Fauchon

Paris, France (The Joy of Food) — Of all the grand food emporiums and legendary patisseries of Paris, none is more grand or legendary than Fauchon. Fauchon is glam gourmet at its Parisian hot-pink finest.

It might not look it today, but this all began in the 1800’s as a cart out in the middle of the Place de la Madeleine. There, founder Auguste Fauchon peddled fruits and vegetables from the best orchards in France. Only in Paris, kids, only in Paris.

From these humble beginnings rose a sprawling flagship store that now wraps an entire corner of the famed square. Inside, you can pick up everything from your morning cappuccino to caviar that costs more than your first car.

If you were to visit for one thing and one thing only, it would have to be the pastry. The croissants here are the stuff that dreams are made of, essentially the best french butter you will ever taste reshaped into layers of pillowy goodness. The flake is a phenomena unto itself. They come served with more butter for slathering if you’re so inclined, and you should be so inclined. 

Like a Chanel suit, butter croissants are classic and never go out of style, but Fauchon kicks things up a notch with a series of tiger croissants, puffy little things that get swirled with stripes of strawberry, pistachio, or chocolate. The scent of sweet fruit, roasted nuttiness, or creamy indulgence is intoxicating.  

The eclairs here are life-changing, especially the Precious Gold: a choux pastry shell, salt butter caramel cream, and caramel fondant topped with caramel chunks. If it wasn’t clear already, the patissiers at Fauchon do God’s work. 

A steady stream of now-notable names have graced the kitchen over the years, including Pierre Hermé (chocolatier) and Dominique Ansel (of cronut fame), many of whom went on to open their own companies and achieve pastry grandeur around the globe.

Since this is the Gucci of the culinary world, eating well will be a given, and so will high price tags. As the benchmark for contemporary luxury food, this is as excellent as it gets from a purveyor that continues to be original, delicious, and a feast for the eyes.