A tea flavored ‘macaron’ Gerard Mulot Paris – Paris Breakfasts

Text by Sally Peabody, Your Great Days in Paris

Paris abounds in splendid tea salons and tea shops. For those who love to brew, Paris is the tea capital of the world as a result of the high quality and the diversity of fine tea served and sold here. But the tea itself is just the beginning, since the city’s masterpatissiers, chocolatiers, and tea salons offer up numerous diverting edible options.  Here is my favorite short list of where to go to enjoy fine tea out of the pot and delicacies on the plate!

Sadaharu Aoki is a remarkable patissier, bringing his Asian sensibility to inform classic French patisserie. His tiny shop on the rue de Vaugirard is, of course, drop dead gorgeous and the patisserie selection is in equal parts intriguing and delicious.  The green tea éclairs will stop you in your tracks with their brilliant matcha-infused icing and delicate cream inside. A worthy stop indeed for a first go at “eating your tea.”  Aoki has seating where you can order a pot of tea to accompany the éclairs or other patisserie, but it is also near the Luxembourg Gardens if you prefer an alfresco snack. (35 rue de Vaugirard, Paris 6 or 56 Boulevard de Port Royal, Paris 5).

What is it about the Left Bank? After hitting Aoki, your quest for teatime treats should lead down the rue de Seine (away from Luxembourg towards Boulevard St. Germain). First, the incomparable patisserie of Gerard Mulot (76 rue de Seine) is your place to taste either green tea or tea and mango macarons. Just a block further on the opposite side of the street, Pierre Marcolini, master chocolatier makes Earl Grey-infused dark chocolates that are very, very good (89 rue de Seine).

Green Tea Brioche from Chajin. Photo: Chajin

On the Right Bank, Chajin (24 rue Pasquier, Paris 8eme) offers superb first flush Japanese green teas and serves selected Japanese tea-infused dishes at lunchtime.  My favorite tea-on-the-plate option at Chajin is the white chocolate bar infused with matcha. The bar is a lovely subtle green color and the flavor is simply delicious with that luscious texture on the tongue that quality white chocolate can provide.  These are made by a chocolatier in the Marais using Chajin’s tea.  These make perfect gifts for others (or for yourself!) Angelina (226 rue de Rivoli) is more famous for its sinful hot chocolate than it is for its tea, but its Belle Époque decor and sumptuous desserts make it a good stop on your tea tour. (It’s an ideal place to take kids for brunch or an afternoon treat).

Finally, Mariage Frères tea salons offer a mind-spinning array of pure and flavored teas, but they also excel at tea-infused cookies and pastries including green tea madeleines or financiers, or fruit tartes with tea-infused pastry cream.  Lunch or brunch menus at Mariage Frères include various main course or salad options that incorporate teas in artful ways. You can also purchase various jams, sugars and salts infused with tea. The Mariage Frères salons with patisserie and food are located in the Marais at 30 rue de Bourg Tibourg, in St. Germain des Prés at 13 rue des Grands Augustins, and, near Ternes at 260 rue de Faubourg St. Honoré.

Bottom line, Paris is the place to drink your tea and to eat it too!

Angelina, rue de Rivoli. Photo: Paris Deconstructed

Sally Peabody’s company, Your Great Days in Paris, is dedicated to helping travelers make the most of their time in Paris. Her blog is all about enjoying Paris–on and off the Beaten Path: http://peabodysparis.blogspot.com

Edited by Tory Hoen for the HiP Paris Blog. Looking for a fabulous vacation rental in Paris, Provence, or Tuscany? Check out Haven in Paris.

Courtesy of Paris Breakfasts

photos courtesy of laduree.fr & chocolatezoom.com

There are many ways to experience Paris, but one of the more decadent ones is, simply, to follow the chocolate. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of doing just that when I tagged along on Context Tour’s “Chocolate Walk,” a chocoholic’s dream that took me to many of the Left Bank’s most delicious (and gastronomically prestigious) addresses.

We began the tour in front of the Saint-Germain-des-Prés church, where our docent, Camille Labro, pulled an actual cocoa pod (which she had recently brought from Brazil) out of her handbag and gave us a quick rundown on the plant’s important role in world history.  Over the next few hours, we would learn the ins-and-outs of chocolate production and consumption, from its historical roots in South America to its modern incarnations in Paris and throughout the world.

Labro, a food writer whose career has taken her from Berkeley to Provence to New York to Paris, is one of the four docents who lead Context’s “Chocolate Walk.” And while her route was well mapped out, she assured us, “all of my tours are customized.” True to her word, she allowed plenty of time for us to follow our individual gastronomical and cultural whims, whether that meant lingering over a truffle or taking a moment to marvel at a row of smoked Spanish hams in a nearby shop window.

Our first stop was Debauve & Gallais, a maison de chocolat founded in 1800, which claims to have been the chosen chocolate supplier of various French kings.

Upon entering the shop, housed in an old pharmacy, we could not resist their famous pistoles, chocolate coins crafted in remembrance of Marie Antoinette. We sampled a variety of flavors, most memorable of which was the chocolat de santé, or “health chocolate,” whose cocoa content was 99%. Though not easy on the taste buds, this particular pistole certainly conveyed the essence of unadulterated cocoa.

Our second stop was the sensational Pascal Caffet on rue Jacob. After tasting their Caramel Poire, caramel and pear liqueur surrounded by 70% Venezuelan dark chocolate, I quickly understood why this chocolatier has been distinguished as a “Meilleur Ouvrier de France”—a title bestowed upon food producers who uphold the highest standards in gastronomic quality and integrity.

From here, we made our way down the winding streets of the 6^th arrondissement, dodging in and out of shops to taste and gawk to our hearts’ delight.

No chocolate tour would be complete without a sampling of the famous French macarons, the preferred dessert of many French royals (long before they became favorites of hungry tourists). We hit up the elegant Ladurée to sample classic flavors—chocolate, salted caramel, rose-infused—and later made our way to the much-loved Pierre Hermé boutique to taste macarons with a modern twist. So, who makes the best macaron? The debate rages on. We will have to continue researching.

photo courtesy of: mieletcannelle.wordpress.com

Our final stop was the sleek shop of Belgian chocolatier Pierre Marcolini, whose address on the Rue de Seine felt more like an haute-couture clothing boutique than it did a chocolate house. Elegantly displayed in glass cases, his products evoke high art—though their visual appeal should not stop you from devouring them with abandon.

After a few hours of chocolate touring, I had expected to feel—at best—lethargic and—at worst—fatally ill.  On the contrary, I am now completely convinced of the cocoa plant’s much lauded benefits: mood elevation, anti-oxidizing powers, anti-bacterial effects, and all around magic. At the conclusion of the tour, I was left with the feeling that all was right in the world. An afternoon of chocolate will do that to you.

The approx. 3-hour walk takes place in the 6th arrondissement. Prices are 90€/person or 410€ for a private tour. Tours are limited to 6 guests.

The Chocolate Walk is just one of the many themed tours offered by Context Travel, whose docents are experts in various fields including art, architecture, history, theology, cuisine, shopping, and lifestyle.

photo courtesy of laduree.fr

For more information on Context’s Parisian tours, you can visit their website at: http://www.contexttravel.com/paris/.