Bread & Roses
25 rue Boissy d’Anglas, 8th
M° Madeleine or Concorde
Second location at 7 rue Flurus (corner rue Madame), 6th, M° St-Sulpice.
This tearoom-bakery near Place de la Madeleine recently opened after the success of the original near Luxembourg Gardens, which I’ve visited several times when in the neighborhood. Gourmet organic breads and sandwiches to go, and seating to sample the gourmet quiches, salads, tartines, smoked salmon, foie gras, oysters, and other delicacies. The Irish Ploughman’s Lunch features a hearty Stilton cheese. I didn’t like the “Assortment of fresh salads” as much. And you have to really like the food here, because it costs about €15-30 per dish, whether you get a quiche or a salad or herrings.
Honestly, I go for the desserts. The English-style Sticky Toffee Pudding. Carrot Cake. Banana Crème Brûlée. All good stuff. Nothing compares to the cheesecake though. It’s perfect, with good texture and a strong pain d’epices flavor. There are French specialty teas and home made iced tea with mint to accompany your pastries, or you can get them to go.
The location in the 6th felt cramped, but there are big windows. The new location in the 8th next to Hermès is certainly posh and much, much larger. But it has an odd shopping mall cafeteria set-up, not helped by the fact that there are few people there in the evening (we ate at 8pm) to fill it up. We went to the counter in the back to look at everything before ordering at the table. The sandwiches are only to go, and at night there are few of the good quiches left (we split the mushroom quiche, absolutely perfect).
But what really caught my eye were the chilled Champagnes on display for take-out. Dom Perignon 2000 (with the pretty colored labels) for just €125. That’s not a typo. My local wine shop (and most I’ve seen in Paris) sell it for at least €150, if not more. The manager explained they carry prestige Champagnes (also Cristal from €160, Louis Roederer from €32) with just a small mark-up to make them accessible. Not a bad place to stop on the way to a chic picnic or a party, non?
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