I stumbled across the Michelin’s top ten bakeries in Paris report recently and was almost disappointed to see my favourite bakery in Paris listed as the first of the top ten. I thought it was my little secret that no one knew about! Though Du Pain et Des Idées is a tiny, unassuming bakery, the bread and patisseries are out of this world. I found it purely by chance: I was working in a studio on the same street and was looking for the local bakery to take home a baguette one evening… and I was in for a surprise. The baguette had a wonderfully crisp, but not hard, crust and the inside was so delicate!

Christophe Vasseur, the owner of Du Pain et Des Idées started off as a fashion house sales executive when he had a change of heart at the age of 30 (as you do) and decided to become one of the top bakers in the capital. He has more than  succeeded. Voted best baker of Paris by Gault and Millau (a famous food magazine) last year, this year he was voted one of  the 10 ten bakers in Paris by the Michelin guide.

If you are ever in the area I personally recommend the baguette, the orange blossom brioche called a ‘mouna’, or the apple turnover with a whole baked half-apple in it.

I can only repeat — out of this world!

– Emilie