Foucade Paris

   

Yesterday we tried newly opened Foucade, Paris' first "pâtisserie positive." Steps away from Madeleine, behind a pretty violet storefront and matching Vespa, Foucade Paris offers gluten-and-lactose-free, reduced sugar and reduced fat patisserie sans pork or fish-based gelatins. It's the kind of place you'd read about in Goop.  

Foucade Paris is part of a new class of tea rooms that take the stuffing out of traditional French patisserie, along with Acide Macaron, Gâté, and Lily of the Valley, among others. Philippe Starck ghost chairs sit opposite plush recliners resembling those in Nick Grimshaw's X-Factor house. The founder, Marjorie Foucade, eats wheat-and-lactose-free and said, "I was eating a lot of refined sugars. It wasn't healthy, because I was doing a lot of sport." Two years of research with dietitians, nutritionists, and noted pastry chefs (the in-house chef's resumé includes Angelina and Fauçhon) culminated in "six recipes, so I hope you like them," she laughed. 

I ordered fresh juice with citronette, a yuzu-tinged tart topped with basil. To get a better idea of Foucade's offerings, I also got an eclair: choux pastry filled with light, lactose-free clove chantilly over spicy apples, chia seeds, and praline. Finally I polished off an operette, rich chocolate mousse on a bed of buckwheat and chia seeds. The other customers gave me major side-eye, as if I'd missed the point of positive patisserie. Everything was delicious and beautifully presented and the service was very nice though. We walked to Bio'c'Bon after and found purple sweet potatoes, so all the mental blog post composition I did up until that point fell apart under a torrent of transgenic dicotyledonous delight. I feel like I'm the girl writing that Sassy article about Tiffani-Amber Thiessen saying this, but it is quite expensive as far as gluten-free goes: 39.50 euro for two juices and three pastries. I understand that it's a high-quality, creative product and for a special occasion treat, it's warranted.

Foucade Paris

17 Rue Duphot

Metro: Madeleine