[Paris] Arnaud Larher

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Arnaud Larher

Add*: 93 rue de Seine, 75006 Paris
Tel: 01 43 29 38 15
Hours: [Tue] 2~7:30pm [Wed-Thu] 10am~7:30pm [Fri-Sat] 10am~8pm [Sun] 10am~7pm
Website: arnaudlarher.com
Prices: €5.20/individual pastry
Visited on: Oct 2014

Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF) is a prestigious award in France according to category of trades – whether in woodwork, tailoring, or clockmaking – in a contest among professionals. When someone is awarded MOF, it’s generally a solid indication that he or she has exceptional skills. In the world of pastry, a few MOFs have opened their own boutiques here in Paris, Arnaud Larher being one of them. I have visited his shops twice before back in 2012 and 2013, but was never really drawn to his style of pastries. Seeing positive reviews of his work lately on multiple social media, I decided to drop by again to see if anything will appeal this time.

*3 boutiques available in Paris, check website for detail.

Sometimes I spend a long time making choices in front of a pastry display because I want to buy everything, but at Arnaud Larher it’s usually the opposite – I have a hard time finding something I want to take home with. It’s both the look and the combination of flavor…somehow, nothing sing out to me in particular.

But I still left with a full bag anyway – since I had already gone out there, might as well try a few. First was Tarte Hawai (€5.20), composed of a vanilla pâte sablée tart shell, Tahitian vanilla ganache, lychees, rose-flavored chantilly cream and raspberry jam. Basically, it’s an Ispahan in tart form. It’s ok.

Tarte Tatin (€5.20), vanilla streusel with caramelized apples, covered in a citrus jelly and topped with chantilly cream. For tarte tatin, I personally prefer apples to be caramelized to the point of almost melting, so I didn’t quite enjoy this one as the apple cubes still had lots of bite to them.

Tarte Tentation (€5.20), vanilla pâte sablée vanille, milk chocolate passionfruit ganache, topped with semi-confit apricots. The ganache is very sweet and very sour at the same time, perhaps perfect for those who like it really intense, but it was too much for me.

Kouign Amann (€2.50), again, too sweet for me.

This trip has convinced me that Arnaud Larher and I are just not meant to be. This is not to say that his pastries are not good – MOFs don’t kid around, after all – but his style is simply too sweet and too heavy for me. I guess this is goodbye.