Maison Larnicol

Have you ever wonder what the most perfect french dessert tastes like? As this point, many of you may dream of the common choices like the creme brûlée, eclairs, macarons or profiteroles. But i must say, the real deal is something that is complicated to pronounce, but super simple to enjoy and go down your tummy. I’m referring to the one and only, kouign-amann.

I am lucky that my family lives in france. With this, I am always spoiled every single meal with really delicious food, made from the best products. I must highlight though, that my family lives in a very specific region of france that is rich in culture. We reside in the very region that the delicious kouign-amann hails from, which is the northwestern part of france. This region known as finistere or bretagne is famous for its high quality food.

The history of the region goes way back, with the locals actually coming from what is now britain. There is a strong link between the name bretagne and britain, as great britain in french is actually la grande bretagne. With this, the people from the area came to settle in this coastal region of france and brought along their languages and cultures. If you go to the bretagne region today, you will spot signs (usually road signs) written in both french and breton. Make no mistake though, the language of breton is nothing close to english and french. The language has roots that’s shared with other celtic languages, connecting back to its roots from britain.

Anyhow, enough about history, let’s talk about the present, heavenly kouign-amann. What i believe is the closest cousin to them is probably the modern take on cronuts. For those that’s a bit behind the game, a cronut is a cross-breed between a croissant and a donut, with many admirers taking them to a whole new level with different fillings, crusts, sauces and what now. The kouign-amann is more of a cake, usually sized like your traditional chocolate cake or any other cake and then divided into slices like pizza. It is not as thick as a proper cake, and is more like a pie i suppose. Texture wise, the crust and overall filling of the pastry are like sticky croissant flakes. The taste though, is that rich salted caramel and powerful butter. The best way to know what it feels like to be in paradise is to try one of these. I’ve never had a decent kouign-amann outside of france, so if you’re here, it’s a must do. i would have a kouign-amann over a croissant or a pain au chocolat anyway. this is how much this creation means to me, and how much you really should find them.

So this brings me to my next point and probably the most important point; where to find them? It would be cruel of me to really set up the climax for you and just cut you off by not telling you where to find them here in paris. I’ve discovered a place somewhat by accident closely the latin quarter that sells kouign-amann. The exact address for the shop is 19 rue de la harpe, just a short walk from metro station cluny - la sorbonne (line 10, yellow). this area is overall a great area for food since it’s quite a touristic area. You will find plenty of restaurants serving menus from €10. 00, which is honestly not a bad deal considering that you’re in paris. Oh, I forgot to mention, but the shop that sells these lovely desserts is called maison georges larnicol.

At the store, you can get kouign-amann and more. The interesting part about them is that they make smaller versions of them, called kouignettes. They are a lot smaller and come in a variety of flavours. I would recommend either going for the nature one which is a boring word for plain, or opt for the salted caramel version. I must warn you though, that the caramel ones are really, really sticky and you will probably need to wash your hands after coming in contact with them. But this will allow you to lick your fingers at the end, which says everything about how good they are. If you’re interested, they also have other interesting flavours such as lemon, chocolate, berries, orange and pistachio. The price is actually by weight, so it was something around €2. 50 for 100 grams, but i could be wrong. I recently bought three pieces and paid $5. 00 for them, so that was a good buy. If you’re feeling brave, you could buy the cake-sized one for €7. 50.

Maison georges larnicol also offers a strong selection of macarons, for a slightly more expensive rate (again by weight) than the kouign-amanns. They have them individually or in boxes of 7 and something else. While you could help yourself to the mini kouign-amaans just steps away, you need to ask a staff member to assist you witht the macarons. Maybe it's because they're super fragile and delicate? No idea.

In addition, they also have chocolates in all different flavours and shapes! I was really surprised to see olive-looking chocolates. Although it’s chocolate, we do eat with our eyes first so my impression of an olive is still there. They also have chocolates shaped as moules, or mussels! they’re very creative here and obviously have a strong passion for the chocolate game. Hmm, what else? Well, they also have cookies, a whole shelf of them. And lastly (i think), they have small jars of caramel and similar. If they are to open more branches around the city, my weight would be on the rise without a doubt.

This is also a decent place to get delicious presents. You could either choose from what’s already chosen for you in beautifully wrapped packets, or simply choose whatever you want and ask for the friendly staff to gift wrap it for you. They do not have boxes to put in the kouign-amanns as a gift, however they will do their best to improvise like the lady did for mine! They have a nice bag to store in the gift with a nice little tie as a sticker. Quite a nice gift isn’t it? Can someone please get these for me? Please!

Lastly, you could visit their official website down at the bottom for more information. A neat feature is that you could order online and have the items delivered to you! But if not, you could visit the stores yourself. The website actually has some problems at the moment and you cannot see where the stores are in the paris area. For your convenience, these are the four stores they have in paris as shown on their business card:

14, rue de rivoli, 75004 - tel : 01 42 71 20 51

132, bd saint-germain, 75006 - tel : 01 43 26 39 38

19, rue de la harpe, 75005 - tel : 01 46 33 62 20

7, rue de steinkerque, 75018 - tel : 01 42 58 50 96

maison georges larnicol france

chocolaterie larnicol

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