Gridskipper

Every so often a book is published that makes you ask yourself: how much weight did the author put on researching it? Jamie Cahill, author of the recently published Pâtisseries of Paris, has compiled the city's best pastry shops, bakeries, ice cream shops, chocolatiers, and salons de thé. Many of them happen to be concentrated in Saint-Germain, which has a sort of cruel irony to it, as this former intellectual nerve center of Paris has undergone a transformation in the last 10 years to become the center of a very expensive, very chic fashion scene, putting the Rive Gauche in YSL. But it's time you learned the sublime tension of consuming millefeuilles while not gaining mille poids. Cahill's publicist, by the way, reassures us that even after four years of this research, plus a professional pâtissier's course, plus two children, Cahill has managed to stay a size 2. "But that's another story," we are told. So, Jamie? What's the story? We'd love to know.

L'Artisan de Saveurs
72 rue du Cherche-Midi 75006 Paris
This salon de thé is the home of Cahill's dream dessert, the pain de Gênes: "two almond-sprinkled cake triangles with a luscious slathering of lemon cream in between." Cahill informs us that "desserts are serious here," which means that a pear charlotte is "spiced up with pain d'épices" and a plain old blanc manger gets an "update" with coconut and exotic fruit. Serious tea is on offer to go with the serious desserts.

La Bonbonnière de Buci
12 rue de Buci 75006 Paris
This unassuming little "candybox" in the heart of Saint-Germain claims to make the best palmiers (flaky, buttery pastries shaped like elephants' ears) in Paris. Cahill is willing to grant him this, and extends his mastery to all buttery viennoiseries. Reason enough for us to go.

Christian Constant
37 rue d'Assas 75006 Paris
He's the chocolate guy of Saint-Germain, Christian Constant is. He's also Sonia Rykiel's chocolate guy, Cahill informs us — a quaint case of Saint-Germain businesses supporting one another. Cahill is most impressed by his flavored ganaches: "cardamon, frangipani flowers, or Chinese ginger, to name a few," and also mentions his chocolate tarte as being his most "revered" creation.

Le Confiturier
20 rue du Cherche-Midi 75006 Paris
This café/salon de thé, Cahill says, is "one of the few spots in Paris where you can have a thick slab of brioche, served with jams and butter, at any time of day," which is amazing in a country that is so strict about when it is proper to eat and drink what. Breakfast in the afternoon? Sounds so American, and so tempting...

Les Deux Magots
6 place St Germain 75006 Paris
Huh? Wasn't this place relegated to the bottom of the barrel, a tourist trap through and through, regardless of who used to sip coffee here? The overpriced drinks and fare, the terminally un-hip German tourists, the rude waitstaff — why is this in Cahill's dreamy pastel Paris confection? "This famous cafe has delicious desserts!" she insists. "I can vouch that reviews of mediocre, overpriced food do not apply to the desserts," she promises, and goes on the recommend "lemon, mirabelle, or apricot pistachio tarts, chocolate entremets, a raspberry vanilla cream cake, a Mont Blanc, or chocolate éclair." Well— maybe it's worth a try.

Poilâne
8 rue du Cherche Midi 75006 Paris
One of Paris's most well-known bakeries, founded in 1932 and famous for its round loaves of sourdough, Cahill calls her readers' attention to the bakery's butter cookies and apple tarts, mentioning in particular the questionably named Punitions ("punishments") — "bite-sized, crumbly sables" — which Cahill notes are usually in a "help yourself" basket on the counter. And the apple tart is "truly special."