Des Gâteaux et du Pain

Claire Damon opened Des Gâteaux et du Pain on 31 December 2006, on boulevard Pasteur in Paris's 15th arrondissement, together with baker David Granger. Before striking out on her own, Damon trained at Ladurée under Pierre Hermé and then worked in the pastry kitchens of the Hôtel Bristol and the Plaza Athénée, two of the city's grand hotel kitchens. Her early work at the Pasteur shop won recognition quickly: critic Gilles Pudlowski gave her his 'Pudlo 2009' prize. Years after the first shop opened, Damon added a second location on rue du Bac in the 7th arrondissement. Her pastries are built around seasonal fruit and organic French eggs, sourced from small French producers, with a stated avoidance of ingredients out of season — a fruit-forward, restrained style distinct from richer, chocolate-led Parisian pâtisserie houses. Signature pieces include a strawberry baba and a vanilla mille-feuille, made at a central Paris laboratory shared by both boutiques.