Maison Kayser is both a boulangerie and a patisserie with locations throughout Paris and the world. I was lucky enough to stumble upon their original location a short walk from Notre Dame Cathedral. And once I stumbled in once, I was addicted!
Maison Kayser is an artisanal bakery through and through. The founder, Eric Kayser, is devoted to being a craftsman baker. All of their breads and pastries are obviously made from scratch and dear God are they good. Their breads are just perfect -- they are crispy on the outside and soft and scrumptious inside. Maison Kayser serves 60 varieties of bread, 50 types of cakes, and 25 types of pastries. Though it seems like the shop has been around forever, Maison Kayser was only opened in 1996. Since then he has opened 69 other shops around the world.
Kayser, a fifth generation baker also invented the Fermentolevain, a machine marketed by Electrolux Baking that creates and maintains a liquid leaven that he uses in his breads in lieu of yeast. The liquid leaven causes a lactic fermentation giving hints of milk, hazelnut, and honey to his breads.
Though the bread is phenomenal, the pastries are what I remember most about this charming little shop. Chocolate tarts, croissants and every other type of pastry you can imagine are all lined up like lovely jewels. The hardest part is actually choosing one! But once you do you pretty much are guaranteed to be happy. I especially like their chocolate-hazelnut tart -- it was a perfectly prepared tart shell with the most amazing chocolate ganache filling. It was like Nutella on steroids!!! I still have dreams about this tart!
The original locations, where we went, are side by side. One of which is the boulangerie, which also sells pastries, where you just walk in, grab and go. The other is more of a patisserie where there are a few seats and where you can also grab a beverage. Both of these locations are absolutely charming. They are small store fronts with tons of Parisians bustling in and out at a rapid speed. We definitely had to use our French language skills! When you walk in, you can just tell the goods are made from scratch and with real, full fat butter. Yummm!!!I would highly recommend finding time in your trip to Paris to find a location of Maison Kayser and grabbing a baguette or a pastry. It is a true Parisian experience.
Maison Kayser
8 Rue Monge (and 14 Rue Monge)
Paris 5e
01-44-07-01-42
http://www.maison-kayser.com/
Maison Kayser
8 Rue Monge (and 14 Rue Monge)
Paris 5e
01-44-07-01-42
http://www.maison-kayser.com/
