I think 2011 will be remembered as quite the inauspicious year for Ladurée. Competition from the new wave of grandes pâtisseries got stepped up a few notches with the arrival of both Café Pouchkine and Un Dimanche à Paris, their chef pâtissier Philippe Andrieu quit and fled to Bordeaux, and, as if that weren’t enough, their flagship store on the Champs-Élysées was gutted by a massive fire in October. Were it not for their expansion into New York, Milan and other select worldwide hotspots, one would think the brand was finally beginning to flag.

So what’s in store for Ladurée in 2012? I guess we’ll have to wait and see. I have yet to hear news of Andrieu’s replacement, nor has there been any word on what will become of the Champs-Élysées location. A fresh wave of small name-brand pâtisseries has already begun, with the arrival of both Cyril Lignac’s and Sébastien Gaudard’s shops. It’s almost certain another grande pâtisserie is just months away from opening its doors, adding yet more pressure on this staple of the Parisian pastry scene. The sloppy composition of most of their pastries – an issue to which I’ll soon return – isn’t helping their overall image, but at least the flavors and textures generally don’t come up short. So let’s dig into the Tarte Pistache-Griotte . . .

The shell is the Ladurée pâte sucrée standard – simple, refined, with enough character to feel special but not so much as to distract from the core flavors of the piece. You bite in, feel the perfect buttery crumble of it all, and then get swept-up in the dreamy pistachio crème blanc. Smooth, sweet and jammed with elegantly assertive pistachio tones, it’s nothing short of a delight. True, it doesn’t quite approach either Hugo & Victor’s or Café Pouchkine’s varied pistachio wonders, but it’s nonetheless an excellent platform for the bawdy palet of cherry compote and macerated cherries at the heart of our little friend here. And once you get to said gooey puck of griotte goodness, and it mingles with the creamy pistache and light grit of the pâte, it’s all quite a . . . nice little treat.

Is there anything remarkable about this pastry? No, but it’s very good – an excellent staple for the case, especially for those who love any mélange of pistachios and cherries.

So let’s get back to issue I touched on earlier – sloppy craftsmanship . . .

My dear Ladurée, you cannot sell work that looks like this. It is a stain on your brand – one from which many of your pastries suffer. For a delicious piece with a well-conceived fundamental design, it’s not acceptable for the glaçage to be incomplete atop the tarte, uneven across the surface and also smeared about the pâte sucrée. Frankly, it borders on neighborhood pastry shop quality. This is evident to . . . everyone. You price these in a manner comparable to Café Pouchkine, who manages time-and-again to yield near perfection from every member of their team. I literally know of other shops who would just throw something like this in the trash before they’d let someone buy it, much less see it. Either you tighten your standards, or it will be patisseries like Pouchkine that slowly chip away at your market share, until all that remains a decade or two from now are little Ladurée kiosks in airports. Sloppy work is your Achilles heel; nothing could be more obvious.

Regular readers know I have no issue with simple work. Jacques Genin creates very chaste, classic designs, but he executes them perfectly. Ladurée, much like La Pâtisserie des Reves, is managing to butcher such simple forms. Cheating people out of superior experiences is not cool.

So, yes, feel good about snagging a Tarte Pistache-Griotte, because, if not quite magical, it’s still decidedly tasty. But also feel free to give the salesperson a little bit of a hard time, if they try to slip you one that looks ratty. I’m a big believer in bottom-up pressure, and with enough customers whining about junk work, word might finally get to the kitchen. Let’s hope.

WEDNESDAY’S SUPER SPECIAL: I’m taking you for an exclusive behind-the-scenes visit to Coutume Café, where we’ll see Meilleur Torréfacteur de France 2011, Antoine Netien, roasting coffee beans to perfection. It’s a nearly 20 photo spectacular that’s going to be one of the coolest things . . . ever.

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