Emily In France Exclusive 🇫🇷 5 Must-Try Galettes in Paris This January

Long live the king (cake)!

If you're planning on taking part in Veganuary... don't come to Paris.

I tease, but there's one very good reason to not eschew butter in Paris this month: galette des rois. This pastry sees buttery puff pastry stuffed with almond frangipane filling and is traditionally served on Epiphany (January 6). But these days, it's so popular people enjoy them all month long.

Tradition demands that when a whole galette is on the table (they usually serve six to eight people), the youngest member of the group gets under the table while another slices the cake. The slicer then designates each slice in turn, and the person under the table (often a child, though my sister played this role at 19!) calls out the name of the person who should receive each slice. The person who gets the fève – a porcelain trinket – in their slice is designated king. (I delved into this tradition in depth in a recent piece for Food52.)

But a whole galette shared among friends or family is not the only way you can enjoy this treat. Most bakeries also sell their galettes à la part (in slices) or en format individuel (as a smaller, individually-sized iteration of the more imposing galette. I have a preference for slices, which tend to have a better pastry-to-filling ratio. 

Last year, I sampled no fewer than ten different galettes over the course of the month of January. This year, I plan to be a bit more discerning, and I've narrowed the playing field down to five must-tries.

Want to know which ones are standing out for me? Look no further.

1. Chez Meunier

Of the ten galettes I tried last year, this one took the proverbial cake. (Sorry, it was right there.) Positively stuffed with rich frangipane, it boasted the perfect combination of buttery pastry and dense, generous filling. This year, Chez Meunier has collaborated with street artist CHANOIR to make unique cat-shaped fèves that look absolutely adorable, but more importantly, in addition to the plain almond galette, Chez Meunier is releasing a premium version with blueberry and chestnut, aka two of my all-time favorite dessert flavors.

2. Sain Boulangerie

Long-time newsletter readers will be unsurprised that the galette from Sain Boulangerie is returning to my must-try list. I wasn't as big a fan of their plain galette as I'd hoped to be last year, but their specialty one, with chocolate-macadamia nut filling, was pretty darn incredible. (High praise from someone who's usually not a chocolate fan!) And I'm even more excited about their flavor this year: A collaboration with La Main Noire coffee shop marrying their Golden Paste – a turmeric-spiked concoction used as the base of their golden latte – with coconut and pineapple. Uh, sign me up.

3. Tapisserie

The pastry shop offshoot of Septime, Clamato, and D'Une Ile, Tapisserie is already home to Paris' most emblematic (read: only) maple syrup tart, as well as one of my favorite cream puffs in the whole world. Their croissant is definitely a high-ranker for me, with a sugary glaze that lends a bit of sweetness to the breakfast stalwart, and I'm equally enticed by the idea of their classic frangipane, which I'm sure will be an excellent play on tradition, as well as their smoked hazelnut praline. (One of each? Oh... if you insist.)

4. Maison Aleph

Maison Aleph is a Levantine pastry shop with outposts all over the city. They're best known for their pastry nests: crunchy kadaïf with a variety of fillings. They also make knafeh, aka sweet-and-savory pastries filled with stringy cheese, which somehow I have yet to try. But in terms of galette (that's why you're here, isn't it?) Maison Aleph is serving up a whopping four different flavors: chocolate, pistachio, sesame-halva, and almond-orange blossom. While they all sound super delicious, I might have to go for the classic almond here. 

5. Mie Amor

While Mie Amor was on my short list last year, I never made it down to the 6th to sample it, and that's a shame, because the pistachio iteration they made looked absolutely incredible. This year, the chocolate-buckwheat is a double no for me, due to a slight aversion to chocolate and an anaphylactic allergy to buckwheat, but the apple crumble flavor? Sign me up!

Which galettes are on your short list this year? Reply to this email to let me know!