Pastry Chefs in Paris Are Dreaming Up Delightful Twists on Classics
The seven treats that are upending the city’s baking hierarchy.
A lineup of compelling new pastries in Paris.
Photographer: Mary Devinat for Bloomberg Businessweek
The French don’t typically feel the need to update a classic anything—the Hermès Birkin bag hasn’t changed in decades. It’s been a similar story in the pastry world, where such staples as croissants are essentially perfect as they are. (The French-born pastry chef Dominique Ansel had to go to New York to invent the Cronut, after all.)
But professional Parisian bakers are getting very experimental these days. In part, they’re inspired by the local chefs who have embraced “bistronomy”-style menus that casually tweak classics and highlight seasonal ingredients. They’re also seeing fresh competition from cities like London, where laminated dough—that is, dough that’s been layered with butter—currently reigns.