April 5th, 2013

Around Sacre Coeur and Boulangerie Gontran Cherrier

This post is one of many documenting my week in Paris, a present to myself for graduating pastry school in the fall of 2012. Every moment was spent eating and one post wasn’t enough. It’s now a short novel. Kidding. I hope.

To get to the Sacre Coeur I got off at the Abbesses subway stop. Walking out onto the street I found myself in the middle of a mid-day flea market. There was a carousel in the middle and a wonderful sugary smell coming from a churro cart. I was most thrilled to scour through odds and ends to find a true gem of a vintage kitchen item, but alas nothing. I did see some mini savarin molds but I didn’t have the confidence to haggle.

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March 29th, 2013

Patisserie Blé Sucré and Sacre Coeur

This post is one of many documenting my week in Paris, a present to myself for graduating pastry school in the fall of 2012. Every moment was spent eating and one post wasn’t enough. It’s now a short novel. Kidding. I hope.

It was so cold, sooo very cold on this particular morning. Hovering around the mid 40′s, the weather wasn’t exactly great for all the walking I needed to do in order to stick to my pastry schedule. Nevertheless I toughed it because it’s Paris and bundled in three layers of clothing, gloves and a scarf I made my way through the Bastille (12th arr) and Montmartre (18th arr) neighborhoods and ended up having some of the best food on my trip.

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March 8th, 2013

Afternoon Tea: Laduree

This post is one of many documenting my week in Paris, a present to myself for graduating pastry school in the fall of 2012. Every moment was spent eating and one post wasn’t enough. It’s now a short novel. Kidding. I hope.

I always say Laduree is the Tiffany’s of sweets. Walking out of the shop with a pastel green bag is chic and tres Parisian. The interior is truly opulent with crystal chandeliers and wall paintings inspired by the Sistine Chapel and nearby Opera Garnier. Everything is gilded in gold from the porcelain china for tea to the macaron boxes that I admit to saving because they are so beautiful. I typically brave the long line, buy my macarons and leave but on my latest trip I decided this was a fitting place to celebrate graduating from pastry school since my final project was a pastry assortment inspired by the ones at Laduree.

Three of the locations in Paris have tea salons, Champs-Elysees, rue Bonaparte and rue Royale. The latter is the oldest and I wanted to be at the original establishment so allons-y! Off to rue Royale for tea!

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January 20th, 2013

Afternoon Tea: Jacques Genin and my caramel-making story

This post is one of many documenting my week in Paris, a present to myself for graduating pastry school in the fall of 2012. Every moment was spent eating and one post wasn’t enough. It’s now a short novel. Kidding. I hope.

Time for my first of three afternoon tea posts. Sadly I heard this past week (1/14/13) that Jacques Genin will no longer be carrying pastries. Yes his fortés are his chocolates and caramels but I thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon tea I had there. Hopefully it will continue in some form.

Tea for two at Jacques Genin in the Marais (3rd arrondissement)

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November 26th, 2012

Joséphine Chez Dumonet

This post is one of many documenting my week in Paris, a present to myself for graduating pastry school in the fall of 2012. Every moment was spent eating and one post wasn’t enough. It’s now a short novel. Kidding. I hope.

On this trip, I was looking for an authentic French dining experience, some real protein to offset my subsistence on baguette and beurre. I consistently read that Chez Dumonet in the 6th arrondisement was the place to go. So I decided to start my trip right and made a reservation for my first full day in the city.

Grand Marnier Soufflé

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November 8th, 2012

Paris Croissants Revisited and Ranked

This post is one of many documenting my week in Paris, a present to myself for graduating pastry school in the fall of 2012. Every moment was spent eating and one post wasn’t enough. It’s now a short novel. Kidding. I hope.

On the flight to Paris, while taking a nap I woke to the smell of butter. My nose said… croissants! I immediately scanned the plane for a coming flight attendant. Sadly, this is what landed in front of me. Never have I seen such a sad, limp piece of pastry. I ate it anyway because well, I was bored and anxious with 2 hours to go till landing. Not a very good reason but I vowed when I got into the city I’d eat enough good ones to make up for this.

Left: Plane croissant, Right: Pierre Hermé croissant

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October 31st, 2012

Autumn in Paris

This post is one of many documenting my week in Paris, a present to myself for graduating pastry school in the fall of 2012. Every moment was spent eating and one post wasn’t enough. It’s now a short novel. Kidding. I hope.

It was nice to experience Paris in the fall. On previous trips I’ve always had the luxury of the summer warmth and while this time it was an unfriendly 40 degrees, it didn’t stop me from taking in the city by foot. Most of Paris continues to be green but I was happy to find some autumnal colors here and there.

Walking along the Seine river towards the Louvre

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October 30th, 2012

Seeing Orange

This post is one of many documenting my week in Paris, a present to myself for graduating pastry school in the fall of 2012. Every moment was spent eating and one post wasn’t enough. It’s now a short novel. Kidding. I hope.

I’m having major Paris withdrawal since returning less than 24 hours ago. So here we go, a Paris-inspired ORANGE post to celebrate the Giants World Series win #2 since I missed the entire thing as I was busily stuffing my face with pastries.

“Napolean Noir,” Laduree’s gorgeous black box with an intricate gold trim. According to refinery29, they put together a special limited edition box for Halloween in the New York shop that has a macaron with orange passion fruit filling.

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