Butter Paradise in Paris: Le Butter Shop

“Du beurre! Donnez-moi du beurre! Toujours du beurre!” Or in plain English: “Butter! Give me butter! Always butter!” That’s what the legendary chef Fernand Point, one of the founding fathers of modern French cuisine, used to say. It seems that even today, more than seventy years later, the French are still living by that motto, and the proof is the new butter boutique that just opened in Paris.

Since I wrote about the wonderful Bordier butter a few years ago, a lot of butter has flowed down the Seine. Back then, only a few people knew about this exceptional butter, and it was reserved for connoisseurs, Michelin restaurants, and luxury hotels. It was purchased with a sense of reverence and sometimes personally imported to far off destinations, a rare pearl in a sea of butters, and whoever got their hands on it was considered lucky.

Thanks to social media, Bordier butter became a household name among foodies from around the world, and of course among people who aren’t foodies at all but simply follow trends on Instagram and other platforms. But in France, butter isn’t a trend. It’s life itself.

And like any proper trend, it comes with real economic ripple effects. Bordier butter became especially sought after following the 2024 Paris Olympics, as countless videos circulating online turned it into a must bring item from Paris. There’s no official data on the rise in production, but at “La Grande Épicerie,” where the butter is sold alongside others, they reported a 300% jump in butter sales over the past two years.

According to media reports, Bordier says demand has become very difficult to keep up with, but they have no plans to turn into an industrial factory and double their output, since the whole idea rests on handmade craft, limited quantities, and the finest raw ingredients from small producers.

Riding that very wave is Erwan Leo, who opened Le Butter Shop about two weeks ago, the first butter shop in Paris, near Les Invalides, not far from the Eiffel Tower. Leo has run a cheese and wine tasting business for several years now; his idea is to introduce tourists and locals alike to cheese and wine through a tasting experience for 16 people at a time. For him, extending that experience into the world of butter felt natural, which is why he opened his shop right next to his wine boutique.

So unlike “La Grande Épicerie” and the general trend, Bordier butter isn’t what’s sold at this butter shop. Leo brings in different kinds of butter, the star among them being Dupont butter. This is an artisanal French butter produced in Linzeux, a small village in the Pas de Calais department, in the Hauts de France region in northern France.

It’s a very small family business, founded in 1964, now run by Didier Dupont, who has mastered the traditional art of butter kneading (malaxage). Dupont is considered an especially high quality butter, with a velvety texture and a high fat content, which is why it’s beloved by chefs and pastry makers.

At the shop you’ll find several varieties of Dupont butter, including classic, semi salted, raspberry, vanilla, wild garlic, yuzu, truffle, herb, and even chocolate butter.

Alongside Dupont butter, the shop also carries other brands, like Vieux Bourg, produced in Brittany (same as Bordier), Beillevaire butter, made not far from Nantes, the excellent and reliable Échiré butter, and of course Isigny Sainte Mère butter, which comes from Normandy. I’m especially fond of that last one, it has a deep flavor, a rich creamy texture, and a golden yellow color that comes from the grazing conditions of the Normandy cows whose milk it’s made from.

One of the perks of a butter boutique is the chance to taste many different butters before buying. You can also pick up an assortment of Dupont butters in 10 gram portions for one euro each, a kind of small butter tasting you can take on a picnic or use to decide which one you like best. The butters can be vacuum packed on the spot, and you can even grab a small cooler bag with ice packs to go.

Besides butter, the shop also sells French made pantry products (épicerie), like Dijon mustard, chestnut cream, various drinks, cookies, different types of salt, caramel, and more.

Address: 5 Rue Bouchut,
75015 Paris

Yours,
Sharon