Bread Winners: The New Wave of Boulangeries Opening in Paris
A few years ago, I detoured in Porte de la Villette’s direction in order to find Greater Paris’s reigning best butter croissant — as per the Syndicat des Boulangers du Grand Paris federation’s annual chart. If slightly smarter than most, the bakery in question, Chez Meunier on Rue de Crimée, was still mostly straight out of the Parisian textbook: it straddled a corner, with one long glass cabinet housing dense, neat lines of loaves, pastries and pretty cakes, a remarkably efficient server and a rich, yeasty aroma awaiting within.
While many of the city’s approximated 1,200 boulangeries are like this, a cooler cousin has also become rife of late, especially post-Covid. Instagram-ready, these so-called “nouvelles boulangeries” have in common slick branding and a firm, loudly-declared commitment to artisanal, natural principles alongside innovation. Many — such as sourdough-mad Sain near Canal Saint-Martin, award-winning Utopié and Mamiche’s two babka-famous outposts — are low-lit and chicly pared back in décor, while Liberté’s branches are almost jeweler-like.
courtesy of Chamboule
Like their forebears, however, the majority are petite and not places where, short of some uncomfortable loitering, you’re likely to eat on the premises. Gradually, however, this Paris boulangerie norm has been challenged. The world-conquering Landemaine chain has a sprawling terrace outside its “Brocco” branch just off Place de la République, as do two of The French Bastards’ nine American-influenced options around France’s capital. The trailblazer here is Ten Belles, a founding member of the nouvelle school which has offered a broad patio for trendy 11th-arrondissement patrons consuming its Bread shop’s tartines, bagels and buns since 2016.
Now — be they bigger, brighter or simply a strange crossover — Paris’s newest crops of boulangeries are moving on these trends again. Here are four doing things differently; a quartet that are destinations in their own right.
courtesy of Les Commères
You won’t find cronuts or New York rolls at this new sister venue to the original Les Commères. Both are by Adèle Doublet, who forsook an engineering degree to work at Alain Ducasse restaurants and the cream-puff temple Popelini before going solo, and who swears by top notch, back-to-basics products and simple, made-here pastries. At this spacious new address near Bastille, there’s also a nostalgic feel borne of country house-style decor and caramelized apple turnovers alongside the croissants and chouquettes. You’ll also find some sandwiches, limited-edition viennoiseries on weekends and the fruits of free-thinking monthly collaborations with local bakers. The bistro-like wicker seats and tables outside encourage convivial lingering.
74 Rue Crozatier, 12th
Something of a hybrid, this inviting establishment is open all day and has benched seating faintly reminiscent of fast-food diners. Yet it’s very much a boulangerie: the site — in Montmartre, behind the Sacre-Cœur basilica — has seen a former bakery and adjacent bookshop combined and redecorated, with soft colors and mirrored panels effecting an airy, cheerful vibe. All the breads are made in-house, sometimes via two millings and often involving rare, ancient flours such as nutty kamut; also freshly prepared, using good PDO butter, are viennoiserie offerings headlined by cruffins. Seasonal sarnies, soups and quiches beef out the savory offerings, alongside Chamboule’s own hummus mayonnaise, while weekends see an expanded patisserie selection.
54 Rue Custine, 18th
Maxime Frédéric is the lauded pastry wizard who oversees patisserie at the swanky Cheval Blanc hotel as well as for Maison Louis Vuitton. Given that CV, this rule-breaking new haunt in residential Batignolles is, though glossy, surprisingly unfussy. Beyond the facade, in whose window a large millstone crushes defenceless hazelnuts, you’ll find parquet floors, vintage cake molds on walls and display cases containing fine pastries below glass cloches. But, wait: there’s also a self-serve section selling Frédéric’s chocolates, chocolate spreads and dessert cartons (mousse, crème caramel et al) before the more typical baked goods counter and its sensational kouign aux pommes. Most unexpected are Pleincœur’s fair prices; buy a stupendous plain croissant and you’ll get change for €2.
64 Rue des Batignolles, 17th
Paris’s biggest bakery? That’ll be Leonie’s sixth branch. Unlike the other five — all by Kamel Saci, a vastly-experienced baker who cut his teeth under the legendary Éric Kayser — its latest is a whopper inside the old Reuilly-Diderot army barracks; a vast project which combines student and social housing with art studios, shops and much green space. Some one thousand square meters in size, the two-floor space incorporates numerous seating areas and a sprawling avian mural. Polished burgundy concrete floors and dark wood counters add snugness inside, but the best spot, weather-allowing, is an idyllic terrace below olive trees. Produce-wise, everything is made using organic flours, from an array of breads to pastries and the in-demand Basque cake. You can also buy sandwiches and salads or sip some L’Arbre à Café coffee.
2 Passage Emma Calvé, 12th
Lead photo credit : courtesy of Leonie Bakery
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