The link between Paris and patisserie is well established, and day after day, the City of Light proves to gourmets that it still deserves its nickname as the capital of gastronomy. Long before the now-famous Cédric Grolet, Yann Couvreur and Philippe Conticini, pastry shops and tear ooms flourished in Paris over the decades and centuries, inventing pastries that are still enjoyed today!
If you'd like to discover Paris from an unusual angle, combining history, heritage and patisserie, then get your taste buds and stomachs ready, because such a stroll promises to be rich in discoveries and tastings. Today, we're taking you on a tour of the capital's oldest tear ooms and pastry shops.
The oldest tearooms in Paris :
Angelina's story begins almost 120 years ago. At the beginning of the 20th century, Anton Rumpelmayer arrived in the South of France. The Austrian confectioner opened several Rumpelmayer boutiques. Buoyed by the rapid success of these shops, the confectioner decided to take Paris by storm! In 1903, he opened the first Angelina tea room in the arcades of Rue de Rivoli, named after his daughter-in-law.
From then on, Angelina became one of the favorite haunts of theParisian aristocracy, whose gourmet tastes were well established. Proust, Coco Chanel andother great French couturiers, painters and writers were also regulars. Even today, the Belle Epoque décor designed byarchitect Edouard-Jean Niermans continues to delight sweet tooths from all over the world, who come to sample the House's famous Mont-Blanc, accompanied by the famous old-fashioned hot chocolate.
Ladurée's first tea room opened on rue Royale in the mid-19th century. In 1862, Louis-Ernest Ladurée decided to open a bakery in the chic Madeleine district, but it was destroyed by fire. Fortunately, the founder didn't give up and reopened the address, transforming it into a patisserie with a decor designed by poster artist Jules Chéret .
At a time when the Belle Epoque was in full swing and the capital was hosting the 1900Universal Exhibition, Jeanne Souchard, Ernest Ladurée's wife, had the idea of merging the café and the patisserie, marking the birth of the tea salon. Another fact inseparable from the Parisian House was the creation of the double-shell macaroon in 1930, based on an idea by pastry chef Pierre Desfontaines, Louis-Ernest's grand-cousin; a pastry now eternally associated with Paris.
On May 5, 1862, at the corner of Boulevard des Capucines and Place de l'Opéra, the Grand Hôtel and its café, Café de la Paix, were inaugurated byEmpress Eugénie. Over the centuries, in its Napoleon III-style decor, the Café de la Paix has welcomed some of France's greatest intellectuals, writers and politicians.
These included Victor Hugo, Emile Zola and Maupassant, as well as international artists such as Hemingway,Oscar Wilde,Arthur Conan Doyle and the creator of the Ballets Russes, Serge de Diaghilev. Recently restored by Pierre-Yves Rochon, the Café de la Paix now sports a pure Second Empire style.
To understand thehistory of Carette, we need to go back to 1927, when Jean Carette and his wife, Madeleine, opened their patisserie on the Place du Trocadéro. Inspired by Art Deco, the leading style of the Roaring Twenties, the tea room's décor is the work of couturier Hubert de Givenchy, who endowed the place with gilded mouldings, weathered mirrors and majestic chandeliers.
A true example of French and Parisian savoir-faire, the first Carette tea room will soon be followed by a second, this time on Place des Vosges, and a third, dedicated to takeaway sales, on Place du Tertre.
The oldest pastry and chocolate shops in Paris:
Do you know the oldest pastry shop in Paris? It was founded in 1730 (!) by Nicolas Stohrer, then pastry chef to Marie Leszczyńska, daughter of former Polish king Stanislas Leszczynski and wife of King Louis XV. With Stohrer, the pastry chef imagined a modern, innovative place, bringing together all the trades and know-how of pastry-making - pastry chef, but also confectioner, waffle-maker, grocer's bread.
The decor of the rue Montorgueil address, now listed as a Monument Historique, was designed by a pupil of Paul Baudry, who himself designed the decor of the Opéra Garnier. On the shelves today, you'll still find the recipes that made the Maison so successful: baba au rhum, tarte chiboust, puits d'amour, religieuse à l'ancienne, all inventions of Stanislas Stohrer, but also bouchées à la reine, which he also invented.
Now that you've met the oldest patisserie in Paris, can you tell us that it's the oldest chocolate shop in the capital? You're right, it's A La Mère de Famille! The historic store on rue du Faubourg Montmartre, with its antique tiles, patinated wooden counters, metal chandeliers, carefully aligned bonbonnières and Belle Epoque style, was inaugurated in 1761.
In the early 1760s, Pierre Jean-Bernard, a young grocer originally from Coulommiers, moved to the capital and opened a store on rue du Faubourg Montmartre, a neighborhood that was still undeveloped but already popular with the Parisian bourgeoisie. Over the centuries, the business grew, changed hands, modernized and diversified, becoming a fashionable delicatessen during the Belle Epoque. Listed as a Historic Monument in 1984, the store's famous facade has been a source of inspiration for many artists and painters.
Listed as a Monument Historique, the bakery and patisserie Au Petit Versailles du Marais appears to have changed little since it opened in 1860. Specializing in traditional sourdough bread, the store also offers classic French pastries and viennoiseries, such as flans and seasonal fruit tarts. A particular highlight is the carefully preserved decor, with its bucolic paintings under glass and its beautiful ceiling, the work of Anselm, a famous 19th-century decorator.
Founded in 1834, when Paris was in the midst of the July Monarchy, La Vieille France doesn't lie about its name. Part patisserie, part chocolaterie, but also a traditional confectioner's store, located in the 19th arrondissement of the capital, offers classic French pastries, made according to period recipes and therefore in the rules of the art!
