Paris : Sadaharu Aoki

Many people associate Paris with world-renowned pâtissiers like Pierre Hermé or Ladurée for their macarons and other creations, and while the Japanese go gaga over French creations, the French have developed a love for all things Japanese - I know I have over the past year.

Sadaharu Aoki has now been firmly established on the Parisian scene, from the moment he whipped out his black sesame éclairs and his matcha layered slices. He now owns a few places in Paris as well as Japan, and I think he has cleverly and subtly managed to fuse French techniques with Japanese flavours.

So on the Sunday, after the marathon had been run and the champion showered, we were both starving but it was already mid-afternoon and there couldn't be anything too heavy involved. I suggested we board the bus that conveniently left from behind our hotel to take us directly to one of Aoki's teahouses on the Boulevard de Port Royal.

It's a tiny shop with a few tables in a minimalistic environment but we were lucky to get a table -frankly, the direct neighbourhood isn't one of my favourite, there's not much going on but it's a stone's throw from rue Mouffetard which is lively and studenty, even on a Sunday.


There's a short drinks list, with many Japanese tea and you can select any pâtisserie from the counter, either reinterpretations of French classics such as millefeuilles (Napoleons) or éclairs, or jewel-like creations.

I was supposed to choose for us both and decided to go for the obvious, matcha and chocolate layered sponge and black sesame éclair. It wasn't cheap, and it wasn't big -I would gladly have had more- but it was delicious and delicate, like many Japanese things.