain of boulangeries opened in 2018 and rapidly expanded. You’ve probably been but I thought I’d include it as it was new to me and I was pleasantly surprised at how reasonable the prices were and they do have a small range of patisserie too. The chocolate eclair is made with Valrhona chocolate and only 3.50 Euro. Good luck finding any chocolate eclair at that price in London, never mind one made with premium chocolate.
It’s really mainly about the croissants here. Enjoy!
8. Plaq
This is actually a bean to bar chocolate factory right in the heart of Paris. Well, I’m not exactly sure which bit of Paris you’d call the heart, but it’s very central.
The patisserie is not as refined in the way of the other places in this list but the chocolate used really makes it stand out.
I only bought one cookie and didn’t love it but I did love the rectangular chocolate tart and the hazelnut cookie sandwich filled with chocolate ganache. The ganache in both cases is SUPER intense so best if you’re really into chocolate. The hot chocolate comes with dairy or with water (intense). Both options are intense but the latter especially so. Even I couldn’t finish it in one sitting. Though I’d like to say that was because I was basically subsisting on a diet of patisserie, viennoiserie, chocolate and bread, and even I have my limits. Maybe if you were eating like a regular person it would be a totally wonderful and manageable treat.
It also happens to be right across the road from one of the most delicious things I ate in Paris.
9. Maison Ladurée
So Maison Ladurée is literally one of the oldest patisseries in Paris. It celebrates 160 years this year. Yes, ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY.
The brand and its macarons were revitalised by Pierre Hermé in the 1980s, and is still consistently good, but not somewhere I make time to visit since my very first trip to Paris, before they’d opened in London. But, this time, my Parisian friend-in-chocolate, Victoire of Chocologie, told me that they have a new pastry chef, so I detoured after I realised I had space for more patisserie seeing as Le Bristol’s was closed.
Julien Alvarez joined Ladurée in 2021. He was the World Pastry Champion in 2011, and is considered “one of the greatest talents of his generation”. Before Laduree he was at the 3 Michelin Star Hotel Le Bristol. He also has nearly 200K followers on Instagram, so I suspect he makes patisserie that people want to eat. Some of them might just be there because he’s pretty attractive, too…
The patisserie at Ladurée which Julien has developed so far are around 9 Euro each, slightly more expensive than the classics. The one I bought was baklava-based one, which was definitely on trend in Paris. The base was thin layers of crispy pastry topped with a fig leaf creme and a fig and raspberry compote, then fresh figs. It was wonderful and, though it wouldn’t be a flavour profile I’d typically reach for, I fancied something different. I’d love to have had more time to return and try his other creations.
That’s it! Bon appetit! Do comment below or send me a message if you’ve been and want to share or ask me a question. You can tag me on Instagram @thenextdeliciousthing and remember to sign up below to receive my weekly updates on all the delicious things I’ve been eating.