A little piece of Paris

Macarons, macarons…



Does the beautiful, speckled passion fruit specimen look familiar?

It should. Bosie Tea Parlor’s pastry chef, Damien Herrgott, worked at Pierre Hermé for four years. And you can sample his masterful baking skills in our fair city.

While Herrgott has been in New York for seven years, Bosie’s only been open for about eight months. A peek inside their pastry display, and you’d swear you were back in Paris.

Éclairs and the mighty Ispahan…


Darjeeling tartes and citron tartes…

Pear walnut tartes and, voila, the Paris Brest.


I finally got a taste of Bosie when I had lunch and sweets with one of my favorite pastry chefs, Pichet Ong.

Pichet let me pick, so of course I got two of the richest desserts available.

The eclipse: a heavenly mix of chocolate sabayon, chocolate ganache and salted white chocolate atop a dark chocolate cookie with fleur de sel.


And the Paris Brest: choux pastry piped full of thick, rich hazelnut cream.


Some days are just more heavenly than others.

Afternoon tartes at Gontran Cherrier

When I read about the “sexy French baker” Gontran Cherrier on I Heart Paris, naturally I had to go. It’s taken me six months to have the opportunity but my eyes, and belly, were not disappointed.

The Montmartre space is clean, comfortable and modern, sitting on a corner and getting light from two sides. It’s perfect for the display of true artisanal baking.


The rustic breads…

many layered vienoisserie…


…the beautiful tartes…



and, well, bagels!

My Italian plum tarte was indeed tart.

But sweet too.

Simply. Delicious.

Le Boulanger des Invalides

As I wrote for HIP, the beauty of a great city is you’re never done with it; there’s always something you still haven’t discovered. And while I feel like I became intimately familiar with many of the city’s boulangeries in my two-year stint—a little too familiar with some—grace à my friend Britta, I discovered a gem in the 7eme while I was there last month: Le Boulanger des Invalides.


It’s a Belle Epoque beauty, crunched on a corner of the sprawling Avenue de Villars. We sat for savory tarts and watched the never-ending line of come in for takeaway lunches of quiche, sandwiches and salads. My own Provencal tart was pitch-perfect: a thin, crisp pastry, topped with grilled eggplant and sweet tomatoes, seasoned perfectly.

But of course, it’s all about the desserts.

They had sweet praliné escargots—only the mini ones lasted until the lunch hour.

Of course I had to sample, hoping for the same taste of heaven that the Praluline gave me. But not quite.

But there were plenty of pain aux raisins and pain au chocolat.


Spreads of beautiful tarts, with those perfectly fanned fruits, dusted in confectioners sugar or drizzled in chocolate.


Along with some more atypical gateaux and tartlettes…



In other words, a huge selection. Enough to keep me coming back again and again.

The best brest in Paris

They say here in France that a patisserier’s skills can be judged by just one dessert: the Paris-Brest. Which puts Philippe Conticini at the top of the choux-filled heap.

Six months ago, Conticini—who opened La Patisserie de Reves last year—was awarded the best Paris-Brest in the city. Two months ago, he opened a gorgeous salon de thé in the 16eme (Bon Marché shoppers arent’ the only ladies who lunch). The man is on a roll.

Of course it’s not all about the Paris-Brest (even if it is a little ring of heaven, with liquid praliné piped inside the hazelnut cream).

Beneath each individual glass-domed frigo is a mouth-watering, stomach-rumbling visual masterpiece.

Raspberry and lemon meringue tartes…


…chocolate and coffee éclairs….

…strawberries and cream.

His daring Saint-Honoré and dazzling Alliance.


Even his wee cookies are arresting.

Some of the delights dare not even be covered by casings.

Like this—the biggest brioche ever.

Rivaled only by the enormous madeleines.

And if you’re worried that you will put away an entire tarte or cake yourself, don’t worry. Individuels!


And a lovely tearoom and terrace in which to indulge.


Best of Paris? You bet.