The oldest tea rooms and the oldest pastries in Paris

The link between Paris and pastry is no longer to be demonstrated and day after day, the City of Light proves to gourmets that it deserves, again and again, its nickname of capital of gastronomy. Long before the now famous Cédric Grolet, Yann Couvreur and other Philippe Conticini, the pastries and tea rooms flourished over the decades and centuries in Paris, inventing pastries that are still eaten today!

If you feel like discovering Paris from an unusual angle, mixing history, heritage and pastryso prepare your taste buds and your stomach because such stroll looks rich in discoveries and in tastings. We take you today in the footsteps of the most old tea rooms and oldest pastries of the capital. You will enjoy.

The oldest tea rooms in Paris:

Angelina’s story begins nearly 120 years. At the beginning of the 20th century, Anton Rumpelmayer arrives in the South of France. the austrian confectioner opens several Rumpelmayer boutiques there. Encouraged by the rapid success of these, the confectioner decides to leave storming Paris ! It thus opens in 1903 the first Angelina tea roomunder the arcades of the rue de Rivoli, named in honor of his daughter-in-law.

Angelina becomes, from then on, one of the favorite places of theParisian aristocracy whose gluttony is no longer to be demonstrated. Proustbut also Coco Chanel andt other big ones fashion designers, painters and writers French have their habits there. Even today, the Belle Epoque decor imagined byarchitect Edouard-Jean Niermans continues to delight sweet-toothed people from all over the world, who have come to taste the famous Mont Blanc of the House, accompanied by the famous Old-style hot chocolate.

This is royal street opened in the middle of the 19th century by the Ladurée’s first tea room. In 1862, Louis-Ernest Laduree decides to open a bakery in the very chic district of Madeleine, but it was destroyed by fire. Fortunately, the founder did not give up and reopened the address, transforming it into a pastry shopwith a decor signed by the poster artist Jules Chéret.

While Belle Epoque in full swing in the capital and that the latter welcomes theWorld Exhibition in 1900, Jeanne Souchardthe wife of Ernest Ladurée, had the idea of merge coffee and pastry, thus marking the birth of tea rooms. Another fact inseparable from the Parisian House, the creation of the double shell macaron in 1930, on an idea of ​​the pastry chef Pierre Desfontaines, cousin of Louis-Ernest; a pastry shop now associated for eternity in Paris.

the May 5, 1862at the corner of boulevard des Capucines and place de l’Opéra, the Grand Hotel and his coffee, Cafe of peaceare inaugurated by theEmpress Eugenie. Over the centuries, the Café de la Paix has witnessed, in its Napoleon III style decorthe biggest French intellectuals, writers and politicians.

Among them are Victor Hugo, Emile Zola, Maupassant, but also international artists, such as HemingwayofOscar WildeofArthur Conan Doyleor the creator of the Ballets Russes, Sergius of Diaghilev. Recently restored by Pierre-Yves Rochon, the Café de la Paix now boasts a pure Second Empire style.

To understand thecarette’s storyyou have to go back to 1927when Jean Carette and his wife, Magdaleneopen their pastry shop on the Place du Trocadero. inspired Art Deco, the flagship style of Crazy yearsthe decor of the tea room is the work of designer Hubert de Givenchy who endowed the place with moldings golden, of mirrors aged by time and chandeliers majestic.

True example of French know-how and Parisian style, the first Carette tea room and soon followed by a second, this time on the Place des Vosges, then a third, dedicated to takeaway sales, Place du Tertre.

The oldest pastries and chocolate factories in Paris:

Do you know the oldest pastry shop in Paris ? Yes, it is indeed the pastry Stohrer of rue Montorgueil which was founded in 1730 (!) by Nicholas Stohrer, then pastry chef to Marie Leszczyńska, daughter of the former King of Poland Stanislas Leszczynski, and wife of King Louis XV. With Stohrer, the pastry chef imagines a modern and innovative place, bringing together all the trades and pastry skills – pastry chef, but also confectioner, waffle iron, gingerbread.

The decor of the address of rue Montorgueilfrom now on listed as a Historic Monument, is the work of a pupil of Paul Baudry, himself behind the decor of the Opéra Garnier. On the stalls, we still find today the receipts who did the success of the House ; the rum babathe chiboust pie, the well of lovethe old fashioned nunall inventions of Stanislas Stohrer, but also the bites to the Queenof which he is also the inventor.

Now that you know the oldest pastry shop in Paris, can you tell us that it is the oldest chocolate factory in the capital ? In the bullseye, it is indeed the chocolate factory A La Mère de Famille ! The historic shop of rue du Faubourg Montmartre, with its tiles elders, his wooden counters weathered, its chandeliers metal, its candy boxes neatly aligned and Belle Epoque stylewas inaugurated in 1761.

In the early 1760s, Pierre Jean Bernard, a young grocer originally from Coulommiers, moved to the capital and opened a shop in an area that was still underdeveloped but already popular with the Parisian bourgeoisie, Rue du Faubourg Montmartre. Over the centuries, the business grew, changed hands, modernized and diversified, becoming a deli fashionable during the Belle Epoque. Classified to Historical monuments in 1984, the shop’s famous facade served as an inspiration to many artists and painters.

Classified to Historical monumentsthe Au Petit Versailles bakery and pastry shop in the Marais seems not to have changed one iota since it opened in 1860. Specializing in sourdough bread and traditionthe shop also offers pastries and classic french pastries, such as flans and tarts with seasonal fruits. We especially admire the decor thoroughly preservedwith its bucolic paintings under glass and its ceiling of great beauty, work from Anselmfamous decorator of the 19th century.

Founded in 1834while Paris is in full July Monarchy, La Vieille France does not lie about its name. At a time pastry shop, chocolate factory but also confectionery traditional, the shop located in the 19th arrondissement of the capital offers French pastry classicsmade from receipts period and therefore in the rules of the art!