Barcelona takes on Paris with more innovative but much more expensive croissants

ParisBarcelona is in love with its croissants. The Best Croissant competition, organised by the Barcelona Pastry Guild, has probably helped, but so has the skill of master pastry chefs who have opened new establishments and have put effort and ingenuity into making croissants. In addition, Barcelona has shown that not everything has been invented when it comes to making a croissant, so new shapes (conical, like those proposed by L'Atelier Barcelona) and also innovative fillings have raised the sweet to very high levels of excellence. So, what is Paris doing at the moment with its icon of pastry? Is the quality of its croissants above that of Barcelona?

With these questions I set out on my journey to Paris to visit the most prestigious establishments in the capital of France. A journey that took me from one end of the city to the other through the districts of the city, and which made me realise that the sweet invented by the Viennese during the siege of the Turks in the 17th century is still in use today. In the bistros they prepare the little déjeuners with croissants and bread and butter. In the award-winning, neighbourhood bakeries, croissants take up entire rows of counters. However, except on rare occasions (read: Ritz Paris Le Comptoir), the price of croissants ranges between 1.10 and 1.40 euros. Even the bakery that is considered a national monument for its age, Sthorer, has them at 1.40. And this is not the case, generally, in Barcelona, ​​​​where the usual price is around the minimum of 1.80 €.

I'll start with the exception of Paris, in price and shape. When you go up the rue Cambon, near the Place Vendôme, an orderly queue of people indicates that we are approaching the pastry shop. Ritz Paris Le Comptoir, by the master François Perret. The establishment is elegant, with tables and designer chairs for eating. The croissant is like a large elongated churro, that is, it has a long, narrow, straight shape, with four sides, and can be easily stacked. The outside is crunchy, but the inner honeycomb spring is clearly a croissant, and it is very compact. The price is 4.00 euros. It is the most expensive of all those I ate on our tour, where I even found an XL-sized croissant for 7.80 euros (boulangerie Polka). And the quality, good.

At the price end of the Ritz Paris Le Comptoir is the boulangerie Utopia, which can also be recognised from afar by the queue of people on the rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, which curves around the corner. The croissant is long and has small, short horns, so it pleases everyone. It is of excellent quality. It has a springy, honeycombed interior, a slightly crunchy exterior, but not excessively so, and with each bite you can smell the aroma of toasted butter. The price of such delicacy is 1.10 euros.

To continue, it must be said that in Paris, almost at every step, there is a bakery, and they prove that what they make is a basic meal. Now, there is one pastry shop that Parisians say is a must-visit. It is the Stohrer, is located on a lively street with a market, and the story goes that it is the oldest, dating back to the early 18th century. The croissants are long, and the quay is one of the best of all those I tried on my tour of Paris.

From Stohrer to the pastry shop Yann Couvreur, which like the Ritz Paris Le Comptoir also offers chairs and tables for dining, but without the luxury and elegance of the latter. At Yann Couvreur, the croissant is slightly larger, more elongated, also without horns, and the price is also higher, 1.80. The fact that it is longer also allows for more spring, and is probably designed so that it can be wet with the thousand and one drinks they prepare. Its quality was correct.

In the other bakeries I visited, Polka, Pepita and GrosselinThe prices, which were low, were similar, and the most interesting thing was the XL-sized croissant from Polka, which was in the shop window and cost 7.80 euros. In Barcelona, ​​the same croissant, in giant sizes and which you have to order in advance, is made by the Hofmann bakery, but the price goes up to 30 euros. And next to Paris City Hall, The French Bastards indicates next to the croissant's label the butter they use (1.50 €), which they say is from the Isigny Sainte-Mère company. If you go in the afternoon, they are all gone.

The level of Barcelona

In Barcelona, ​​​​the multi-award-winning pastry shop stands out for its design and creativity The Atelier Barcelona, by the masters Èric Ortuño and Ximena Pastor. Their croissants are cone-shaped, eaten like a cone, and the most surprising thing is the spring inside, well, honeycombed, with a buttery flavour. The exterior is soft, and the uniqueness of L'Atelier is the fillings, which vary according to the season of the year. In winter, I have tried the ones filled with vanilla with passion fruit mango; milk and dark chocolate, and pistachios. In summer, the croissant can be completed with a scoop of the ice cream they prepare, and therefore each croissant is personalized according to each person's taste. The croissant without filling costs 2 euros; the rest, with fillings, 3.10 euros.

From L'Atelier, the chosen route (for quality and always according to a subjective point of view) is the one that leads to the pastry shop-bakery Obelisk, bare and simple in appearance. It is just a long wooden counter where they display croissants and breads. But what croissants! The spring is of very high quality, and the outer layers are crunchy. The price is €1.80.

In Barcelona, ​​​​the fermented sweet has managed to raise some bakeries the award for the best producers, as is the case of Canal and Brunells. Curiosity: in the Brunells They also make vegan croissants, and they have taken off (€2.20, both the classic and the vegan).

Another of the multi-award-winning pastry shops, the Hofmann. The croissants, elongated, with a crunchy crust, cost 2.20 and are located next to many others, of many flavors: up to five more flavors, and in these cases the price can rise to four euros. All of them, of great quality. And, finally, a classic croissant, the Sacha, which raises passions among the residents of Sarrià-Sant Gervasi; Bulwark, in Barceloneta, by the baker Anna Bellsolà, and the MistralAt Sacha, the croissants are rounded, and are soft and sweet. They cost €1.95. At Baluard, the originality lies in the combination of flavours, such as strawberry and white chocolate, with colours on the outside. At Mistral, the big star are the mini croissants, which are soft and expensive: a hundred grams cost around four euros.

Where can you eat in Paris?

As humanity does not live on croissants alone, In Paris you will find a thousand and one restaurants very good for lunch and dinner. A recommendation is the restaurants of the Moma group, of which Barcelona-based chef Romain Fornell is the executive chef. Some are especially designed for going in the evenings, as is the case of Lafayette's (8, rue de Anjou) or Lapérouse (51, quai des Grands Augustins), where in addition to traditional French dishes there is live music and which was the first restaurant in France to achieve three stars. Others, such as the Café Lapérouse, inside the Hotel La Marine (2, place de la Condorde), where you can go for lunch, snacks and dinner, without any time constraints when it comes to eating good foie, salads, cheeses and French wines. And for those nostalgic for Catalan cuisine when you are in Paris, chef Romain Fornell has prepared a menu of Catalan dishes at Casa Luisa (19, Chau. de la Muette).

Croissant Fest, February 22 and 23 at Poble Espanyol

For the first time, Poble Espanyol hosts the Croissant Fest, in which pastry shops and restaurants (Hofmann, Bubó, Sacha, Takashi Ochiai, Casa Rafuel, La Porca or Las Truchas) will meet to offer their best dishes and will also compete to win the award for the best Gourmet Croissant in Barcelona.