Boulangerie Bo is a beautiful bakery and pastry shop in the 11th arrondissement of Paris. It supplies quite a few of the famous restaurants in the neighborhood with specialty breads and is known for creating surprising, seasonal pastries with Asian influences.
An unconventional bakery
Happily nestled one block down from the Marche d’Aligre, the beautiful art-nouveau facade looks like every other Parisian corner bakery. But Boulangerie Bo is not your conventional pastry shop.
You’ll realize this very quickly after scanning their racks of fresh bread. The first one that jumps out is the black ‘tradition’, flavored with squid ink and cumin. There are loads of other flavored breads of all shapes and sizes: raisin, dried fruits, nuts and olives are just a few of the options available.
But what really stands out here are the pastries.
While remaining relatively classic, Boulangerie Bo has managed to take French favorites like lemon or chocolate tartlets to another dimension. Including a discreet Japanese touch, I was happy to see a beautiful Mont-Blanc style pastry flavored with cherry blossom. Despite the fact that Paris is brimming with amazing pastry shops and creative pastry chefs, this kind of creation is still quite rare.
I decided to opt for a simpler choice, a classic vanilla ‘chou’, or cream puff. But little did I know there was a surprise in store. Once you take a bite out of this airy puff, you realize that nestled in the luscious vanilla cream is a gooey, salted-butter caramel center. If you’ve never tried salted-butter caramel, then you haven’t truly lived life yet. Just sayin!
So if you’re looking for a slightly different bakery in Paris where you can get some creative bread and inspired pastries, Boulangerie Bo is definitely worth a visit.
Boulangerie Bo
85bis Rue de Charenton, 75012 Paris
Metro: Ledru Rollin
And if you’re looking to bake some delicious pastries at home, don’t miss my own dessert recipes!