As Paris is known for its pastry and the Ritz is known for excellence, I am known for my love of cake and specifically la Madeleine.
The Madeleine has been a favourite of peasants and royalty since the 17th century. The soft small sponge cake, made with eggs, flour, sugar and butter has also become François Perret’s signature dessert. François Perret is the ‘World’s best restaurant pâtissier’ as decided by Les Grand Tables du Monde in 2019. He joined the Ritz Paris in 2016 set to reinvent the entire dessert department, he is also the star of the highly successful Netflix series “The Chef in a Truck”.
The Place Vendôme’s legendary five-star hotel opened ‘Ritz Paris le Comptoir’ in June 2021, at 38 Rue Cambon, just off the Place Vendôme and I was destined to meet the Madeleines of François Perret, surely the city’s finest. Madeleines with a hidden molten heart! 7 flavours have been designed by the chef as an indulgent treat. I tried the framboise and honey flavours. The honey Madeleine has a chestnut honey heart, iced with sugar – that was my favourite ! You can buy any of the 7 flavours, neatly packaged in a gift box to enjoy at home, or in the salon as we did. We also tried the millefeuille with red fruit : blackberries, blueberries, cherries, raspberries, strawberries and wild strawberries adorn this fresh and light pastry. The viennoiserie includes a croissant with a new shape and crunchy puff pastry with a soft centre – we tried the apricot filling.
You can also enjoy the gourmet beverages: Cake Shakes are basically drinkable desserts – marble cake shake, Madeleine cake shake and caramel pastry shake. We had coffee and a Mango Passion fruit smoothie. The Epicerie has champagnes, dessert wines, jams and cocoa and hazelnut spread for sale.
The whole experience was perfect, yes we had to stand in a queue on the street, but I did not mind as you can not book a table. The decor, the friendly staff, the selection, the presentation – all added to my Madeleine moments of bliss. The honey Madeleine from the finest hotel in Paris, created by the finest hands in the pastry business was the finest moment of my day.