Fan of all things sweet and sticky? On a quest for the perfect baguette? These bakeries have got it all
Photograph: Cédric Grolet Opéra
So, you’re in Paris, probably after watching a thousand Paris TikToks before you went. What’s the first thing you need? A croissant. Or maybe a chewy baguette. Or maybe a pain aux raisin, or a cookie, or perhaps a millefeuille (or three).
Essentially, you need to get yourself to a pâtisserie, or a boulangerie, stat (the former is for cakes, the latter primarily for bread, but both will do you a banging croissant). There’s nowhere better for baked goods than in Paris – you’ve just got to avoid the tourist traps. Luckily enough, the editorial team at Time Out Paris have sampled every spot worth its dough in the city, to bring you this list of the absolute best. Please, enjoy. It’s on us.
RECOMMENDED:
🥞 The best places for brunch in Paris
🥘 The best restaurants in Paris
🎨 The best things to do in Paris
🏨 The best hotels in Paris
🥐 The best food tours in Paris
This article was written by the editorial team at Time Out Paris. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.
Septime owners Bertrand Grébaut and Théophile Pourriat have taken a no-nonsense approach to sweet treats with Tapisserie; it uses organic, stone-ground flours with character, local creameries and fair trade sourcing. Chef Fanny Payre's vanilla flan and apple tart are both rustic and delicious, as are the fontainebleau.
For all things bread, Alain Ducasse tipped us off that this neighborhood shop, just a hop from Faidherbe metro station, harbours the coolest baker of the moment. At Les Copains du Faubourg, the cheerful and talkative Gérald Auvrez, trained under chef Dan Barber, grinds his own Rouge du Roc wheat in store. The result: a masterful loaf with a crispy crust and a dense, moist crumb, boasting long acidic and roasted notes, or an astounding buttery rye puff pastry, halfway between viennoiserie and bricheton.
Who could have imagined that dorayaki – two pancakes sandwiched between a sweet azuki bean paste – would become the culinary marotte of Parisian foodies? Now it’s time to try them in this Japanese tea room, set up by two former Aida pastry chefs: Romain Gaia and Murata Takanori. But Tomo is also an opportunity to discover other delicate Japanese pastries: mochi, daifuku, baba with Japanese whisky...
Behind this small charcoal black façade, Shinya Inagaki, a living legend of sourdough, indulges in his passion: French bread. To enjoy it, you’ll have to brave Shinya Pain’s restrictive hours (4.30-7.30pm only) and the inevitable queue, but oh, what loaves! These are breads with delicate crusts and a subtle sourdough acidity that enhances the aroma of roasted grains. Our top tip? Try the version with khorasan wheat. Oh, and take a look at its Instagram for daily posts of handwritten notes detailing which breads will be sold that day.
The little sister of the original Yann Couvreur near Goncourt metro station, this understated Rue des Rosiers address is the Marais branch, and it lets its bright, dainty desserts do the tantalising talking. Throughout the year, only eight desserts are sold here – but all are delish. Order the Madagascan vanilla millefeuille, the raspberry pavlova, or apricot and coriander cheesecake.
Unless you live in the southern part of the 20th arrondissement, going to Le Bricheton is a bit of an expedition, a pilgrimage that every bread enthusiast must undertake at least once in their life. Maxime Bussy, an uncompromising baker on quality, only works with ancient and organic flours, sourced from small artisanal mills. The result: a very low gluten content, ideal for those with intolerances.
If you like your desserts fruity yet subtle, with just the right amount of sweet, make a pilgrimage to this high-end Left Bank spot. Your host, world-renowned pâtissière Claire Damon, has worked everywhere from Fauchon to Ladurée to Plaza Athénée. Order the rhubarb and grapefruit tartelettes, the cherry Mont-Blanc, or pistachio millefeuille.
Chef Anthony Courteille, trained as a baker, has transformed his restaurant ‘Matière à’ into Sain Boulagerie, a bakery that focuses on ancient flours, sourdough, and good seeds. His special and original breads (parsley the hazelnut, parsnip, turmeric and butternut squash bread...) remind us that the guy has a cooking background. Also worth noting are the viennoiseries (croissants, pain au chocolat, brioche and the likes), are all made with sourdough, which is a rarity in Paris.
Just a stone’s throw from Buttes-Chaumont, Sayo Yamagata and Othman El Ouraoui have established this delightful pastry haven. The stars of the show? Plump cakes with a dense, bouncy texture that are perfectly moist, not too sweet, and topped with either classic lemon or glazed with vanilla almonds. Ginko’s Franco-Japanese cakes, aligned with the season, are equally delightful: the Mount Fuji tart with chestnuts, cranberries, and whipped cream (€6.40), the chocolate-buckwheat (€6.70), or the Paris-Tokyo, a hazelnut choux pastry with roasted soybean powder.
Former interior architect Claire Escalon set up Elements Boulangerie by embracing all the codes of healthier bread: exclusively sourdough, juggling between rye, spelt and rice flours from local stone mills. If you’re looking for baguettes, this is not the place. Instead, try the country bread, highly crusty with reasonable acidity, a bit like the German-style schwarz brot in terms of density, or try the rice, buckwheat and seed version, which is a bit like a gourmet cake.
The only way to avoid standing in front of the pastry mega-star’s shop for an hour? Reserve a table in the tea room upstairs. Cédric Grolet Opéra’s uncluttered room isn’t exactly wow-factor, but it does allow you to take pictures (thanks to the light) and to feast your eyes on these little marvels on the spot, such as this divine flower-shaped lemon tart (€11), with its perfect shortcrust pastry. The one thing we wouldn’t recommend is the viral viennoiserie, which does not live up to the hype.
Forget everything you know about matcha. Forget all the other Japanese matcha restaurants - Toraya is king of them all. Considering the location in Concorde, prices are naturally going to be a fair bit more, but this shouldn't hold you back as this traditional tea salon is nothing but a dream. The puddings are an explosion of colour: refreshing matcha yokan with scrumptious cane syrup and grilled soybeans.
This fantastic restaurant that turns into a coffee shop outside normal mealtimes. Founder Moko Hirayama, a former lawyer, prepares original desserts that catch your eye as soon as you walk in, including cookies made with black olives and white chocolate. Her pecan cake is also divine.
This place really does feel like, well... a utopia. From simple butter croissants to chausson aux pommes stuffed with real apple, everything here is simple yet insanely moreish. And the best thing? Prices aren’t half bad. Order Utopie’s sesame eclair, a subtle strawberry and cinnamon tart, or a fragrant, melt-in-the-mouth flan.
This spot has every French classic, all under one pâtissier’s roof. This excellent address does every kind of cake and pastry you could imagine. The difficulty is in deciding which of the many delights you want to take home. Go for one of Boulangerie Bo’s classics, like the lemon tart, Paris-Brest, or chocolate eclair.
Cyril Lignac is the equivalent of Mary Berry, a chef turned food celebrity. When he's off the screen, he’s the boss of the bistrot Chardenoux on rue Jean Vallès, a chocolate factory and obviously a patisserie. With a minimalist vibe, you'll scoff down every crumb of his sourdough, pastries and lemon tarts – but make sure you order the signature pastry (€6.50), made with light cream, vanilla bourbon, salted caramel butter and praline. It's to die for.
Arnaud Larher is a timeless (and by this point pretty notorious) pastry chef who has settled in Paris for almost twenty years. And his spot in the 6th district is perfect for revisiting the classics; flaky, caramelised kouign-amann (croissant-like pastry), mille-feuille (a layered pastry slice) with a cloud-like texture, and decadent baba au rhum (rum-soaked cakes) aged in Martinique oak barrels. Classics never disappoint.
Cafe Nata is the (micro)embassy of all things pastel de nata in Paris: baked fresh on-site the same day, with perfectly crispy pastry, delicately layered and creamy filling, rich in egg yolk and generously dusted with cinnamon. Just as good as in Lisbon, in our humble opinion.
You have to venture a bit outside of Paris to discover this talent in La Garenne-Colombes. Awarded the prestigious title of Meilleur Ouvrier de France in pastry making and confectionery in 2004, the self-proclaimed ‘pope of cakes’ (fruity, chocolatey, with or without gluten) breathes new life into childhood treats at Pâtisserie Nicolas Bernardé. Don’t miss out on the cake of the week, inspired by fresh market finds (100 percent seasonal fruits). Every Saturday you’ll find a new cake announced in advance on his website.
High-quality, seasonal ingredients and an immense talent in pâtissier Kévin Lacote mean the tarts, cakes and other bakes at this plush spot are some of the city’s best. Look out for the tarte aux pommes in winter, the tarte aux fraises in summer, or year-round favourite the tartelette Kara Damia, with salted caramel, coconut dacquoise and macadamias.
Discover Time Out original video
