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PrintWhere to Find Macarons
Inside Pierre Hermé's two stores in Paris.
There are many places where you can find macarons. As for where to find the best macarons, that's an easy question to answer: Paris.
Even though I haven't eaten all the macarons in the world (not that I'd mind trying, if anyone out there would like to sponsor me to go on such an adventure), I can't imagine finding macaron better than the ones safely tucked away in Pierre Hermé's chic patisserie. His haven of sugary enlightenment more resembles a high-end jewelry shop than a place to buy your morning croissant (which was one of the best croissants I've ever eaten).
Actually, it'd be more accurate to say that the best macarons are found at Pierre Hermé, not necessarily in Paris, for he has four locations in Tokyo. Not just four locations in Japan, but four locations in one city. This fact alone would make Tokyo the city I'd most want to live in, right after Paris. It also makes Tokyo the city most likely to make me very poor and fat, right after Paris.
However, Paris is the best place to go to if you want to try a variety of great macarons. Although the macarons from the corner patisserie or even the neighborhood supermarché will probably be satisfying, eating a revelatory macaron requires visiting a specialized shop. Paris has no shortage of such shops—patisseries, chocolatiers and gourmet grocery stores—but I've whittled them down to 12 places listed below you may want to check out if planning a macaron hunt in Paris.
If you don't have time to do a 12-stop macaron tour of Paris, at the very least head over to Pierre Hermé. No Eiffel Tower. No Louvre. No Sacré Cœur. Trust me on this one.
Macarons from La Maison du Chocolat.
After Paris, the city whose macarons I'm most familiar with is New York City. Unfortunately, after eating NYC's macarons I think I'd rather wait until my next vacation to Paris than eat another one here. I don't mean to imply that they're all horrible—obviously someone likes them or else these shops wouldn't keep churning them out—but I've found most of them to be disappointing. My top recommendation for macarons in NYC is La Maison du Chocolat, which has an added bonus of carrying some of the best chocolates you can get in the city. Their macarons (and chocolates) are pricey, but considering that all macarons are somewhat pricey, LMDC is worth the extra money.
Macarons from Almondine.
If you don't want to splurge, go to Almondine where a seven-piece box of macarons only costs $6. For a more detailed look at macarons in NYC, read about my NYC macaron hunt with Tina.
Macarons from Bouchon, Madeleine and Tisserie.
Besides those two places I wouldn't heartily recommend any other place to buy macarons; it would actually be easier for me to tell you where I wouldn't buy macarons. In particular, I found Bouchon Bakery and Madeleine Patisserie to be surprisingly disappointing and Tisserie's macaron too sweet and heavy. Jean Georges probably makes great macarons, but I've never tried them as I don't think they would let me stroll into the restaurant just to buy a box. Below, I've put together a list of places in NYC that carry macarons for the sake of being thorough and because (sadly) I haven't tried them all yet. Try them out and decide for yourself what kind of macaron you enjoy most.
With a little help from my blog readers combined with intense Internet scouring I've come up with a list of places to buy macarons around the world. As this list is terribly incomplete, I welcome all additions or changes you may have. For those of you who don't live near a bakery that makes macarons, mail order from Mad Mac or L.A. Burdick may satisfy your macaron craving.
There's also the option of making your own macarons. A roundup of macaron recipes is coming soon!
And in case you missed it yesterday, check out my introductory post about French macarons.
Where To Get Macarons Around the World
Paris
Arnaud Larher
Carette
Dalloyau
Fauchon
Gérard Mulot
Grégory Renard
Jean-Paul Hévin
La Maison du Chocolat
Ladureé
Lenôtre
Pierre Hermé
Sadaharu Aoki
New York City
Almondine (Brooklyn, DUMBO)
Bouchon Bakery (Columbus Circle)
Bouley Bakery (Tribeca)
Financier (Financial District)
Georgia's Bake Shop (Upper West Side)
Joyce Bakeshop (Brooklyn, Prospect Heights)
Jacques Torres (Soho and Brooklyn, DUMBO; seasonal availability; check with the store before you visit)
Kee's Chocolate (Soho)
Madeleine Patisserie (Chelsea)
La Maison du Chocolat (Midtown, Upper East Side)
Payard (Upper East Side)
Silver Moon Bakery (Upper West Side)
Something Sweet (East Village)
Tisserie (Union Square)
Trois Crepes Patisserie (Upper East Side)
California
Paulette (Beverly Hills)
Boule (LA)
Milk (LA, make macaron ice cream sandwiches)
Macarune (North Beach, custom order)
Bay Bread (San Francisco)
Miette (San Francisco)
Jin Parisserie (Venice)
Bouchon (Yountville)
London
Fortnum & Mason
Ladureé at Harrods
Maison Blanc
Melt
Paul
Selfridges Food Hall
Yauatcha
Rest of the USA
Sweet Pea Bakery (Phoenix, AZ)
Essence Bakery Cafe (Tempe, AZ)
The Market (Denver, CO)
Pacific Place Tea Garden (Honolulu, HI)
Bonjour Bakery and Cafe (Chicago, IL)
Bittersweet (Chicago, IL)
Vanille Patisserie (Chicago, IL)
Sucre (New Orleans, LA)
Patisserie Poupon (Baltimore, MD)
Le Nôtre (Las Vegas, NV)
La Tulipe (Mount Kisco, NY)
Mrs. London's Bakery and Café (Saratoga Springs, NY)
Pix Patisserie (Portland, OR)
Miel Patisserie (Philadelphia, PA)
Gesine (Montpellier, VT. They seem to make the original French style macaron cookies, not the filled sandwich kind.)
The Essential Baking Company (Seattle, WA)
Le Panier (Seattle, WA)
L.A. Burdick (Have shops in NH and MA but ship all over the country. They refer to their macarons as Luxembourger/Luxemburgerli, which aren't exactly the same thing, but are close enough.)
Mad Mac (Ship all over the country)
Asia
Bizu (Manila)
Le Goûter Bernardaud (Hong Kong)
Fauchon at Lotte Department Store (Seoul)
Canelé (Singapore)
Gobi (Singapore)
Macaron (Singapore)
Evan's Kitchen Ramblings (Singapore, custom order)
Mad Baker (Singapore, custom order)
15ème Patisserie (Taipei)
Franciacorta (Taipei)
Liz Gourmet Corner at the Landis Hotel (Taipei)
Ratafia (Taipei)
Saisons Patisserie (Taipei)
Chez Cima (Tokyo)
Dalloyau (Tokyo)
Jean Millet (Tokyo)
Le Chocolat de H (Tokyo)
Madame Toki (Tokyo)
Pierre Hermé (Tokyo)
Sadaharu Aoki (Tokyo)
Rest of the World
Töertchen Töertchen (Berlin)
Ladureé at Galeries Lafayette (Berlin)
Wittamer (Brussels)
Nectar Desserts (Calgary)
Pascal (Oslo)
Cafe Pistachio (Salmabad, Kingdom of Bahrain)
Adriano Zumbo (Sydney)
Lindt Concept Store (Sydney)
Laurent Bakery (Melbourne, Sydney)
Ganache Patisserie (Vancouver)
Thomas Haas (Vancouver)
Fauchon (Locations worldwide)
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18 Comments:
I highly recommend the macarons at Boule in Los Angeles, in particular the pistachio version and the only-sometimes-available meyer lemon version. I brought a small sample to my family one Christmas, and now I have to bring a box every time I visit. The only one I haven't loved so far is the apple-cinnamon, but then that just doesn't seem quite macaron-ish enough to begin with.
Sadly, I was also really disappointed with the Bouchon macarons, even at the bakery in Yountville. They just didn't have the right texture or intensity of flavor. They couldn't even match the macarons I got at the franchise bakery Paul in Paris, and those were from the train station!
gfroerer at 7:25PM on 10/23/07
I would have to say Pierre (Hermé) does make the best macarons. Frankly Ladurée has him to thank as Pierre presided over Ladurée's pastry kitchen during the period of growth that saw Ladurée go from interesting sidenote to bakery behemoth.
I've tried Ispahans elsewhere but it doesn't top Pierre's (since he invented the Ispahan while at Ladurée). I visited him in his office in Paris and had a look through the underground split level kitchen where he does final assembly of the chocolates, pastries, etc, and he does run a tight ship that cranks out amazing soul-satisfying goodies.
If others visit for the first time, try a pairing of his signature passionfruit chocolate with his chocolate passionfruit macaron. Divine stuff.
By the way Robyn I really enjoy your writing and photography. Thank you and keep it up!
bigyam at 9:12PM on 10/23/07
La Duree's, the paris macs you brought back for meeee... those were amazing. So I'm expecting to see GOD or something with Pierre Herme's offerings. I thought the Almondine ones were pretty good but a bit too sweet.
It's obvious what needs to be done. Pierre Herme must open a shop here. Preferably on the Myrtle-Willoughby stop in Bed-Stuy, in the empty retail space beside the Chinese take-out place next door to me.
Mmm. Macs.
anglerfish96 at 9:46PM on 10/23/07
I think we should start a campaign (and most likely a futile attempt) to persuade Pierre Herme to open a shop in NYC.
I miss PH's macarons. Thank you Robyn for making me fall in love (and nearly cry) with them.
I'm just depressed with the stuff we have in the States...why must we suffer with sub par macarons?!
wanderingeater at 10:57PM on 10/23/07
La Panier! I am so there! :-) Mmmm
Some day...Paris
paris221966 at 12:11AM on 10/24/07
The Sweet Pea bakery in Phoenix had the best macarons I have had since Paris (it warmed my macaron-deprived friend's heart after he returned to Phoenix from his year abroad in Paris). I agree with you on the Bouchon macarons, the ones they give you after dinner at Per Se aren't that great.
chasgoose at 2:01AM on 10/24/07
Also, I have to say literally the first thing I did when I went to Paris last spring was get a macaron at Pierre Herme. I had landed maybe 2 hours ago and I wanted to take a nap and my friend was like no you are staying like 5 minutes from Pierre Herme and you must have a macaron. I was like macaroon really? Coconut really isn't going to make me miss sleep and he was all no not macaroon, macaron. And then I had an Ispahan and an olive oil one from Pierre Herme and my life has never really been the same.
What is so great about Japan anyways? Pierre Herme must come to New York!
chasgoose at 2:06AM on 10/24/07
Small world anglerfish...I second your request of location!
bobbob at 5:43AM on 10/24/07
@gfroerer: I thought the ones from Bouchon in Yountville might've been better than the ones in NYC, but I guess not? That sucks! Do they know they're doing it wrong? :(
@bigyam: I've only had the ispahan at PH, assuming it wouldn't be as good anywhere else. Sigh.
You got to visit the kitchen? That's awesome! I visited a kitchen too, but not the same one I think (the Vaugirard one). Methinks the other kitchen must be more interesting if that's where the final assembly happens. I would've liked to have seen the chocolates too! But I DID SEE FRESH MACARONS, OH DEAR LORD. Trays of em! Little baby macarons in their incubators! Sweet jesus. (You see how easily excited I am by macarons? Eek!) And yeah, those chocolate passionfruit ones are awesome. And the chocolates. And everything.
@anglerfish96: PH would definitely make your head splode with deliciousness. Unfortunately they don't make as nice gifts as Laduree, who have this whole range of pretty boxes, but if I go to Paris again anytime soon (unlikely, but one can hope), I shall come back with a crapload of PH macarons.
Most macarons in NYC are too sweet! :( Almondine isn't so bad in my opinion though since the cookies weren't dry. Dryness is another prob. Dry and too sweet = no.
If PH opened a shop in Bed Stuy that would definitely make me go out there for once. Ha ha ha.
@wanderingeater: Gah, I wish wish wish he would come here. Did I tell you about the time that I had one of his shopping bags in the West Village (to give a gift to a friend) and a woman asked me if PH had opened a shop here? Her voice was full of so much hope!...oh well, I killed it.
I feel like someone in this country must be able to make awesome macarons of near PH-quality. And maybe they're hoarding the macarons for themselves.
@paris221966: Could you let me know how their macarons are? :D I hope they're better than the average NYC macaron.
@chasgoose: I added Sweet Pea to the list when I saw the photo of you and their macaron. :) If only I had known it existed earlier. Sigh. How was the rest of Sweet Pea's offerings? Tasty stuff that transported you back to the city of liiiights? And carbs?
And dude, I went to PH just a few hours after getting to Paris too! Not 2 hours (damn, you're fast when you wanna be...then again, you wanted to take a nap!) but ...but definitely that afternoon! I brought my friends to Pozzetto first. Gelato, then macarons.
Japanese people just go ga-ga over the French patisseries, something that we don't do enough of here, apparently. :( WE FAIL.
roboppy at 8:18AM on 10/24/07
my parents retired to st. jean de luz in the basque region in france. everytime i visit them i buy a tin of macarons from here: Maison Adam.
yumster.
i have a tiny book of tea recipes that includes one for green tea macarons. will post if here if i track it down.
astarteny at 9:10AM on 10/24/07
FWIW, I'm not a fan of Payard's macarons. Too sweet, and (some flavors) chemical-tasting. NOT good.
maggiesara at 11:20AM on 10/24/07
Thank you so much for posting this! I'm traveling to Paris in December and although I knew about the infamous Pierre Hermes, you've given me tons of other options if we can't make it. :)
JadedOne at 11:46AM on 10/24/07
I will never forget the day that Robyn introduced me to the mighty macaron. Granted my first was an Ispahan from Pierre Hermes, but still.
In San Francisco, Bay Bread makes a very French macaron. The cerise is one of our favorites and they make some other delicious things, too!
kaethend at 12:15PM on 10/24/07
@astarteny: Those macarons look good. Want.
I'd also be interested in making green tea maccies.
@maggiesara: I haven't tried his, but your experience sounds similar to what my other friends said about him. :( Sad!
@JadedOne: You WILL make it.
...You will.
Go to PH first and then check out the other places. I regret not trying Sadaharu Aoki's macarons, although I did try some of his cakes. Mm, soo gooooood.
@kaethend: Starting with the ispahan is intense, man. It all goes downhill from there...
Okay, not really.
Thanks for the rec, I'll add it to the list!
roboppy at 4:02PM on 10/24/07
A friend of mine recommended to me that I go to Pierre Herme when I was in Paris last fall and I didn't make it. Then I came home and got all obsessed with Macarons, which is strange since I have only ever had the original French kind from the Atlanta bakery Henri's.
I scoured the internets for recipes and information and finally gave it a shot on my own. Not bad for a first timer I'd say. I'm going to try it again, this time doing pistachio and sea salt/caramel for Christmas gifts.
Here's the link to a post I did about making them:
http://thefoodieblog.blogspot.com/2007/03/macarons.html
foodiegirl71 at 4:56PM on 10/24/07
Ladurée @ Harrods in London. (Also, of course, in Paris.)
KristainLondon at 12:08PM on 10/27/07
Had to add a couple more places in Brussels:
Pierre Marcolini
Au Bouquet Romain (this was by far my favorite of the two)
I wrote blogposts on the Au Bouquet Romain ones here and the Pierre Marcolini ones here.
Robin at 11:16AM on 11/12/07
Robyn,
You are a god-send!!!! I just came back from Paris last month and ate my last Macaron I bought at Laduree (by suggestion of Jacques Torres at the November chocolate show) and went online to see if Laduree has mail order to the US, which they do not! I panicked, but then thought, I live in NY, I can get anything here, so, I searched and searched and came across this article. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! French Macarons are the most sublime and addicting things I have ever had!!!!!
Lann730 at 7:03PM on 03/02/08