The winner of this year Grand Prix de la Baguette is Tharshan Selvarajah, a Sri Lankan immigrant and a baker at Au levain des Pyrénées ....... of course he cried when he heard the news :)
P.S. https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20230531-the-us-most-anticipated-museum-opens
This bakery is three blocks from my apartment, so of course I went and got baguettes for the office the week after he won the prize. I can attest that they are great !!
CNN also did a piece on him. It's am absolutely fantastic story. He immigrated to France in 2006, and was working in an Italian restaurant across the street from the bakery. The bakery owner used to go to the trattoria for lunch all the time and got to talking to Tharshan, and encouraged him to come work for him. Tharshan poo-pooed him saying he didn't know the first thing about baking. He bought the bakery when the owner retired. And now he is supplying the Elysee palace (Président Macron's résidence) with baguettes for this year as the winner !
He Makes the Best Baguette in Paris, but he's not from France
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/paris-best-baguette/index.html
Thank you for the post. I plan on visiting all the boulangeries on the list.
Love that story Kim.
My husband is a baguette addict! OK, I consume as well. We only have 5 days in Paris this Fall so it looks to be a two-a-day indulgence!
That's all well and good for Paris, but if you want a really good baguette head to Boulangerie Cartellier in Lyon's 6th arrondissement. Best baguette tradition I've ever had.
Hello from Wisconsin,
A true French baguette is good for about 5 hours. But in that window, they are fantastic. That is why locals go to the bakery more than once per day. In many places you can order a demi-baguette traditional. A half a baguette.
wayne iNWI
