As the capital of culinary indulgence, Paris is famously home to some of the world’s finest bakeries and patisseries. Yet alongside the big names that constantly draw queues circling the block, a number of lesser-known establishments thrive, offering time-honoured classics while also nurturing a new generation of inventive pastry makers. From award-winning croissants to French-Japanese fusion, get the inside scoop on the most must-try patisseries across the City of Light.
Wonderland Patisserie
At Rodolphe Groizard’s patisserie in the 14th arrondissement, the name says it all: his speciality is a fantastical world of sweets seemingly plucked straight from an enchanted forest. In addition to perennial favourites like flan, éclairs and classic pastries, the patissier regularly creates new signature desserts, such as the bright green Le Cactus with lime ganache, yuzu mousse and black-sesame crumble. The tea room, which is just as charming as the sweets, serves patisserie, pastries and granola, plus a small but well-considered lunch menu of savoury bites.
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Mille & Un
Mille & Un’s Seo Yongsang honed his craft in France, Japan and Korea before inaugurating this shop in Saint-Germain in 2019, where each of these influences is duly celebrated. The displays glow with deep-green matcha sponge rolls and brioche buns stuffed with bean paste, alongside wonderfully crisp baguettes. Yongsang’s rich, award-winning flans and croissants are particular crowd-pleasers: the latter placed third in the 2025 Boulangers du Grand Paris competition, while the flan took first place in 2023. It’s also worth visiting at lunchtime for the simple yet satisfying set menus.
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BO&MIE
In just a few years, BO&MIE has not only taken the city by storm, opening multiple outlets, but it has also expanded into Korea and Barcelona. The premise is persuasive: entirely handmade patisserie, pastries and bread made with local ingredients, uncompromising on quality yet moderate in price. Its filled puff-pastry New York rolls and raspberry croissants have gone viral on Instagram, but the appeal extends well beyond a younger crowd. The large branch near the Louvre is an ideal refuelling stop after an art-viewing marathon.
The French Bastards
In 2018, four friends set out with the rebellious ambition of shaking up the world of baking. Eleven branches in Paris, plus three in Bordeaux and two in Lille, prove that they struck a chord. Using only organic flour, natural yeasts and appellation d’origine protégée butter, they rely on long fermentation times to produce bread, viennoiseries, pastries and sandwiches much like they would have been made a century ago. The boutiques are effortlessly relaxed, with cool concrete and wood accents; a fashion-conscious crowd comes as much for the first-rate coffees as for the seasonally changing assortment.
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Boulangerie Utopie
Erwan Blanche and Sébastien Bruno met as classmates during their bakery training. After graduating, they opened Boulangerie Utopie in the 11th arrondissement with the goal of providing outstanding bread, pastries and patisserie all under one roof. The vision paid off when it was named France’s best bakery in 2016. Parisians queue daily for the innovative sourdough croissants, as well as the baguettes that won first place in the city’s 2024 competition. Also not to be missed are the sourdough rolls with vegetable charcoal, black-sesame cream and toasted black sesame seeds on top.
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Boulangerie Moderne
Close to the Panthéon, this family-run boulangerie has a picturesque façade and pretty interior that some may recognise from Emily in Paris. The range includes bread and patisserie, but cakes and pastries are the undisputed bestsellers. Owner Thierry Rabineau has collected several Parisian bakery awards, including first place for best galette des rois within Paris proper in 2025 and a silver medal for best croissant in 2023.
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Patisserie Rayonnance
Yuki Hayato and Lumi Hachiya met and became friends while working at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Paris, before opening their own shop in the 9th arrondissement in 2023. Their creations meet the highest standards of French patisserie, whether it’s the crème-brûlée puff pastry tart, Madagascan vanilla and pecan nougatine, fondant au chocolat with single-origin Honduran cacao, or cheesecake made with 18-month-aged Comté. The generous array of cakes, sablés and, during summer, ice cream is equally tempting.
Sadaharu Aoki
In the early 2000s, long before vivid green matcha bakes became a social-media staple, Japanese-born Sadaharu Aoki was making waves in Paris by combining Japanese traditions with Gallic patisserie. Though formally restrained and almost architectural in appearance, his cakes deliver an intense hit of flavour, as do his exquisite pralines and macarons. Today, Aoki’s small boutique right by the Jardin du Luxembourg supplies sweets to some of the most prestigious addresses in Paris, and he has expanded his empire with several branches in Japan.
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Tomo
Tomo also celebrates the fusion of French and Japanese patisserie, courtesy of the Franco-Japanese duo – Romain Gaia and Takanori Murata – at its helm. The specialities at Tomo’s two tea rooms, near Odéon and Opéra respectively, are the dorayaki – small Japanese pancake sandwiches with sweet red-bean paste. Variations range from more traditional fillings, such as matcha, yuzu and ricotta, to Franco-Japanese hybrids, including baba au whisky and dorayaki soaked in Nikka whisky with cream and Madagascan vanilla. The pair take seasonality seriously, so many versions appear only at certain times of year, like the springtime arrival of sakura pamplemousse with sakura-blossom confit, mousse and segments of Corsican grapefruit, or the Uji-Plougastel with Uji matcha mousse, matcha caramel and Plougastel strawberry jelly available in summer.
Les 3 Chocolats
Les 3 Chocolats owner Emiko Sano is a third-generation chocolatière: both her father and grandfather, who trained in Europe, devoted themselves to the craft of chocolate-making. From Thursday to Monday, her boutique on Rue Saint-Paul offers a refined, seasonally shifting selection ranging from classics, such as lemon-mint and Brésil 55%, to distinctly Japanese flavours like matcha chai, smoked sakura, miso and sesame praline; yuzu with Savoy honey is a particular highlight. In addition to chocolates, Sano’s business partner and pâtissier Sho Kimura makes equally seasonal creations of his own, among them Goma – composed of chocolate shortcrust, vanilla cream, black-sesame ganache, vanilla biscuit and black-sesame mousse. The strawberry sponge and strawberry mochi are similarly irresistible.
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