Every corner you turn in Paris has a boulangerie or viennoiserie that the locals will claim has the best croissant in the city.
But for professional-amateur chef Alex Gabriel, of the YouTube experimental cooking channel formerly known as French Guy Cooking (now simply Alex), there are only a few spots in the city with croissants that you just can’t miss. As part of Alex’s recent obsession with croissants, this trek around the city has one purpose: to find the single best croissant in all of Paris. He visits local spots like La Maison Pichard and Johana, upscale pâtisseries like Pierre Hermé, and even returns to Utopie, the boulangerie where this French guy cooking learned how to make croissants in the first place.
The grand winner? Though this chef’s journey is long and buttery, the final tasting test in the Jardin de Luxembourg in the sixth arrondissement places its crown on the flaky golden head of La Maison D’Isabelle. You might walk right by this humble boulangerie right next to the Sorbonne, but please don’t. Step inside, take a deep breath, and just say: “Un croissant beurre, s’il vous plaît.”
