ladurée : one of the many treasures tucked away in the 6th arrondissement
i have to give credit where credit is due... i would never have known this place were it not for j & j peden. and i must also admit, for a very long time, i was rather dubious: "who pays 16 euros for a bloody club sandwich??" i wondered in horror. BUT, i have seen the error of my ways, and though i am still not inclined to lunch here, i cannot deny the appeal...
ladurée is, without a doubt, a MUST for anyone visiting paris. even if you don't dine here, you should treat your senses to a cup of hot chocolate in the winter or a rose-flavored ice cream in the spring. the tea room, though complicit with an orientalist/colonialist ideology i simply cannot endorse, is fabulous. so pretty. and yes, the servers are snotty as all get-out, but who cares? it is THAT GOOD.
and if you don't have an hour to delight in all the truly superior sweets offered on the menu, there is no reason not to pop by the shop and take away some macarons, a millefeuille, or a jar of raspberry jam. you will not be disappointed. ask kirsten dunst - ladurée catered the decadent pastry scenes of sofia coppola's 'marie antoinette'. i'm sure she sampled a few.
ladurée, maison fondée en 186221, rue Bonaparte
the tea room downstairs
chicken salad never looked so swank...
