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Enfin, Pierre Hermé
By Ann | October 27, 2008
After 2+ months of living in Paris, last week I finally visited the famed pâtisserie, Pierre Hermé. So much has been written about this Star of Sweets, this Prince of Pastry, that I don’t think I can contribute much to the Everest-size mountain of adulation that already exists. (Just in case you’ve been living in a sugar-free zone and haven’t heard of Monsieur Hermé — he’s known for his unusual flavor combinations, particularly the Ispahan, which combines rose, lychee and raspberry. He also uses a strong mix of salt and/or salted butter and sugar.)
The shop is very discreet, hidden in plain sight on the rue Bonaparte. In fact, I almost missed it the first few times I walked by it.
Inside, I made my purchases from the not-so-helpful shopgirl. When I asked if I could take some photos, she told me I could take two. I obediently limited myself, though no one was counting. Of course, one of them (above) is blurry.
What did I purchase? Two tarts and a box of cookies: 25.20€ total (yikes). The cookies alone were 14€ and had been particularly recommended to me by not one, but two different people. Or so I thought. In fact, I think I bought the wrong cookies. I blame the shopgirl, who, when I asked her where I could find the chocolate biscuits with sea salt, waved her hand in a vague direction. The cookies I bought are chocolate, with no discernible salt and some bits of dried raspberries that cling to your teeth. They are nice, but as CK pointed out, kind of hard and dry, like a chocolate-flavored version of sailor’s tack.
The tarte au citron (5€, pictured left) was lemony and brightly citrus-y. Nothing extraordinary, and probably not worth a special trip. But the tarte infiniment vanille (6.20€, pictured right)… oh la la! As the name suggests, it had an infinitely vanilla-y richness, perfectly sweet, creamy and cool — exceptional.
Pierre Hermé
72, rue Bonaparte
75006 Paris
tel: 01 43 54 47 77
Topics: Sur ma table |
2 Responses to “Enfin, Pierre Hermé”
Comments
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October 27th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Still two out of three ain’t bad. Those tarts look divine. Sounds like they could improve their sales effort though…
October 28th, 2008 at 12:14 am
Despite the shop girl, you gave us two photos which captured the elegance of the pastries in the display case. But, 25.20€ for that?! Wow! I just bought a dozen and a half of the world’s best chocolate meringue cookies (each 3″ in diameter and embedded with loads of California walnuts)… soft and chewy with a thin crunchy crust and nutty nuggets of walnuts … non-fat, I might add … and all for $15.50!