An Insider’s Guide to the Most Mouthwatering Bakeries in Paris

With more than 1,300 boulangeries and a profound baking culture, Paris has always been an awesome place for your morning pain au chocolat or baguette. But the lovable boulangerie de quartier might rely on additives and premixes. After a recent monthlong stay in Paris researching a book on bread, I found that a new generation of artisanal bakers across the city is replacing commercial yeasts with carefully nurtured sourdough starters, sourcing heirloom wheats stone-ground by small mills, and embracing creative techniques and cross-cultural flavors. Their creations are worth traveling for, as I happily discovered.

“The new-concept bakeries have a short range of products, a disruptive approach and strong personalities,” said Christophe Vasseur, whose bakery, Du Pain et des Idées, by the Canal St.-Martin, helped kick-start the artisanal bread movement more than two decades ago. Now, tattooed bakers are “rock stars,” as the newspaper Le Figaro called them. “This situation brings a new general appreciation of artisanal bread — which is such a great thing,” said Apollonia Poilâne, the chief executive of the namesake family bakery, which has locations in Paris and London and still sets a mark of bakery excellence with its sourdough miches.

As crowds flood Paris for the Olympics and restaurant reservations become elusive this summer, these six boulangeries will satisfy your cravings for the crustiest boules and baguettes, the airiest brioches and the flakiest viennoiseries — even if you have to consume them on a park bench (or if you are lucky, in a stadium).

A baguette de tradition at the following bakeries costs just over 1 euro, and a loaf of bread is usually priced at €10 to €15, or $11 to $16, per kilo (just over two pounds). Breakfast viennoiseries starts at €1.60 for a croissant. Individual pastries are priced between €5 and €8.

Raised in a rough Paris suburb by his Guadeloupean mother, the head boulanger at Utopie, Xavier Netry, had to drop out of school to support her by working in bakeries. He went on to become one of most prominent Black bakers in France, winning the annual Paris baguette competition last April. Now queues start early outside the pint-size Utopie in the 11th Arrondissement for his crusty sourdough-starter-leavened creations, be it the golden baguette de tradition (currently being supplied to the Élysée Palace) or aromatic green-tea loaves punctuated with crispy puffed rice. But don’t miss Utopie’s pastries, as its owners, Erwan Blanche and Sébastien Bruno — both Maison Ladurée veterans — have serious patisserie cred and adventurous palates. Case in point: their sesame-lime composition, a striking orb of black sesame mousse on a crumbly sable base with a bright citrusy accent of lime confit.

Tip: Arrive early for the best bread selection and don’t leave without a sourdough croissant and a bag of black-sesame mini-madeleines.

This chic minimalist Marais storefront represents the refined worldly vision of two Italian brothers, Lucio and Thomas Colombo. After nine years apart working in Europe and elsewhere at some of the top bakeries, hotels and more, the brothers opened Brigat’, named for their Italian home village. Everything served here is impeccably elegant and technically perfect — from the fragrant loaf of buckwheat polenta bread inspired by their northern Italian roots to the jewel-like gâteau of meringue, strawberries and chamomile cream. But the true stars are riffs on levain brioche: the classic unfilled ones (citrus-scented buttery clouds with a gossamer sheen of vanilla glaze) and the swoon-inducing brioche feuilleté framboise, with a crunchy swirled cap concealing a center of intense raspberry filling.

Tip: Enjoy your celestial carbs at one of the tables inside, or eat them on the grass of Place de Vosges nearby. Either way, don’t miss the Brigat’ Gelato a few doors down. And to take home: their majestic, moist panettone (€30).

the Marais

Petite Île, for pain au chocolat — with a sesame twist

The married Taiwanese couple Chih-ya Wang and Po-hsuan Chuang opened Petite Île, their stylish nook in the Marais, in 2022. A graduate of France’s prestigious Ferrandi baking program, Ms. Wang creates exemplary sourdough einkorn and rye loaves, as well as honeyed pain de mie milk bread as light as an air kiss.

She also makes playful cross-cultural treats, such as the Japanese melon pan, which tastes more like brioche with a crackly cookie crumb crust, and the pain au chocolat aux sésames, a ruggedly beautiful thing that delivers a vigorous crunch and a dense chocolate filling with the added intrigue of black sesame. Also delightful is the puffy viennoiserie danoise, a riff on an almond croissant with caramelized praline oozing out from its sides and a top studded with different seeds — think croissant meets Danish meets everything bagel.

Tip: The friendly servers will pull you a perfect espresso on their Marzocco machine to take to the tables outside. A delicious bread of buckwheat, chestnuts and quinoa is a terrific gluten-free option.

Montmartre

Atelier P1, for indulgent yet virtuous tomato tartlets

Hailing from generations of bakers and millers, Julien Cantenot opened the arty boulangerie Atelier P1 five years ago in northern Montmartre. His mission? Updating the breads and viennoiseries of his childhood with heritage grains, patient fermentation and painstakingly sourced organic ingredients. Offering a view of young bakers at work, P1 has a convivial neighborhood vibe and a smiley staff happy to elucidate each small mill and farm they work with. So inviting is the wooden counter display, it’s hard to choose between burnished loaves of signature einkorn bread, levain focaccia thick as an airport novel or a luscious pain au praliné loaded with a double dose of hazelnutty gianduja. The gorgeous tomato tartlets (recipe courtesy of Mr. Cantenot’s mother) are vegan and based on a whole wheat and olive oil pastry — a treat both indulgent and virtuous.

Tip: The P1 Bouche cafe, on the same block, is a great place to sample the goodies. For home-baking enthusiasts, P1 offers weekly three-hour workshops.

12th arrondissement

Les Copains du Faubourg, a homey spot in the 12th, looks like your average boulangerie de quartier, with customers noshing on bacon-egg rolls at a few sidewalk tables. Inside, though, you’ll note the whirring mill that grinds esoteric wheat varieties for the baker-owner Gérald Auvrez, who worked at Blue Hill at Stone Barns and now supplies bread to such gastro-gods as the chefs Alain Ducasse and Bruno Verjus (who is the chef and owner of the third-ranked establishment on the current World’s 50 Best Restaurants list). Mr. Auvrez’s masterpiece — it took him almost two years to develop — is the feuilleté au seigle beurré, a rye-and-wheat puff-pastry turban that combines rye’s soulful toastiness with the buttery flakiness of the lightest croissant (come early to snag one). Also outstanding: his baguette de tradition, which is nutty and earthy from the addition of barley, and the chausson aux pommes, a turnover filled with whole roasted apples and baked on a bed of brown sugar.

Tip: The menu here offers sandwiches, salads and bakery items that include delicious éclairs and raspberry sables made by Mr. Auvrez’s wife, Clara Bayonne Roman.

A sweet success story of female bakers in a male-dominated métier, Ten Belles Bread was founded in 2012 as a coffee roastery by the Franco-British duo Anna Trattles and Alice Quillet. Today, with three locations and a baking facility that supplies its signature high-hydration sourdough loaves to some 60 Parisian restaurants, Ten Belles is a vital part of the city’s bakery/coffee shop culture. With chill vibes and design that bring to mind London or Brooklyn, the airy location in the 11th is perfect for viewing bakers at work while you polish off voluptuous little quiches and well-constructed focaccia ham sandwiches served with housemade mayo and pickles. Expect an exciting selection of coffees from small-scale producers, and try a cup with their roulé cannelle — much shared on Instagram, it’s a heavenly pull-apart cinnamon roll made with laminated croissant dough and speckled with salt flakes.

Tip: Ten Belles’ original Canal St.-Martin location makes for fun people watching, while the Rue du Cherche-Midi branch is a great Left Bank pit stop.

The author’s latest book, “National Dish,” about food and national identity, is just out in paperback.

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