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Yann Couvreur Pastry, Paris


After visiting the spectacular pastry shop of Yann Couvreur I decided that what he needs to do is move to NYC.  Anywhere in New York City.  I would schlep to Brooklyn, Bronx, the Lower East Side,  or wherever he would like to open a pastry shop.  As a pastry junkie I thought that I died and went to heaven, when I tasted the first spoonful of one of Yann's pastries.

My first time visiting Yann Couvreur patisserie was in July, a few weeks after he opened his new place on rue des Rosiers in the Marais.  I have been back a few times since then, and had a chance to taste different delicacies as the flavors changed with the season.


Large windows and doors give the patisserie an open feeling.  The sea-green boxes which sit on the display cases add a nice pop of color to otherwise muted tones of stone, wood, and copper.  Lovely green plants hang from the shelves, which are suspended from the ceiling.



Each day there are about ten different pastries, a few flavors of pound cakes, some lovely viennoiseries, and some savory snacks available for purchase.  In addition to those, there are a few made-to-order desserts, which can be ordered at the window next to the entrance.


This Merveille de Printemps, was the first Yann Couvreur creation that I have tasted, it was delicious and gorgeous. The whimsical paper placemats portray the chef's favorite animal, the fox.  


This dessert swept me off my feet.



The sweetness of the ganache, the juicy cherry, crunchy pistachio and chocolate pieces created one spectacular, and memorable pastry.


The light as a feather cheesecake with apricots was also fantastic.




In order to really get a good sense of this patisserie I needed to taste his pain au chocolat.  It was very good, had a nice, buttery taste, good texture, and a lovely chocolate, but I will need to come back early in the morning to sample a freshly made pain au chocolat.




 Now, this was awesome.  As long as we were doing a tasting we decided to just go all out and sample one of the made-to-order desserts, in the name of good research.


This otherworldly caramelized brioche with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and dulce de leche on top was outrageously delightful.  It tasted like French toast made by angels.



When I returned to Yann Couvreur in the fall, I decided to try his mille-feuille, which is made-to-order, just like the brioche.  This was probably the most avant-garde mille-feuille I have ever seen; very thin and crispy sheets of pastry, layered with velvety and fresh Madagascar vanilla cream.


It was superb, creamy, crispy, and perfectly sweet.  I loved that there was some excess cream wiped on the side of the plate, kind of a fancy equivalent of being able to lick the bowl the cream was made in.   They make only 50 mille-feuille daily between noon and 5pm, so the earlier the better to score one.  I got mine at about 3pm.



Beautifully lacy layer of pastry.



During my last visit there were plenty of fall flavors available - figs, chocolate, lemon.  I love his pound cakes and always get a few individually wrapped slices of marble, lemon and pistachio to bring home.



Yann Couvreur
23 bis rue des Rosiers
Open 10 -10
or
137 Parmentier
Open 8-8

Joanna


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