Arnaud Delmontel :: Le Verbena
By Paris Patisseries in Arnaud Delmontel
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There were, let’s see . . . three different times I woke up, during the last few months here in Paris, and said, “I’ve been to Aoki, Hermé, Marletti, Hévin, and Ladurée way too much these past couple weeks. Today is going to be 100% Delmontel!” So I’d grab a couple metro tickets from the stack I keep on my bookshelf, and I’d descend into the Sèvre-Babylone station on the 12 line. It’s a long ride up to his shop, so I’d whip out my iPhone to play some Angry Birds or Fruit Ninja, and having arrived at the Saint-Georges stop, I’d bound up the hill to Delmontel’s bounlangerie-patisserie. About 30 meters away, I’d go, “Oh ****. It’s Tuesday! Ahhhh! How could I forget?” Delmontel is one of the rare closed-on-Tuesday shops that I always neglect to take into account. So two weeks ago when I woke up and decided to make it a Delmontel day, I confirmed that it was indeed Thursday. And this time as I approached, passing by the inordinate number of hair salons, grungy cafés and convenience stores common to the area, I saw that the lights were on and the door was open. With no one else in the shop, the saleswoman was patient enough to let me do my usual selection of individual pastries within the lineup. Le Verbena here was the first of them . . .
Unfortunately both cash registers had spontaneously decided to stop working, so madame cashier grew mildly enraged as about a half-dozen other people walked it at the same time she was trying to change my 50 euro note. I believe her hasty math gave me about a 30% discount, but seeing the look on her face, this was no time for honesty. I’ve since decided to funnel my windfall into generous tips for street musicians – most notably, the crazy-haired flute-man who plays at midnight in the acoustically magnificent grand archways of the Louvre. But I digress. Once I finally got home and photographed Le Verbena, it was time to enjoy her slinky vintage-green strip of verbena “crème brulée”, macaronade base and raspberries.
The verbena “crème brulée” did not appear to actually have been subject to the “brulée” process, but it was nevertheless quite tasty. Rife with the delicious tones of fresh verbena and blessed with creamy smoothness, it served as a lovely crown to the chewy sweetness of the macaronade. And of course the berries were every bit as ripe as they look. Being a fan of texture, this was a wonderful combination to see. Not only were the flavors quite complementary, but the way they physically came together with each bite was just as enjoyable. Now, I’m not usually big into the super sugary pastries, but I know this was intended as basically a big creamy open-faced macaron, so the sugar level fits with the premise.
I only managed to grab a few Delmontel pieces along with the Le Verbena, so I’m hoping I can make it back to his shop in the next few days, as the pastry-amassing phase of my time here ends on Friday – and I begin to prepare for my return to the States next week. But in the event I don’t, I can at least vouch for Le Verbena as a nice treat, perhaps as you wind your way back down to the city from a visit to Sacré-Coeur.
Oh, and do you ever wish you could have pastry like this hand-delivered to you every morning? Well, you can. Just add Paris Patisseries as a friend on Facebook. You deserve a daily dose of Paris’ finest.
