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Jacques Genin

Jacques Genin crafts some of the city's most exquisite chocolate, but he's almost equally known for his caramels and pâtes de fruits. You might mistake his shop in the northern Marais for a luxury jeweler – the airy space is filled with stunning floral arrangements and white-gloved assistants. Favorite chocolates include the menthe fraîche (fresh mint), the noisette-feuilleté (crispy hazelnut praline) and fève tonka (tonka bean). The mango-passion fruit caramels are stunning, but we love his anything-but-plain nature version. Expect his pâtes de fruits to change with the seasons, but keep an eye out for orange sanguine (blood orange) in winter and berry flavors like fraise and framboise (strawberry and raspberry) in summer.

PRACTICAL INFO

MARAIS: 133 rue de Turenne, 75003

Monday Closed
Tuesday 11AM–7PM
Wednesday 11AM–7PM
Thursday 11AM–7PM
Friday 11AM–7PM
Saturday 11AM–7:30PM
Sunday 11AM–7PM

ST-GERMAIN: 27 Rue de Varenne, 75007

Monday Closed
Tuesday 10:30AM–7PM
Wednesday 10:30AM–7PM
Thursday 10:30AM–7PM
Friday 10:30AM–7PM
Saturday 10:30AM–7PM
Sunday Closed

REVIEWS 

Vogue (2015) “The Left Bank rejoiced when the avant-garde chocolatier branched out from the Marais to open this bright boutique. Here, the chocolates are displayed like jewels, and Genin experiments with bold flavors (Sichuan peppercorn, bergamot, and rosemary). No less noteworthy are his pâte de fruits—sugared cubes of pure, concentrated fruit—while the caramels are buttery kisses of sunshine.”

2nd place in our Five Great Paris-Brest competition

Table à Découvert (2015) “J’adore les truffes… Celles de Jacques Genin faisaient belle figure hier dans la vitrine. Elles aussi, comme souvent chez toutes les truffes d’artisan que je goûte, ont une très fine pellicule de chocolat craquant autour. L’intérieur est assez ferme et très, très chocolaté, tendant même vers une très légère note de café.”

David Lebovitz (2012) “Of all the desserts and pastries in Paris, there isn’t one better than Jacques’ Paris-Brest… The traditional pastry is pâte à choux (cream puff dough) split horizontally, then filled with rich hazelnut praline cream…This one has chunks of toasty hazelnuts embedded in the pastry and the filling is absolutely perfect.”

Le Figaro (2011) Ranked #2 in their test of the city's best strawberry tarts.

Croque Camille (2010) “… come for the chocolates, but consider staying for the tea and pastries, and don’t leave without a bag of caramels.”

Barbra Austin (2010) “Order the millefeuille for which he is known and maybe an éclair as well…Try not to wince at the price of a pot of tea and sit back and relax, knowing that someone in the kitchen upstairs is assembling that famous napoleon to order (this is not one of those bricks that sits all day in a refrigerated case) and that soon it will be served to you, maybe by M. Genin himself.”

Table à Découvert (2009) “Un café crème particulièrement réussi et ce millefeuille préparé à la commande, je vous assure que cela fait toute la différence… Le croustillant du feuilleté est à pleurer de croustillant et de légèreté, un nuage de feuilleté qui fait qu'on sent chaque feuille du “millefeuille” sous la dent, un parfum légèrement beurré, mais tout en subtilité et cette crème onctueuse et fraîche à la saveur de caramel bien équilibrée. Le meilleur millefeuille goûté à ce jour, d'ailleurs.”

David Lebovitz (2008) “I was completely wowed by his shop…I sampled plenty of chocolates, including ones flavored with fresh mint, pu er tea, and grapefruit zest…And those caramels. Oh yes…those heavenly caramels…”

5 thoughts on “Jacques Genin”

  1. I live in Paris and am wondering if Jacque Genin still has a tea room that serves his famous tarts. I read he may only be doing chocolates now. Being a foodie, I would love to try the tarts. Thank you and enjoy your day.

  2. The lemon and basil tart was excellent as well as the hot chocolate. Pity they did not have the mille-feuille.

  3. Truly a wonderful experience! Service was excellent. We loved the mango caramel and pâté de fruit. Tonight we will indulge in his chocolates. Thank you for your reviews and recommendation.

  4. Oh no – no more individual pastries? I had a lovely tart with fraise de bois when I visited last summer. Jacques Genin is one of the only Paris chocolatiers or patissieres using local and seasonal ingredients. His were the best (out of perhaps 10 highly vetted locations) that I have tried. The chocolates, while subtle, were fantastic. The pastries out of this world.

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