La Pâtisserie Christophe Michalak Printemps (Paris, FRANCE) ★★★★☆

After sending the birthday boy back to our hotel for his afternoon nap, I went out on my own on an exploration trip to satisfy my sweet tooth. First up, it was Printemps Haussmann, one of Paris's leading department stores.



I'm not really into fashion or brand-name stuff so I went straight to Printemps du Goût, the two upper floors (7th and 8th floors) of Printemps de l’Homme (the Men's Store) where they now dedicate to nothing else but quality food.



On the 7th floor is a "Fine Foods" section showcasing some of the best local produce found in Paris, including jams, honey, meat, seafood, oil and vinegar, spices and a special section dedicated to coffee (yes!).



Then on the 8th floor is "The Market Place", a unique lifestyle section with specialty stores where they host special tasting events, workshops, food producers, winemakers and chefs from all over France. There's also special section reserved for some of the best known Parisian chefs, patissiers and bakers such as Akrame Benallal, Gontran Cherrier, Laurent Dubois and Christophe Michalak.



I watched a lot of shows hosted by celebrated master baker Christophe Michalak on TV over the years so there's no way I would miss out the chance to check out his pastries here.



They have a really attractive selection of delectable pastries offered here.



Mini Klassik Yuzu Citron Vert (€7.00) - I was told it's one of Chef Michalak's original creations. Sitting on top of the crumble and biscuit were lime punch, light yuzu cream, lime ganache and lemon heart. Needless to say, there's a fair amount of acidity in there (The top part really tasted like marshmallow).



Tarte Marron Litchi (€7.30) - I like this one a little bit better because it has marron in it. Interestingly, it's been paired with lychee and I don't think I have tried that combination before. At least not recently.

Again, there's the short crust pastry as the base, matched with a layer of fresh lychee mousse and hidden in the middle were moist almond cream, lychee confit and a bit of chestnut from Ardèche. I thought they could do a slightly better job with the short crust pastry but the whole thing on top was beautiful. So, marron and lychee not known as a match made in heaven but they did complement each other incredibly well. That's a pretty extraordinary creation.



I still got a couple of hours to go before heading back so let's make one more stop.





Food Rating: 6.8/10
Price: €€€
Address: 64 Boulevard Haussmann, 75009 Paris, France
Closest Metro Station: Havre - Caumartin
Tel: +33 (0)1 4282-4002
Website: www.christophemichalak.com