Croissant Stories

Flour, butter, milk, egg, yeast, salt and layers of stories.

The secret to the best croissant is everything we add to it besides a masterful mix of ingredients.

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#1 Blé Sucré

Paris, France

The day that a mouth-watering croissant got me drenched.

Located in a quiet square in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, Blé Sucré undoubtedly bakes one of the best croissants in the world – and certainly the best I’ve ever tasted. While the golden crust is flaky, the inside is moist and fluffy. This mix of texture is the result of a labor-intensive process known as laminating, which, here is mastered with an extra layer of perfection. But tasting Blé Sucré croissants can be as challenging as baking them, due to the long lines that start forming early in the morning. Which is why I set the alarm for 7am, woke up my wife and my sister – they weren’t happy at all – and headed to the bakery. Did I mention the heavy rain? The freezing temperatures in December? Or the violent protests that were going on in Paris back then? Yep, a perfect croissant comes with layers and more layers of complexity. To my surprise, by the time we got there, there was no line and the tables were all empty, due to the reasons I just mentioned. It was hard to believe that, after years of obsession with this layered bread, I caught myself with a whole batch of what is considered one of the best croissants in Paris. We placed our order and sat at a table outside under a small umbrella, which wasn’t enough to protect the three of us from the rain. And that’s how a mouth-watering croissant got me drenched.

#2 Moulin du Roc

Champagnac-de-Belair, France

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A croissant with more hyphens than layers of dough.

Speechless. That’s how my wife and I felt when we arrived to this magical place during our road trip from Paris to Bordeaux. We literally didn’t say a word for at least 10 minutes, amazed by the astonishing surroundings of Brantôme. While this enchanting riverside village in central France could have come straight from the pages of a book, the hotel-restaurant that we booked actually came from one – The Michelin Guide. Keeping its 1 star since 1979, Le Moulin du Roc combines the charm of a converted 17th-century mill with an outstanding food experience – from breakfast to dinner. And It has to, because only a to-die-for croissant convinces someone to wake up early in the morning after an 8-course dinner menu paired with wine. So, as soon as the alarm went off, I headed downstairs and sat at a table overlooking the river. My wife, which also likes croissants – but not as much I do – arrived a bit later. The croissants came right after, golden and warm as they should always be. After the first bite, I looked for as many adjectives as I could to describe that explosion of flavors, and the result was something like a well-crafted-butter-based-paper-thin-layered-flaky-to-die-for croissant. I know It doesn’t sound good at all, but that croissant deserves more hyphens than any food critic has ever written in a fancy food review. And that’s my review, so why not?

#3 L'enfariné

Kaysersberg-Vignoble, France

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Believe me. A croissant can end up in your liver.

Just a month before my last croissant hunt in France, my doctor told me that my blood exams weren’t as good as usual. He asked what changed in my daily routine that could be affecting the results. I told him that I moved from Miami to New York, which wouldn’t be a problem if it wasn’t because of the damn good croissants. While Miami has just a few good bakeries, Manhattan offers more top-notch boulangeries than any other city, so I was eating at least one croissant a day. The doctor told me to stop, otherwise I would end up with fatty liver – which literally means fat in the liver. I told him about my upcoming trip and he said that I should go anyway, and enjoy croissants with moderation. That’s what they say in beer TV commercials! Enjoy with moderation... I could never have imagined that croissants and a Budweiser would have more in common than fermentation process – and that both could lead to cirrhosis! So, I followed the doctor’s advice, cutting the carbs and exercising twice a week. A month later I arrived at Le Chambard, a hotel-restaurant located in Alsace, France. With a 2-stars Michelin restaurant and 1 Bib Gourmand, I knew that hotel’s breakfast would feature the most perfect croissant. What I didn’t expect was a partnership between the hotel and the incredible bakery of the village, so croissants were free all day long. C’mon, it’s the same as sending a drug addict to rehab and throw a welcome party hosted by Snoop Dogg! In the end of the stay I was wrapping croissants to go. Months later, my blood exams were back to normal, and I learned an important lesson: never eat more croissants than your stomach can handle, otherwise they will end up in your liver.