2018 Bread Winners – The Best Paris Baguettes

Crunchy on the outside, airy on the inside — a winning combination. Bread has always been important in France, and Paris baguettes are most definitely a part of that tradition. While the French eat a lot of bread, particularly baguettes, they used to eat a lot more.

A hundred years ago the typical Parisian ate 620 grams of bread per day, nearly a pound and a half. Today, that amount is more like 150 grams, just over five ounces. Over the years, as demand declined, so did the quality of Paris baguettes. Things got worse during World War I and World War II when rationing affected bakers' ability to get supplies. Were the food-loving French going to sit back and take this? Mais, non !

The Return of Le Bon Baguette

The dubious quality of some Paris baguettes led to changes in the early 1990s. Consumers and artisan boulangers banded together to try to return the traditional quality of Paris baguettes. In 1993 a law was passed in France that regulates how a baguette de tradition (traditional baguette) must be made. Baguettes de tradition have to be made on the premises of the boulangerie, from start to finish. They can contain only four ingredients — wheat flour, yeast, salt and water. Only then can they be called tradition.

The baguette law is supported by an annual competition for the best Paris baguettes, the Grand Prix de la Baguette de la Ville de Paris, in which then winner, the top baguette maker of the year, gets the honor of supplying the French presidential residence with baguettes every morning for the entire year.

So, when buying a baguette in Paris, we recommend you always ask for a tradition and, if you get a chance, try a baguette from one of the prize winning boulangeries. By the way, that's our son Alexandre & his Paris baguettes through the years

Behind the Scenes in a Paris Boulangerie

To really get into baguettes while you're in Paris, one of the best things to do is take a tour behind the scenes at a authentic Parisian boulangerie to discover every aspect of the art of the baguette and that other paragon of french pastry, the croissant.

There will be plenty of baguette and croissant tasting in this one-hour guided tour. Eat bread, be happy.

Grand Prix de la Baguette de la Ville de Paris

Paris Baguettes 2018 Winners

1. Boulangerie 2M, 215 Boulevard Raspail 75014
2. Le Grenier à Pain St Amand, 33bis Rue Saint Amand 75015
3. Le Puits d'Amour, 249, Boulevard Voltaire 75011
4. Au Levain des Pyrénées, 44 Rue des Pyrénées 75020
5. Landemaine Martyrs, 26 Rue des Martyrs 75009
6. Maison Hubert Rambuteau, 62 Rue Rambuteau 75003
7. Maison Decorde, 29 Rue Gay-Lussac 75005
8. Delmontel, 25 Rue de Levis 75017
9. Au Duc de la Chapelle, 32 Rue Tristan Tzara 75018
10. Boulangerie Thierry Meunier, 15 Rue de Belleville 75019

Paris Baguettes 2017 Winners

1. Brun, 193 rue Tolbiac, 75013
2. Painvie, 0 boulevard Auguste Blanqui, 75013
3. Dupain, 11 rue Amelot, 75011
4. Gontran Cherrier, 22 rue Caulaincourt, 75018
5. Maison Bichon, 2 rue Cail, 75010
6. Les Gourmandises d'Eiffel, 187 rue de Grenelle, 75007
7. T. Guillotin, 215 boulevard Raspail, 75014
8. Le Grenier à Pain, 52 Avenue d'Italie, 75013
9. Tembely, 3 rue Myrha, 75018
10. Hubert, 6 rue de Trevise, 75009

Paris Baguettes 2016 Winners

1. La Parisienne, 48 rue Madame, 75006
2. Boulangerie de Lourmel, 121 avenue Felix-Faure, 75015
3. Le Grenier à Pain, 33 bis rue Saint-Amand, 75005
4. Boulangerie Alexine, 40 rue Lepic, 75018
5. Boulangerie L'Essentiel, 73 boulevard Auguste-Blanqui, 75013
6. Douceurs et Traditions, 85 rue Saint-Dominique, 75007
7. A la Flûte Enchantée, 104 rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, 75012
8. Boulangerie Brun, 193, rue de Tolbiac 75013
9. Le Grenier à Pain, 52 avenue d'Italie, 75013
10. L'Acadèmie du Pain, 30 rue d'Alésia, 75014

Paris Baguettes 2015 Winners

1. Grenier à Pain, 38 rue des Abbesses, 75018
2. Boulangerie Pâtisserie Sainte-Anne, 193 rue de Tolbiac, 75013
3. Hure, 150 avenue Victor Hugo, 75016
4. L'Academie du Pain, 30 rue d'Alesia, 75014
5. Le Puits d'Amour, 249 boulevard Voltaire, 75011
6. Le Moulin du 16e, 152 Avenue de Versailles, 75016
7. Deedam Holding, 63 rue de Turbigo, 75003
8. Tie: Aux Pains Garnis, 25 avenue de St Ouen, 75017 and
   Les Gourmandises d'Eiffel, 187 Rue de Grenelle, 75007
9. Douceurs et Traditions, 85 Rue Saint-Dominique, 75007
10. Maison Delcourt, 100 rue Boileau, 75016

Paris Baguettes 2014 Winners

The 2014 winning roster was unusual in that there were a number of ties, including one three-way tie. Thus, there were a total of fifteen boulangeries winning honors that year.

1. Aux Delices du Palais, 60 boulevard Brune, 75014
2. Tie: Au Petit Versailles du Marais, 27 rue François Miron, 75004 and
   La Montmartoise, 43 rue de Clignancourt, 75018
3. 134 RdT, 134 rue de Turenne, 75003
4. Tie: Au Pain d'Autrefois, 83 rue Damrémont, 75018 and
   Maison Delcourt, 100 rue Boileau, 75016
5. Tie: Gosselin Saint Honoré, 125 rue Saint Honoré, 75001 and
   Les Artisans du Pain, 81 rue Didot, 75014
6. Boulangerie Mulot, 75 rue de Seine, 75006
7. Macaron's Café, 77 avenue du Général Leclerc, 75014
8. 3-way Tie: Liberté, 39 rue des Vinaigriers, 75010 and
   La Petite Marquise, 3 place Victor Hugo, 75116 and
   Acacias Etoile, 31 rue des Acacias, 75017
9. Meksem, 27 rue Campo Formio, 7501.
10. Le Petrin Normand, 152 rue de la Convention, 75015

Paris Baguettes 2013 Winners

1. Au Paradis du Gourmand, 156 Rue Raymond Losserand, 75014
2. Boulangerie Raphaëlle, 1 rue Feutrier, 75018
3. Boulangerie Damiani, 125 avenue du Clichy, 75017
4. Christian Vabret, 27 rue Francois Miron, 75004
5. Maison Cailleaud, 104 Cours de Vincennes, 75012
6. Maison Landemeine, 56 rue du Clichy, 75009
7. Dominique Saibron, 77 avenue du Géneral Leclerc, 75014
8. Le Grenier à Pain Lafayette, 91 rue Faubourg Poissonière, 75009
9. La Parisienne, 12 rue Coustou, 75018
10. Claude Besnier, 40 rue du Bourgogne, 75007

Paris Baguettes 2012 Winners

1. Boulangerie Mauvieux, 159 rue Ordener, 75018
2. Raoul Maeder, 111 boulevard Haussmann, 75008
3. Boulangerie Audou, 10 rue de Chanzy, 75011
4. La Pompadour, 110 rue de la Tour, 75016
5. Arnaud Delmontel, 39 rue des Martyrs, 75009
6. La Petite Marquise, 3 place Victor Hugo, 75016
7. Guillaume Delcourt, 100 rue Boileau, 75016
8. Eran Mayer, 100 rue du Théatre, 75015
9. 134 RdT, 134 rue de Turenne, 75003
10. Les Saveurs de Wagram, 169 avenue de Wagram, 75017

Paris Baguettes 2011 Winners

1. Au Levain d'Antan, 6 rue des Abbesses, 75018
   
2. Gaétan Romp, 14 rue de la Michodière, 75002
   
3. Les Saveurs du 20eme, 120 rue de Bagnolet, 75020
   
4. Gontran Cherrier, 22 rue Caulaincourt, 75018
   
5. Le Fournil du Village, 12 place J.B. Clément, 75018
   
6. Les Gourmandises d'Eiffel, 187 rue de Grenelle, 75007
   
7. Julien, 75 rue Saint-Honoré, 75001
   
8. Philippe Marache, 92 av de la République Paris, 75011
   
9. Philippe Bogner, 204 rue des Pyrénées, 75020
   
10. Le Grenier à Pain Saint-Amand, 33 bis rue Saint-Amand, 75015
    

Paris Baguettes 2010 Winners

1. Le Grenier à Pain Abbesses, 38 rue des Abbesses, 75018
2. La Parisienne, 28 rue Monge, 75005
3. Dominique Saibron, 77 Avenue du Général Leclerc, 75014
4. Yves Desgranges, 6 rue de Passy, 75016
5. Philippe Gosselin, 258 Boulevard Saint-Germain, 75007
6. Xavier Doué, 163 Avenue de Versaillais, 75016
7. Boulangerie Lohézic, 31 rue Guersant, 75017
8. Boulangerie d'Isa, 127 rue de Charenton 75012
9. Mohamed Zerzour, 50 rue de l'Amiral Roussin 75015
10. Zerzour II, 324, rue Lecourbe, 75014