Skip to main content

Tea and Dessert in Paris


You have been woken up by pigeons cooing outside your window, the street cleaning truck is humming in the distance, and the smell of coffee is emanating from the apartment next door.  A slow stroll through a cobblestoned street by Saint Germain des Pres lets you experience the magic of Paris waking up.  Minutes later you are slowly sipping coffee at Les Deux Magots. You sit on one of the ivory and green chairs and watch the world go by.  You take your time.  Later you will spent the morning marveling at the Water Lilies at Musee de L'Orangerie and follow that with a walk through the Tuileries Garden.  You sit on one of the green metal chairs by the large pond or walk under the hundreds of trees while small children scoot by on their four-wheelers.  Maybe you grab a sandwich from a park vendor, or skip lunch altogether since you will most definitely overindulge at dinner.  So, what to do now? You feel like a snack, but nothing too filling.   How about some dessert and tea? There are plenty of spectacular patisseries in Paris, but most don't offer an opportunity to sit and enjoy the pastries with a cup of tea or coffee.  I have a few places that are wonderful just for that.  Here are a few suggestions:

Laduree, various locations - an obvious choice.  This wonderful restaurant/tea salon is a terrific place for an afternoon tea with a decent pastry and some excellent macaron.

Dalloyau, 2 rue Edmond Rostand - there are other locations but this one, which is across the street from the Luxembourg Garden is my favorite.  Dalloyau is a lovely tea house with nice pastries.



Un Dimanche a Paris, 4-6-8, Cour du Commerce Saint Andres -  a wonderful restaurant, cooking school, sweets boutique, and a tea salon.  They are well known for their wonderful hot chocolate, and delicious pastries.






Un Dimanche a Paris is located on a peaceful cobblestoned alley filled with little shops and restaurants.  I love sipping tea and enjoying the beautiful pastries while sitting at one of their  outside tables

I got this cute tea timer.
While I love the very charming Angelina, 226 rue de Rivoli, I much prefer to get my pastry and hot chocolate from their 19, rue de Vaugirard location and enjoy it on a bench at the Luxembourg Garden. 

Le Café Pouchkine, 14, rue des Petits Carreaux or 16 Place de la Madeleine - a lovely place with spectacular pastries.









A. Lacroix Patisserie, 11 Quai de Montebello, I wrote about them already, but they are worth mentioning again.  The location, across the river from Notre-Dame, and delicious desserts, solidify this newcomer's spot on my list.



Le Loir Dans la Theire, 3, rue des Rosiers - I have been coming to LLDLT for many years and have noticed a huge increase in its popularity.  The owners can be a bit finicky and stringent about the "no dessert only orders before 3 pm" rule, but the cakes and tarts are really worth the hassle.  So you can either eat lunch here and get the dessert or come after 3 pm for dessert without lunch.  There might be a bit of a wait.  




I am a huge lemon meringue fan and this beauty is outrageously delicious.


It is not as sugary as it looks; it has a lovely sweet and tart balance.





Joanna
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bordier Butter - The Best Butter in France

France is in the midst of a butter shortage!  Due to a decrease in milk production and a substantial demand for French pastries all over the world (mainly China and the Middle East), the price of butter has increased by 60% in one year.  The French are stocking up and thus creating shortages.  French newspapers are publishing articles titled "A guide to cooking without butter".  So, with hopes that the shortages are temporary, here is my ode to the best butter in the world.  I'm not kidding.  The. Best. Butter. In. The. World. Mr. Bordier, a grandson and a son of cheese mongers, became a butter artisan in 1985.  He acquired a creamery originally founded in 1927.  The supreme taste of the Bordier butter was first recognized by a chef from the Plaza Athenee while vacationing in Brittany, a beautiful region in northwestern France. Bordier is the lone butter master to still use the old method of kneading the butter according to the 19th century traditions.  He uses a woo
3 comments
Read more

Port Said, Tel Aviv

Located across the street from the Great Synagogue of Tel Aviv, Port Said is one of the most popular restaurants in the city.  This restaurant is a brainchild of the iconic Israeli chef Eyal Shani of Tzfon Abraxas , HaSalon, and  Miznon . Most of the dining tables at Port Said are set up outdoors, and the interior of the restaurant is comprised of vinyl records stacked on floor to ceiling shelves, a bar with a small counter and the kitchen.    This is one of those restaurants with a very cool, young people vibe that not everyone would find appealing.  The wait for a table can be very long, the staff can be somewhat brusque, and the cigarette smoke might be bothersome.  The food, however, is spectacular. The menu at Port Said is very similar to Tzfon Abraxas and, just like there; it changes daily according to the season.  I was glad to see that they had this creme fraiche, tomato pulp and olive oil dip, which came with a couple of slices of challah. We ordered th
Post a Comment
Read more

Indian Accent, NYC

Often when a question arises as to what to eat for dinner, I think of Indian food.  I am a very happy gal with chicken makhani, basmati rice, an onion kulcha or a nan laid out in front of me.  I have heard some very good things about Indian Accent, a relatively new restaurant in midtown Manhattan, adjacent to the Parker Hotel. The décor here is unlike most Indian restaurants I have visited; no boldly colored fabrics, beautiful tapestries, intricately carved wood, or lanterns.  Indian Accent restaurant looks like something that Daniel Boulud would envision.  There are about fifteen wooden tables and a few small booths, fabric covered modern chairs, a lit bar with glass shelves and golden accents throughout, and large glass vases filled with flowering branches. The menu is complicated, however, our terrific waiter took his time and explained each dish and even made some wonderful suggestions.  Actually, everyone at the restaurant was really professional and lovely. We
1 comment
Read more