4 luxury food addresses in Paris that you really shouldnt miss

Paris, famous for its architecture, monuments and museums is also renowned for its luxury food; caviar,foie gras, oysters, champagne and of course, truffles. For many travellers, luxury food is theraison dtre to visit the City of Light.To get the biggest bite of French luxury food its imperative to plan your trip in advance.You wont want to miss the hidden food shops that offer exclusive, rare foods, often only available in Paris.

Many of the French luxury food traditions were created in the late 19th Century just as the bourgeois class was emerging. Food icons such asFauchon,Hediard,Prunier have similar beginnings; the story usually starts with a young man, fresh from the country who sells food from a wheelbarrow in the streets of Paris and turns the wheelbarrow into a food empire.

Fauchon which dominates a corner of thePlace de la Madeleine was begun byAuguste Fauchonwho arrived in Paris from Calvados in 1891. He started modestly by selling fruit from his wheelbarrow and before long, his food dynasty was selling coffees, teas,confiture, pastries and chocolate. It was his wife, Madame Fauchon who had the smart idea of putting their name on every product they sold and invented the first luxury food brand. TodayFauchon is a stylish food empire but its theclair that has really made them into Paris food superstars. A large pastry case, the length of aCitron,is filled with every imaginable flavour of delicateclairs.Theres even a savouryfoie gras clair, filled with afoie grascrme and topped with hazelnut glaze.Or baby-sized clairs for the fashionable slimParisienneclientele.

Across thePlace de la Madeleine isPrunier, famous for their caviar, smoked salmon and seafood.It was Alfred Prunier who opened his first oyster restaurant in 1872 and discovered his rich clientele couldnt get enough of caviar. To keep up with supply, his son Emile began to farm sturgeon on the banks of the Dordogne in 1918. And thats a very good thing since it is now illegal to import Russian caviar to France.On the main floor of their shop is the tasting room, with smoky glass windows where one can taste a variety of caviar.

Moving down to the river and on tole Saint-Louis, we findLafitte, purveyors offoie gras. In 1920 Pierre Lafitte starting selling wild game birds andfoie gras in Landes (southwest France) and eventually opened a shop in Paris. All of their ducks and geese are grown on small farms within 40 km of their headquarters in southwest France. All the birds are raised with strict farming methods: grain-fed and free-range.Although mostfoie gras is made with duck liver, theirfoie gras doie (made from geese) is a luxury that should not be missed.Truffles are a luxury staple and the best place to source them in Paris is Maison de la Truffe.Founded in 1932, originally a cooperative of truffle growers fromCarpentras(Frances largest supplier),La Maison De la Truffe sells freshdiamant noir (black truffles) directly fromProvence.Their restaurant features an all-truffle menu with a generous amount of truffles in each dish.

Paris Luxury Food addresses:
1. Fauchon, 24 Place de la Madeleine
2. Prunier, 15 Place de la Madeleine
3. Lafitte, 8 Rue Jean du Bellay, le Saint-Louis
4. La Maison de la Truffe, 14 Rue Marbeuf

Diane Shaskin is President of Paris to Provence Culinary Adventures.

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4 luxury food addresses in Paris that you really shouldnt miss is a post from A Luxury Travel Blog