Best Croissant in Paris

The jury has rendered its verdict. The ruling on the best croissant in Paris for 2013 has been announced by the foodie-centric Concours du Meilleur. I nearly wept with joy when I discovered that top honors went to 134 RdT, a boulangerie one block away from the apartment we’ve rented this September near the Place de Vosges in the Marais. (Last year this shop placed in the Top 10 for the Best Baguette in Paris!)

Here’s the decision, in order of ranking:

 • 134 RdT, 134 Rue de Turenne, 75003

 • Le Grenier à Pain des Abbessess, 38 Rue des Abbesses, 75018

 • Boulangerie L’Essentiel Mouffetard, 2 Rue Mouffetard, 75005 

 • Boulangerie des Belles Feuilles, 22 Rue de Belles Feuilles, 75016

 • Boulangerie Pichard, 88 Rue Cambronne, 75015

The Croissant is Not French

As identifiable with France as the Eiffel Tower, the butter-rich croissant surprisingly is not French in origin.  The croissant’s ancestry can be traced back to 13^th century Austria where it was then called a Kipferl.  The crescent-shaped Kipferl was brought from Austria to Paris in the mid-1800’s, but it wasn’t until the Boulangerie Viennoise (“Breadmaker from Vienna”) opened just after the turn of the 20th century that this morning pastry became a huge hit among the Parisians.   French bakers began immediately to make copycat products and named their version “croissant” in reference to its crescent (croissant) shape.   

Stay tuned for a future posting on my favorite spots in Paris for mind-blowing croissants.