Pierre Hermé needs no introduction to macaron lovers – I’ve yet to meet a food lover or blogger that doesn’t adore these delicate little sweet morsels from heaven. Interestingly, Pierre Hermé Paris stores began in Tokyo, where most things French will receive an appreciative audience. He has been called anything from “the Picasso of pastry ” (Vogue), “pastry provocateur” (Food & Wine), “an avant-garde pastry chef and a magician with tastes” (Paris-Match), “kitchen emperor” (New York Times), “The King of modern pâtisserie” (The Guardian). High praise indeed. So it was with curiousity and excitement that I visited the main store on the Rue de Bonaparte.
It seems that on the smallest and most inconspicuous of streets in Paris lies a treasure trove of fantastic artists or designers that specialise in food. Case in point, Pierre Hermé’s shop is on a smallish street, unannounced when you’d think they would be shouting it from the high rooftops of Paris. The only hint is the minimalist words “Pierre Hermé” and the crowd. And what a crowd it is, it’s a tight fit to get into this tiny little store, outfitted like a designer set from Ugly Betty where 5 men in designer black outfits behind the counter take your precious order. It’s a little extreme and makes me giggle, especially when I am served by a very serious young man with one of those Kylie Minogue stretch headbands. Even the staff at Louis Vuitton weren’t this serious.
Keeping in mind my splurge at Laduree the other day and for good measure, a parting reminder of it before he exits the crowded shop by my husband, I select comparatively few things. Just a Desire, a 2000 Feuilles and a selection of 7 macarons in a box. I could get them packed in a plastic bag but given that the counter guy has just tried to pick up three with his tongs only to have them crumble right in front of me, I ask for the box. It’s extra of course like all nice boxes here in Paris (grrr). I feel proud that I’ve only chosen a few things and my total is only €22.88.
2000 Feuilles €6.20
We don’t have long to go home and once we do I take them out of their boxes. As the weather was a warm 25 degrees today we have to act quickly, the 2000 Feuilles is on the verge of melting. In fact just seconds after the photos were taken, it collapsed. It doesn’t stop me from sticking my fork into it and plundering its many layers. It’s absolutely gorgeous, the pastry perfectly crispy despite the custard layers (how do they do this in Paris? Everywhere else it goes soggy) and the cream is a rich caramel cream with a chocolate crunch at the bottom. The bottom layer is brushed on the base with butter and sugar. The textures on this pastry are incredible and should you ever come face to face with this pastry, open your mouth and take a bite-I dare you to stop at just one forkful.
Desire €6.60
The Desire, a fitting name is a sponge filled with cream and raspberry jelly, a lovely light concoction but I have the feeling I should have chosen a more exotic offering.
Close up with focus on the Jasmin silver dusted macaron
Macarons 7 boxed for €10.00
The macarons are what made him famous so the flavours I tried were: Eden (Peach, saffron and apricot), Jasmin, Rose, caramel a la Fleur de Sel, Mosaic (Pistachio, cinnamon and griottines aka french morello cherries), grapefruit, Mogador (chocolate and passionfruit). The Eden with apricot is my definite favourite, it is so definitely apricot-ey followed by the delicate Jasmine and Mogador (chocolate and passionfruit). The trends for these gorgeous little things are edible metallic dusts, seen most distinctly on the Jasmin macaron.
I hate to be one of those people who always has a suggestion or always harks back to something “back home” but in Tokyo, one isn’t charged for getting something in a lovely box, and this box is also functional in that it preserves your goodies perfectly so that they can be consumed with both visual and palatable pleasure. There’s nothing worse than reaching home and finding that your food has been smashed to smithereens. It upsets me in fact, that I’ve paid a premium for something that looks perfect only to eat something that looks like it’s through the spin dryer. Another thing that they will also do in Tokyo, if you’ve got a long trip home, is put in a packet of dry ice which would have helped save the 2000 Feuilles should I have wanted to bring them to someone else’s house for dinner.
In any case, my husband, my very own Louis XIV, the man whose mantra is “quantity over quality” finds himself enraptured by the macarons. When someone brings up Pierre Hermé, he startles awake and says in a very impressed tone “that Pierre guy, he makes really good biscuits”.
Pierre Hermé
72 rue de Bonaparte, 6th arrondisement 75006 Paris
Tel : +33 (1) 43 54 47 77
Open 7 days 10:00-19:00 (Saturdays open until 19:30)
http://www.pierreherme.com
If you enjoyed this post, why not share it with your friends?
What is NQN up to now?
NQN on Facebook
RSS
34 Comments | Add your own
Ha, ha. I think you will poke your husband and remind him that it’s macaroon, not biscuit and he will ask what’s the difference.
I just bought cupcake on Pitt St and found out that they have this new flavour, green tea cupcake. I was happily eating the green tea milk chocolate on the cupcake, as a decorate, then disaapointed when I ate the cupcake, no green tea feeling in there and there are spots of green food colouring in there and here.
They look so beautiful, seems a shame to eat them!
Oooh that apricot, peach and saffron macaroon sounds delicious. So this is where the macaroon thing started!
Yes, the packaging in Tokyo is amazing. I bought a cream-covered cake as a gift and for no extra charge, they decorated a plaque to go on top, placed it very carefully in an exquisite box, packed it with dry ice, wrapped a ribbon around it and THEN put it in a lovely bag. Might be a bit non-environmentally friendly (all that packaging) but makes you feel so pampered, and it sure looks after your cake!
ooo… the filling looks decent on those macarons! The french sure know how to turn everything in to an extravagant boutique experience! Love all the packaging and wonderful colours.
Ladies, ladies…macaron, not macaroon!
Lorraine I’m so incredibly jealous you went there! I want to visit Paris just for the biccies hehehe
what in the world is a feuilles? it looks sensational, and although i have no idea what it’s made of, i want some immediately.
wow your photos are sensational and the desserts made me drool
Hi Lilia-But a macaron is a type of biscuit!
Oh no, that’s a bit of a disappointment, maybe they thought that people wouldn’t notice? But of course people would!
Hi Reemski-I thoguht the same, until the delicious smell got too much and I dived right in
Hi SydneyGal-that macaron was really heaven in a few bites!
Your experience is exactly what I mean, it’s so… thoughtful and pampering as you said. I would have been seriously peeved if I were taking the 2000 Feuilles to someone’s house for dinner!
Hi Maria-Yep I was so glad to see a decent amount of filling finally!
The display of macarons looked so lovely *sigh*
Hi Kel-You must! I visited Paris just to eat
And do a bit of sightseeing combined with that but pastry and sweet eating was definitely Number 1. But the walking around counteracts the effect of sweet consumption 
Hi grace-It means “sheets” I think. So the dessert Mille Feuilles means a thousand sheets and this one means 2000 sheets
It’s also so hard to pronounce for me 
Hi snooky doodles-Thanks so much! They’re definitely worth the hype
OK! Paris and Japan are definitely my next trip! I feel so deprived here!
Would you believe I never went to Pierre Herme when I was in Paris? I don’t know what I was thinking! I thought the mini ice pack in the pastry box I got at a patisserie in Tokyo was a nice touch too.
Hi Carolyn-They’re both definitely worth going to
I feel the same way here sometimes 
Hi Y-Really? I missed it out the first time I went to Paris as I’d never heard of it then. I made sure to rectify that situation immediately though this time. *sigh* It’s the small touches really!
Yeah, the time I was there, we were more interested in croissants, cheese and baguettes,.. and sight seeing!
I did make it to mariage freres and laduree, so the trip did have a sweet element to it. 
Can’t believe your millefeuille collapsed so quickly!
oh lucky! you got to try the jasmin one. alas, it was out of season when i was there in january… but i did get an amazing fois gras and fig one (8 euro a piece!!), and a wonderful olive oil one with a slice of salty green olive inside. you might be interested to know that zumbo has put an apricot, saffron and peach macaron on his menu this winter. flattery, i believe it’s called.
Hi Y-They’ve got something magical happening with the pastries in Paris. I’m not usually a fan of choux pastry as I often find it soggy here but it is perfectly dry there. I know, the 2000 feuilles was really good, just needed some dry ice I think!
Hi bowb-Foie gras and fig? Wow, they didn’t have any savoury ones there. I just checked the little “season’s collection” brochure they put in my bag and they were all sweet. 8 euros! Was it a larger one or a small size? I’d think twice at 8 euros but would probably give in
Oooh would love to taste Zumbos version. I just wish he put more filling inside!
8 euros for a regular-sized one, but so SO good. it was a predominantly sweet filling of fig paste, with a surprise slab of unadulterated liver in the middle. i must admit i took note of the price tag, and then filed the information away, and then waved my hand expansively over the display case and asked for one each of everything. it probably helped that it was our last day in paris. ha.
Hi bowb-Sounds like a brilliant combination. I tried foie gras and cherries and that also worked really well. So how many did you buy that day? And how did it take you to have them all? A macaron doesn’t last very long around me…
i honestly don’t remember how many i ended up with. maybe 8? 10? plus a big fat ispahan. we didn’t hoe into them straight away though. it made it all the way back to london on the eurostar, and then we were very disciplined with them. after dinner over the next three or four nights we would bring the boxes out (the other members of my party had bought their own box), and nibble away at them. particularly good ones we would slice at with knives and make them last two or three days. sometimes we would trade slivers if there was something someone particularly liked. oh how i miss those evenings!
Hi bowb-That’s a lot of restraint! I don’t think they would have lasted until Eurostar (well we bought them a few days before returning to London so that’s our excuse
). Sounds like good memories!
what am i doing in bali???? i obviously need to be in Paris…a cardboard box on the footpath would provide ample savings to ensure a daily supply of macarons!
Oh what a shame about the macarons.. The flavours sounded intriguing though. Your description of the 2000 Feuilles sounded Mmmm Mmmm.
I don’t mind you making comparisons to Tokyo.. it gives us readers perspective
Hi airy fairy-But you are so lucky to have that gorgeous sun!
Although a trip here is definitely worth almost a cardboard box 
Hi Maria-I would just adore having another 2000 Feuilles. I still remember it so vividly like yesterday… *sigh*
Thanks, I guess I was just imagining the French reaction to the comparisons
*sigh* Pierre Herme looks just as fabulous as I expected it would. One day…
Hi Angela-It is indeed and doesn’t disappoint at all. The only bad thing about it is that it is so far away
Hermé pastries are delicious indeed. I particularly love macarons.
Unfortunately, they are way too far from us, down here in Sydney… Someone must already have had the idea to make these little sweet snacks for us in Sydney. If you have an address, please share …
Hi Cecile-there are a few places that make macarons in Sydney. There’s Adriano Zumbo & Lindt cafe as well as La Renaissance and Laurent Patisserie
Hi, just trying to catch up on emails I share a computer with my partner, Mark so it sometimes gets a bit hard. I have been craving macaroons & today was reading up on on past site of yours, living in the Sydney area I love to go to Gelato Bar at Bondi Beach where I have always bought their Walnut macaroon for the last 20 yrs. A yummy cookie with a chocolate ganache filling topped with hard choc. icing Have you ever tried them-I would love a recipe similar I think you a very clever I wish I was gifted like you Have a great day Kind regards Krystyna
Hi B. Krystyna-Ahh sounds lovely! I haven’t tried that but I really do need to go to Gelato bar for another reason so if I do I’ll try it!
Funny! I bought a whole box of the miniature ones. Ate them that afternoon. I like your description of the place, it is true, I felt like people were exhibiting reverence, ordering with hushed voices as if they were intimidated! funny! I love the French appreciation for art and creativity in all venues
6 Trackbacks/Pingbacks
[...] suspect that Pierre Herme, the creator of the Ispahan would be quite horrified at the idea of his lauded creation being [...]
[...] world spreading the love and good knowledge about Tequila. Yes, along with professional shopper and Pierre Herme macaron taste tester, put that under “Dream Job” [...]
[...] For those of us, and there are many, who look forward every 6 months for Adriano Zumbo’s new “Please sir can I Have Some More!” cake collection, today is the culmination of many ruminations, conversations and pontifications on what he may come up with next. Today, to add a bit of chaos to the whole collection, Reem and I thought we should do a food blogger’s meet. Reem organised it all and so we thought 7 of us would be seated in the Cafe, having bought our cakes and delicate morsels from the shop nearby. For those of you who haven’t heard of Adriano Zumbo, the man is the Australia’s answer to Pierre Hermè. [...]
[...] which included attending the Coupe du Monde de la Patisserie (World Pastry Cup) and working at Pierre Herme, hence the collection’s name, and he came home eager to get back into his own kitchen and get [...]
[...] foods and where you must go to enjoy them at their best. Their list includes chocolate cake from Pierre Herme, Paris, the curry at Karim’s in Delhi, the ravioli at Manhattan’s Babbo and the tomato [...]
[...] is my favourite most undoubtedly as I love jasmine macarons having been spellbound by one at Herme in Paris. This one is fragrantly lovely and distinctly jasmine. The macarons here are harder on the outside, [...]
Post a Comment