The Wonderful Morning Pastries of La Panifacture

When someone asks me what’s new in the world of pâtisserie, I answer – the world of viennoiserie. Yes, I realize this might sound like gibberish at first, but an explanation is coming soon. And before the explanation, so you won’t be too curious, basically what’s really new in the world of pâtisserie is the realm of morning pastries, those made from croissant dough, brioche dough, etc., taking on new shapes, new fillings, new techniques, and sometimes even new colors.

The croissant and pain au chocolat are the two most classic pastries in France, sold every morning in thousands of boulangeries across the republic. Like many pastries and desserts in France, the croissant has inspired stories and legends attempting to explain its name, shape, and especially its origin. The most famous story attributes the creation of the croissant to Austrian bakers in Vienna, who developed it in 1683 to celebrate the defeat of the Turks in battle, with its shape resembling the crescent moon on the Turkish flag. In Paris, the first croissants were sold between 1837 and 1839 when an Austrian baker named August Zang opened a Viennese bakery on Rue Richelieu in the 2nd arrondissement and sold an Austrian pastry called kipferl, shaped like a croissant.

Hence the word viennoiserie (from the word Vienna), reflecting the croissant’s origin. Morning pastries are the opening act of the very precise culinary daily routine of the French, joined by brioche, pain aux raisins, and many more. These pastries are eaten in the morning when they’re absolutely fresh, and no, they are not reheated and one never asks the boulangerie to heat them (catastrophe!).

In the past, there was only one type of croissant, the butter croissant, without any filling or topping, the kind you dip in coffee at a bistro or spread with jam. This croissant, when made comme il faut, is an unparalleled delicacy – no need to dust it or decorate it; it’s a masterpiece just as it is. The only croissant that had any filling was the almond croissant, created as a solution for unsold croissants which, by means of rich almond cream filling and additional baking, were transformed into a new and superior product.

In recent years, with the evolution of the pâtisserie and boulangerie world in France, the introduction of social media, and openness to foreign influences, different and varied morning pastries have begun to appear in Paris. The world of viennoiserie is a field that connects boulangerie (breads and pastries) with pâtisserie (desserts), but of course, it belongs more to the world of boulangerie.

The innovation is that lately, many pastry chefs have started to introduce viennoiserie into their boutiques, and today significant developments are happening especially in this field. Thus, you can see how pastry chefs like Maxime Frédéric, Cédric Grolet, François Perret, and many others are investing heavily in developing collections of special pastries.

Alongside the boutiques of well-known chefs, more and more new places are opening in Paris focusing on the world of viennoiserie. These places are led by young pastry chefs and bakers who aren’t necessarily famous, and they are the ones who interest me the most lately.

One of our recent discoveries is La Panifacture, a small boutique in one of the most developing areas of Paris, opened a few months ago by Chris Machado. A random tasting of excellent bread led him to leave the world of fashion, a field in which he worked for many years, to study bakery. After studying at the EBP School (a school for pastry and bakery in Paris), Machado began working in the field and specialized in Parisian boulangerie focusing on making breads with ancient wheat.

In July 2024, Machado opened La Panifacture, a space consisting of a production area, which can be seen through large glass walls, and a small retail boutique that attracts many people from the neighborhood as well as enthusiasts from more distant areas.

The place sells a variety of breads made from ancient wheat, of which we tasted several that were excellent – if there’s focaccia when you arrive, don’t miss it! They also offer a variety of pastries and several types of cookies for sale.

Machado’s lamination work (the craft of preparing pastry doughs and layers, folding the doughs and shaping them) is simply amazing; he produces some of the most stunning morning pastries I’ve seen in Paris. Of course, the shape of the pastries is very important, but the taste is even more important. We can say that at La Panifacture, we tasted the best pain suisse chocolat we’ve ever had in Paris and anywhere. The dough is excellent and precise, and the filling of pastry cream and chocolate chips is rich and juicy, perfect for fans of the genre.

In addition to the pain suisse chocolat, among the excellent pastries you can taste at the place, you’ll find a wonderful pain au chocolat, a rich chausson aux pommes with excellent apple filling, a babka chocolate, a puff pastry flan with a very rich vanilla filling, and also several types of cookies with perfect texture. Soon, a recipe for one of them will be available 🙂

Address: La Panifacture
104 Rue Saint-Maur,
75011 Paris

Yours,
Sharon