Gourmet

Paris is the undisputed gourmet capital of the world.  It has the best restaurants, best cheese shops, best wine shops, best cooking schools, best specialty shops (epicerie), best pastry shops (nothing compares!), best markets (called marchés), best chocolate shops (sorry Belgium and Switzerland!), best butchers (boucherie), best fresh seafood shops (poisonnerie), and best cooking supply stores — of anywhere in the world.

Indeed, virtually every store seems to have a niche.  In my old neighborhood in the Seventh Arrondissement, within three blocks there were four butchers, three boulangerie and patisserie shops, two wine shops, one cheese shop, one macaron and chocolate shop, a sud-ouest foie gras store, and one fruit and vegetable stand (this excludes the grocery store, where I would go to buy water, milk and cleaning supplies).  Among the butchers, one was known for rib-eye, another for poulet rôti (roasted chicken), and another for veal.  And if I really wanted to get some special bread or pastries, I would walk an extra five blocks to go to one of the best patisseries in Paris, Secco.  For cheese, I would walk an extra four blocks to go to Marie-Ann Cantin, near Rue Cler.

In short, not all stores are created equal.  So if you want a croissant, a truly exquisite, buttery croissant, don’t assume they are all the same, because they are not.  We will tell you where to go for that out-of-this-world croissant, macaron, eclair, chocolate, candy shop, chevre, foie gras and any other Parisian delight you are dying to try.  For anything gourmet, stop right here and look, because if you want to truly experience the exceptional, Le Best of Paris shares the secrets that Parisians in-the-know treasure.

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