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With French country-chic decor and a high-quality menu of French meals, coffee, and pastries, Le Pain Quotidien is certainly the bougiest fast casual chain of bakery restaurants. The food is consistently good, expanding to over 210 locations in 21 countries since 1990. Since Le Pain Quotidien means “daily bread” in French, you know their lineup of fresh bread and pastries is worth exploring. Tasting Table staff tasted and ranked 13 Le Pain Quotidien pastries, using criteria such as flavor profile, texture, and how well the recipe reflects French culinary tradition.
While many pastries were exceptional, the worst pastry sampled was the butter brioche. If you’re a brioche lover, you know to expect a glossy and delicate egg-washed crust that cedes to a fluffy, light yellow crumb. The yolk and butter-heavy batter brings a rich, sweet, and savory flavor profile that’s utterly decadent. Unfortunately, Le Pain’s butter brioche will not fulfill these expectations, despite a promising appearance. The glossy dome is crumbly and dry with a bitter burnt taste, while the crumb is dried-out with a stale taste that overwhelms what might’ve once been a buttery, slightly sweet flavor profile. No amount of butter can mask the stale taste, nor can it rehydrate the sad, dried-out crumb. The butter brioche may not be a winner, but Le Pain Quotidien has mastered the art of flakey pastries; cheese danishes, pain au chocolat, and croissants are the pastries to get.
What makes a true French brioche?
Since one of the criteria for which Le Pain Quotidien’s pastries were ranked was French authenticity, perhaps we should explore what makes a true French brioche. The telltale features of a classic brioche recipe are a certain list of ingredients, including yeast, sugar, butter, eggs, and flour, as well as a classic shape characterized by a bulbous dome of flakey crust atop a fluffy yet compact rectangular loaf. Copious amounts of butter, eggs, and sugar make brioche as indulgent as cake, but it is actually bread due to the inclusion of yeast.
Still, it’s certainly delicious enough to enjoy on its own, like any other pastry, accompanied by your favorite espresso drink. You can also take it in sweet and savory directions. For example, our recipe for chocolate brioche kneads chopped pieces of this Guittard 64% cacao baking chocolate into the dough. Leftover brioche is also the best bread to use in your next bread pudding recipe. Brioche buns are now the go-to favorite for hamburgers and pulled pork sandwiches. You can buy them packaged in both hamburger and hot dog form, like these Nature’s Own brioche hamburger buns or these St. Pierre brioche hot dog buns.
