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

Kings and queens of pastry

While January seems to many like an invitation for temperance – at least if the preponderance of posts tagged #veganuary and #dryjanuary are anything to go by – in France, this month, we're embracing butter even more than usual. January 6, aka Epiphany, is synonymous with one thing: galette des rois.

This creation traditionally sees buttery puff pastry stuffed with almond frangipane filling. Baked until crisp and golden outside and tender and fudgy within, it's the treat that caps off the holiday season in most of the hexagon, though in the South, people tend to opt for something a bit lighter: a brioche (also sometimes called a couronne or a coque) studded with candied fruit and sprinkled with pearl sugar.

Either way, the pastry is served according to time-tested tradition. The pastry of your choosing is placed on the table, and the youngest member of the group crawls underneath. One of the others there assembled slices the cake, designating each slice in turn. 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, and the person who gets the fève – a porcelain trinket – in their slice is designated king.

(I delved into this tradition in depth for Food52, and this year, I got the chance to chat with a few fabophiles about the esoteric but totally charming hobby of fève-collecting for Atlas Obscura.)

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While tradition dictates that a galette be purchased whole and shared (ideally by the person who got the last fève), of late, many bakeries have begun selling individual portions, an offering that motivated me, two years ago, to embark on a journey of epic proportions, sampling no fewer than ten different galettes over the course of the month of January.

For the most part, I opted for the individual portions, which are typically available either à la part (in slices) or en format individuel (as a smaller, individually-sized iteration of the more imposing galette). I tend have a preference for slices, which tend to have a better pastry-to-filling ratio, though I have had a handful of excellent individual galettes, notably the one from Boulangerie Utopie.

That said, whether sliced or individual, these single-serving portions have one slight downside as compared to the bigger behemoths: With the increasing popularity of galettes, many bakers are being even more creative with their flavor combinations, crafting galettes flavored with turmeric and coconut or hazelnut and chocolate. And these flavors are often only available as a full-sized galette.

This year, I plan to be a bit more discerning in my galette consumption – and not just because I’ll be spending most of January in the U.S. I've narrowed the playing field down to five must-tries, ranging from slices of classic frangipane-stuffed pastry to the creations that I find most intriguing… as long as I can find five to seven friends to help me out.

Want to know which ones have caught my eye for 2024? Look no further.

1. Chez Meunier

Chez Meunier made my favorite galette of Galette-a-Palooza 2022 – and for good reason. Positively bursting with rich, fudgy frangipane, it boasted the perfect combination of buttery pastry and dense, generous filling. I can't wait to get my hands on another slice.

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That said, this year, Chez Meunier has also crafted a beautiful, South-of-France-style brioche des reines studded with chopped pistachio, cherry, and orange blossom. One of each, perhaps?

10, place d’Italie, 13th