Du Pain et Des Idees

My visit to Du Pain et Des Idees (34, rue Yves-Toudic, 10th) was really special. I wasn't expecting so much as I walked down the street searching for the number, but I was really blown away. First by the atmosphere, both inside and out, then by the decor, and then by the beautiful breads on display. I struck up a conversation with the woman behind the counter. Her English was perfect and I was in such a trance by my surroundings that I forgot to ask her name.

She encouraged me to take my time in deciding what I wanted. And I think I stood there for at least 5 minutes trying to make up my mind. Most enticing were the gentle stacks of Pain des Amis, which were cut into large squares and had this exquisite-looking crumb.

I mentioned that I was a baker from New York, formerly an engineer, and she shared that their bakery had recently been named Best Bakery in Paris by Gaullt Millaut. She also offered that perhaps the executive baker/owner, Christophe Vasseur (also a career changer), might be able to recommend places for me to study or stage in France. A smile came across my face - I couldn't have been more thrilled and grateful at just the offer.

I came back to our apartment with both bread and pastry. A square of the Pain des Amis (you can find the photos on flickr), a quarter loaf of multigrain, baguette ancienne, pistachio chocolate snail and a chausson aux pommes. If I could have a favorite bakery in Paris, this would be it. The Pain des Amis had such a delicious and unique flavor. The flavor was so unique that I recognized it from a loaf I tasted from the Boulanger du Monge. And I think it must be the type of stone ground wheat they are using.

The multigrain was amazing - the sweet, roasted cereals balanced the acidity of the levain, which was present unlike many of the naturally leavened breads I recently tasted. This definitely has to be the best mutligrain loaf in Paris! The grains and seeds were toasted before they were added to the dough to lend a really nice nuttiness. When I first started to mix doughs in bakeries, I was surprised that the nuts weren't toasted before being added to the dough, since that was what I learned to do via recipes and school and i making pastry. I came to enjoy that the nuts on the outsides of the loaves became toasted and the inner ones retained a nice texture, but I always wanted them to all be toasted.

The flavor of the baguette was complex and the texture indicated a long fermentation time. The pistachio chocolate snail was gone before we reached the end of the bakery's block - instead of the usual pastry cream raisin combo, this had pistachio pastry cream and chocolate chips.

I almost passed over the chausson aux pommes. I had grown tired of them from an overdose a while back. But the woman, whose name I don't know, said that Christophe would want me to try one as it represents what the bakery is all about - taking good produce and ingredients and baking from scratch wonderful breads and pastries. Fresh apples are baked into the puff pastry, as opposed to pre-made apple compote which most bakeries use. The chausson was delicious. Not too sweet, fresh, buttery and tasty.