Now usually there’s a bit of a heads up when something opens: construction, a coming soon sign, maybe a news article, but this one seemed to pop up literally overnight. One minute I’m jumping on the train to go to Normandy and the next, a text from a friend saying Fou de Patisserie is opening a boutique on Rue Montorgueil (a street I live off of and walk down almost every day).

Now my first thought was hmmm– what could they be selling because Fou de Patisserie is an incredible magazine that is focused entirely on pastry with amazing pictures and loads of recipes. (They will send the magazine all over the world too.) I seriously texted my friend and said, are they just going to be selling the magazine, surely not! It’s great but I don’t see it paying the rent.

And no, this is a brand new idea actually and a nice deviation from the crop of mono-product shops that have been opening up in the past years. The Fou de Patisserie Boutique will not be selling just one type of pastry like eclairs or macarons, but a variety, and even better than that… lots of different pastries from… a mix of the top pastry chefs in Paris. Just think- a place to go and sample handpicked pastries from several different fabulous patisseries. Made fresh and brought in each morning!

THIS IS HUGE!

And so. dangerous.

Therefore my resolve of just buying one pastry changed from two to three in a matter of seconds.

Currently at the Fou de Patisserie boutique are the following pastries in the case:

Le Baba au Rhum by Cyril Lignac, rum cake with creme chantilly

L’Equinox by Cyril Lignac, vanilla bourbon whipped ganache, center of salted caramel on a praline speculoos biscuit and covered in white chocolate

Le Phil’goût by Philippe Conticini, chocolate, hazelnut, and craquounet

Le Cheesecake Cassis/Mandarine de Sicile by Jonathan Blot, sable cookie made with Sicilian almonds, ricotta mousse, confit of cassis and mandarine from Sicile

La Tarte au Chocolat et Thé Earl Grey by Jonathan Blot, tart shell of pate a sucrée with cocoa powder and fleur de sel, chocolate ganache infused with earl grey topped with whipped ganache, toasted hazelnuts and cocoa nibs

L’Eclair Caramel/Beurre Salé by Christophe Adam (l’Eclair de Genie), pate a choux, salted caramel ganache

L’Eclair Parfums de Saison by Christophe Adam (l’Eclair de Genie), pate a choux, and a selection of seasonal flavors, made exclusively for Fou de Patisserie Boutique

Le Mille-Feuille by Hugues Pouget (Huge & Victor), puff pastry, ganache, lightly whipped cream with Madagascar vanilla

La Tarte au Citron-Vert by Hugues Pouget (Huge & Victor), pate sablée, almond creme, lemon/lime curd, and italian meringue

La Tarte Pistache/Pamplemousse by Olivier Haustraete (Boulangerie BO), pate sucrée sablée, light frangipane cream, pistachio, and grapefruit slicesAll are 5.90 euros and made fresh daily. They’re kept in refrigerators behind the pastry case- probably a nifty storage solution in a tiny Paris space. Let’s just note that I barely made it past the glazed Madelines by Gilles Marchal.

So ordering got difficult as my first selection of the super cool looking cheesecake turned into a quick addition of the Chocolate Earl Grey tart and then because the lady that was helping me was near them and the customer before me had bought them and because I love them, a financier. whoops. 😀

The cheesecake was so light and delicate with the perfect crust and right amount of flavor from the cassis/mandarine.

Chocolate upon chocolate with a subtle note of Earl Grey tea and a nice contrast in textures between the ganache and cream. And bonus- the crust wasn’t hard to get through like so many tart crusts can be.

Along the other side of the boutique is a selection of chocolates and caramels. Unrefrigerated goods are at the front in the store window just begging you to grab one without even asking.

Am I happy about this shop opening? NO! Because I will be there seriously all the time! This is NOT good. New life goal: try all the offerings at the boutique and any new rotations.

The oldest pastry shop down the street, Stohrer, will probably still get my visit for the classic no frills caramel eclair though. 🙂