Few sweet snacks are cheerier than cute, pastel-colored French macarons. I defy anyone with a sweet tooth to look at the little guys and not smile!
Although cupcakes have long held a monopoly on trendy desserts in Los Angeles, macarons (or “macaroons” with English spelling) are getting some well-deserved air time of their own.
Recently on NPR, both “All Things Considered” and Evan Kleiman’s “Good Food” profiled the sweet treats (podcasts linked). Among the macaron spots listed in the “Good Food” segment were Bottega Louie and Jin Patisserie, which I have visited, and Paulette, which I had not heard of. Unacceptable, said I.
Located in Beverly Hills, Paulette–the brainchild of Paulette Kometz and French pastry chef Christophe Michelak–specializes in macarons with flavors ranging from classics like Madagascar vanilla to seasonal flavors like New Orleans praline.
The interior of Paulette is hip, modern and brightly colored–like a technicolor Pinkberry.
As you enter the shop, you are greeted by a sea of macarons in every color imaginable. Some of the macarons’ cookie shells even have beautiful marbled designs on them, which I had not seen before. *Cue Cheshire Cat grin*
My smile quickly faded, however, when I saw Paulette’s prices. $1.60 for one macaron? Oy. Heeding J’s insistence that $10.50 was too much to pay for 6 macarons, I ordered a mini-box of two for $4.00. Wait…did I just pay $0.80 for a box? Sigh.
Then I waited patiently until I got home so that I could take proper pictures of my rose and passion fruit macarons and then eat them…
Who am I kidding? I tore into my mini box as soon I got into the car.
Still bemoaning the price of these puppies (and the fact that we might have been unjustly ticketed by a bitchy parking enforcement officer–but more on that later), I took my first bite of the rose macaron. What happened went something like this:
Me: “I can’t believe I just– *bite* Oh my God. OhmyGodohmyGodohmyGod.”
The cookies were incredibly light and airy, and, between the cookies, was not just cream or ganache but both. This was mind-blowingly delicious.
Next up was the passion fruit. This was so good that I begged J to risk that any of its ingredients were non-Kosher for Passover and take a bite. The flavor of the passion fruit ganache was pure, clean and strong. Nommmm.
Be forewarned, though, that with curbs unnecessarily painted red and a busy surrounding area, the parking situation is a bitch–almost as bitchy as the woman who will ticket you. When J pulled up for me to get into the car, a parking enforcement officer yelled that it was a no-stopping zone from 4PM-6PM. As I went to get into the car, she began taking our license plate. Sorry I can’t instantaneously teleport from the curb into the car, lady.
With my first bite, Paulette’s macarons instantly became the standard against which I will compare all others–even though they’re definitely pricy…and may end up costing me a lot more than $4.
Paulette
www.paulettemacarons.com
9466 Charleville Blvd.
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
(310) 275-0023
Noms Not Bombs 