I ran for 55 minutes straight this morning, so I feel like I am in a position to comfortably write about this subject. I’ve been learning more and more about my eating habits, and to my great surprise, I don’t have nearly as much of a sweet tooth as I had previously thought. If I could only have a couple of naughty things in my repertoire, I’d much rather save those moments for wine, a good baguette, and a planche mixte. I like to have a sweet little taste in my mouth before I go to bed, but I’ve been opting for a small square of chocolate, or a handful of grapes, rather than a full blown dessert.
For those of you who want to punch me in the face right now, because I live in Paris, and the pastries here are bloody amazing, fear not. I’ve literally been scheduling in one bakery treat per week for the last couple of months. I don’t want to take living here, or having access to these fabulous bakeries for granted, so I try and make that once-a-week treat count. I’ll be posting them here, for better or for worse, for a little while. That means that whatever I try will be the pastry of the week, even if it totally blows (you’d be surprised…), because I don’t get a pastry do-over, why would the blog ?
So with no further ado, I bring you the Escargot Pistache et Chocolat from Du Pain et Des Idées, consumed last Friday evening. Technically, this is not a pastry, but a viennoiserie. I have friends who WILL yell at me for not making the distinction. Essentially, viennoiserie are made from yeast-leavened dough, and I guess pastries aren’t. At least, that is what I’ve gleened from years of people telling me they are different. But it’s sweet, and I bought it at a bakery, so PASTRY OF THE WEEK.
Du Pain et Des Idées, by the way, is really yummy. I usually go there for bread (and ideas ? buh dum ching) on the walk towards Republique after voice lessons. But I saw the line up of tasty escargots on Bourdain’s new show over Christmas (which featured a lot of other places I happen to love), and had to give ‘em a try. I went for the pistachio, and picked up a red fruits & cream cheese for André. They were both divine, and essentially replaced dinner. I’d do it again. However, I wouldn’t make DPeDI my daily boulangerie stop, even if I lived in the ‘hood. A simple flûte a l’ancienne goes for 1.50. That may seem cheap, but my place down the street does a seriously mean, crunchy baguette tradition for 95 cents, so after 4 baguettes, I could essentially buy another escargot. Those are the kind of savings I particularly enjoy.
Du Pain et Des Idées
34 Rue Yves Toudic 75010
+33 1 42 40 44 52