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A. Lacroix Patisserie, Paris


My visits to Paris are usually carefully planned out; practically every meal is decided far in advance, and same goes for pastries, ice cream and macaron.  While I have not visited every pastry shop in Paris, that would be almost impossible given their numbers, I am aware of most of them.  Imagine my happiness when I came across a brand new patisserie, one that is barely a year old! 




 A. Lacroix is a lovely tea room/patisserie opened by an American woman and a Parisian pastry chef.  Jackie, the founder, is originally from Ohio but has been living in Paris for nine years.  She left her job in the telecom industry in order to pursue a dream of opening a tea salon.  I'm so glad she did!
 

This is a charming patisserie/tea salon with beautiful stone walls, wooden beams, plenty of seating space, and location that just can't be beat.  One side of the place looks at the Notre-Dame Cathedral!


A. Lacroix is not just a pastry shop, they serve tarts, salads, soups, homemade ice cream and macaron. 
But, I came here for the pastry.  The thing with pastry is that, even in Paris, one can find a gorgeous looking pastry that will be a huge disappointment in terms of taste. 


This was not the case at A. Lacroix.  My mom and I got two delicious herbal teas and picked a couple of pastries to taste.  I must admit that I got the pastries purely for their beauty, shallow, what can I say.

Just look at this setting, a perfect view of Notre-Dame, a tree-lined street that lies along the Seine River and bouquinistes (booksellers) completing this perfect Parisian landscape.


Well, I was hooked after the first bite.  This beauty, Tarte Exotique, was a nice banana, mango and passion fruit tart, a sublime tasting treat.




Their, signature piece is called Notre-Dam, it comprises of shortbread, apple mouse, green frosting hard shell, caramelized apples inside and it's topped with a granny smith apple cut into a fan.  This is a delightful combination of tangy, sweet, smooth and crispy - a perfect dessert.




 We finished our two pastries, and I started to look longingly at the other delicious looking pieces sitting under the glass display.  I figured that as long as I'm doing research I might as well be thorough.  Jackie, the founder, patiently walked me through all of them since I said that now I was looking for some different taste, maybe something chocolaty.  Frankly, I could sit there all day, people watch, eat pastry, and sip tea, a perfect afternoon in my book.


 I went for these two lovely pieces, one chocolate one not.


 The Pavlova, (meringue, raspberry Chantilly cream, and mascarpone) was a real winner in looks and taste.



The chocolate pastry was dense and delicious, and it nicely incorporated different kinds of chocolate.


We left utterly delighted, and eager to return.  I see a great future for A. Lacroix, as long as the quality stays the same which given the level of dedication and attention to detail they have shown so far, should not be difficult.

11 Quai de Montebello
Open daily 11-8

Joanna


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