The 72-hour croissant
A croissant is three days of patience and about twenty minutes of heat. On day one we mix a lean dough — T45 flour from a family mill in Seine-et-Marne, whole milk, fresh yeast, a little sugar and salt — and let it ferment cold for twenty-four hours. Cold fermentation does two things: it develops flavour the way a long-proved bread does, and it relaxes the gluten so the dough will roll thin without tearing. On day two we laminate. The butter is AOP Charentes-Poitou at 84% fat, chosen because it stays plastic at 12°C rather than cracking or smearing. Three book folds give 27 layers of butter, and the block rests in the fridge between each. On day three the sheet is rolled to 4 mm, cut into triangles, shaped, proofed for two and a half hours at 26°C and baked at 175°C for eighteen minutes. If any single step is rushed, you taste it: a dense crumb, a greasy base, or that faint sourness that comes from a proof gone too warm.
The counter, priced
| Pastry | Notes | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Croissant au beurre | The benchmark; 72-hour dough, AOP butter | €1.90 |
| Pain au chocolat | Two dark chocolate batons, 55% cocoa | €2.30 |
| Croissant aux amandes | Yesterday's croissant, twice-baked with frangipane — as tradition dictates | €3.40 |
| Kouign-amann | Salted-butter caramel, Breton style; first two waves only | €3.60 |
| Chausson aux pommes | Puff pastry, compote of Reine des Reinettes apples | €3.20 |
| Brioche feuilletée pistache | Laminated brioche, Sicilian pistachio cream | €4.20 |
| Canelé bordelais | Rum and vanilla, baked in copper | €2.60 |
| Tarte du jour (slice) | Changes daily — lemon, pear-almond, chocolate | €5.50 |
| Box of six, mixed | Your choice from the counter; saves around €2 | €16 |
A word about the almond croissant: it is made from the previous day's unsold croissants, soaked in orange-blossom syrup and rebaked with frangipane. That is not a shortcut, it is how the pastry was invented, and it is why we never have an almond croissant on a Monday morning after a sold-out Sunday.
Croissant, pain au chocolat or kouign-amann?
Guests ask us to choose for them roughly thirty times a day. This is the comparison we give.
| Croissant | Pain au chocolat | Kouign-amann | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Richness | Medium | Medium-high | Very high |
| Sweetness | Low | Medium | High, caramelised |
| Best within | 4 hours | 6 hours | Same day; reheats well |
| Pairs with | Espresso, butter and jam | Flat white | Black filter coffee |
| Availability | All three waves | All three waves | 7:30 and 10:30 waves only |
Three baking waves
We bake at 7:30, 10:30 and 14:00. A croissant is at its best for about four hours; after that the shatter softens and the butter aroma fades. Baking three times a day means the counter is never full of morning pastries at three in the afternoon. The cost is that not everything is available all day. Kouign-amann only goes into the first two waves because its caramel base needs the oven fully saturated with steam, which we lose once the lunch service starts. On Saturdays the counter is usually bare by noon regardless of what we bake.
"A croissant has about four good hours in it. We would rather bake three times and sell out than bake once and sell you something tired."
Pre-ordering boxes
Boxes of six, twelve or twenty-four can be pre-ordered with 48 hours' notice through the contact form or by telephone. Orders of more than four boxes take a 30% deposit.
Pre-ordering — for
- Guaranteed stock, including kouign-amann, even on a Saturday.
- Choose your collection wave so the box is still warm.
- Mixed boxes are priced below counter prices.
- We can label allergens per pastry for offices and events.
Pre-ordering — against
- 48 hours' notice; no same-day orders.
- Collection only — we do not deliver.
- Uncollected orders after 15:00 are forfeited and charged.
- The tarte du jour cannot be pre-ordered by flavour.
Keeping and reheating at home
Store pastries in a paper bag, never plastic, and eat them the same day. To revive a croissant, heat an oven to 180°C, bake for four minutes and let it stand for two. Never microwave viennoiserie; the butter melts out and the layers collapse. If you want to keep them longer, freeze on the day of purchase and reheat straight from frozen for seven minutes. Canelés keep for two days in a tin and are, if anything, better on the second.