http://www.gerard-mulot.com/ Located in the 6th near l'Odeon....best pastries and croissants in Paris!
One of my big pet peeves. Why is it soooooo hard for "bakers" in the US to make decent croissants and baguettes? I don't think I have ever had a decent croissant or pain au chocolat in the US.
What about Le Pain Quotidien? They do a pretty good job. As for Chicago, if you're ever here try out Pierrot Gourmet and/or Cafe Selmarie in Lincoln Square.
For the most part, I completely agree with you. Part of the problem is what we are willing to accept- a foodie friend of mine was touting the "chocolate croissants" from Trader Joes. Blech. A couple of places that I've had fantastic croissants are Fuji Bakery in Seattle (great sandwiches there too), and Fleur de Cacao in Los Gatos, which also has amazing pain au chocolat and pain aux amends (not to mention delicious cakes and tartes). In Paris, Laduree is our go-to place for croissants of all flavors and macarons, but we've had great (and mediocre) croissants all over Paris. Just for giggles, I googled "Best croissants in Paris" and found a lot of threads which recommended places I had never even heard of. Looks like a research trip is in order!
When I ran across this thread, I wanted to book a trip to Paris just to earn some EQM get some awesome croissants and baguettes. But I guess I can just make a quick run down to Los Gatos one of these days over lunch. No EQMs, but also a lot cheaper.
This past weekend they had croissants from Paris being sold only QVC. Mrs Platypus and I laughed at that thinking if theses made by some Hostess type big brand importer laughing all the way into the bank
