Where can you find the best Paris-Brest pastries in France?

Conceived in the early 20th century as a tribute to the famous bicycle race from Paris to Brest, the Paris-Brest is now an essential part of France’s pastry heritage. Here is our selection of the best places to enjoy it.

Delphine Le Feuvre Published on 15/10/2026 at 15:50

It’s in the display cases of nearly every French bakery and pastry shop: recognizable by its crown of choux pastry, openwork like a bicycle wheel and generously filled with praline cream, the Paris-Brest captivates with its balance of crispiness, melt-in-your-mouth texture, and intense flavor.

From the traditional recipe to the most contemporary creations, pastry chefs today compete with their expertise to reinterpret this timeless classic. From the most faithful to tradition to the most daring, discover our selection of the best Paris-Brests to savor across France.

The Most Restaurant-Style: Le Bistrot des Résistants in Paris

“Rougher around the edges than a pastry shop’s Paris-Brest, with a lovely balance of flavors”: this is how Igor Buleda describes his Paris-Brest made with kasha, the toasted buckwheat used in many dishes in Poland, his country of origin. The traditional buttercream here is whipped with buckwheat praline, which also appears in its pure form at the heart of a lovely, generously filled round choux. To bring texture and contrast the richness of the butter, the chef adds a pinch of fleur de sel and puffed buckwheat. Served on a plate with a quenelle of buckwheat ice cream to create a pleasant interplay of temperatures, this Paris-Brest, added to the menu in early 2026, has become one of the restaurant’s signature dishes within just a few months.

Price: €14
Where? Le Bistrot des Résistants (1 toque), 16 Rue du Château-d’Eau, 75010 Paris

Paris Brest Bistrot Des Résistants ©armand Mayor

The Most Exotic: Tonton Gâteau in Strasbourg

From Réunion, where he worked for a year and a half, Benjamin Stammler brought back to mainland France a twist on the classic Paris-Brest recipe: at this café-pastry shop in downtown Strasbourg, which he runs with his wife, Élodie, you can enjoy the “Noisette.” Inside a choux pastry topped with a craquelin, the pastry chef pipes in an old-fashioned praline cream with pieces of hazelnuts and almonds, followed by a passion fruit cream that “adds a tangy note.” Next comes a crisp layer of hazelnuts, fleur de sel, and praline for texture. Once the choux is assembled, he places roasted hazelnuts around the edge for crunch. “Otherwise, a Paris-Brest is quite soft,” explains the chef.

Price: €5.40
Where? 11 Rue des Bouchers, 67000 Strasbourg

Paris Brest Tonton Gâteau Strasbourg

The Most Daring: Le Burgundy in Paris

With its choux pastry coated in caramelized puffed rice, filled with a light rice and almond cream, and topped with a black rice and almond praline, Léandre Vivier’s Paris-Brest, inspired by his travels, breaks the mold. The cream, elegantly hand-piped on a turntable, enhances these “contemporary yet indulgent flavors,” with subtle notes of grains. A “Pa-(rice)-brest” that has been completely reimagined in terms of flavor, yet retains its traditional openwork disc shape. The chef offers different versions of his best-seller throughout the year: French hazelnuts and tonka beans, chocolate and cocoa beans, as well as Sicilian pistachios. Each version is just as indulgent as the next.

Price: €11
Where? Le Burgundy, 6-8 Rue Duphot, 75001 Paris

Paris Brest Burgundy

The Most Timeless: Pièr-Marie in Vannes and Lorient

Having worked at renowned Parisian establishments, Pièr-Marie Le Moigno put the Paris-Brest on the menu as soon as he opened his first shop in Lorient in 2014. He kept the recipe he’d perfected at the Park Hyatt’s brasserie, simplifying the process while maintaining high-quality ingredients. Separated into three small individual choux, his Paris-Brest is filled with a beautiful, glossy hazelnut praline mousseline cream. The result? “A rich, creamy, and velvety texture on the palate, yet lighter than a buttercream,” explains the pastry chef. A runny hazelnut praline coats the cream and is topped with a whole caramelized hazelnut. “You eat each choux in two bites, or one if you’re really indulgent,” jokes Pièr-Marie Le Moigno. “You’ll come across the hazelnut on the first or second bite: it’s crispy and crunchy, and contrasts beautifully with the almost liquid texture of the praline,” he enthuses.

Price: €5.50
Where? Pièr-Marie, 9 Rue Le Hellec, 56000 Vannes

Paris Brest Pièr Marie

The Most Intense: Matthieu et Pauline in Paris

In this elegant Parisian pastry shop, the Paris-Brest is the signature cake. Co-founder Pauline Zerouali describes it as “very comforting” and “the ultimate winter dessert, the one you can’t resist for an afternoon snack when it’s cold outside.” Made with praline mousseline cream and 100% homemade hazelnut praline, this Paris-Brest is perfectly balanced: the praline’s fairly sweet flavor is offset by the fleur de sel craquelin, whose crispiness adds an extra touch of indulgence. “We’re staying true to the Paris-Brest tradition, and most of our customers appreciate the classic version,” says Pauline Zerouali. For a guilt-free treat, a “mignardise” version of this iconic dessert is available.

Price: €7.90
Where? 24 Rue Cler, 75007 Paris

Paris Brest Matthieu Et Pauline ©océane Toubert

The Most Provençal: Bricoleurs de Douceurs in Marseille

In the display window of this pastry shop, which has been a fixture in Marseille for a decade, there’s no doubt about it: the Paris-Brest is decidedly Provençal, right down to its name. The “Marseille-Brest” is the only cake that has remained on the menu for ten years, despite numerous changes. It has evolved over time and has several distinctive features, starting with its almond-hazelnut praline cream, which is neither buttercream nor mousseline. “A hybrid cream,” comments Clément Higgins. The little surprise is revealed upon tasting: in addition to this light, airy cream and a hazelnut praline, the choux pastry reveals a crunchy layer of almond-hazelnut-milk chocolate praline with crêpes dentelles and hazelnut paste, as well as whole roasted hazelnuts.

Price: €6.20
Where? Bricoleurs de Douceurs, 202 Chemin du Vallon-de-l’Oriol, 13007 Marseille

Paris Brest Bricoleurs De Douceurs ©guillaume Czerw

The Most Contemporary: Capkao in Nantes

At his two shops in Nantes, chef Nicolas Riveau offers his lighter take on the Paris-Brest: “What I love about this recipe is revisiting a classic I used to make during my apprenticeship, while reimagining it in a lighter, more contemporary version, featuring a particularly indulgent praline,” he explains. Specifically, a plump choux pastry encases a mousseline inspired by the traditional recipe but made with less sugar and butter. At its heart lies a gooey praline made with French hazelnuts.

Price: €5.80
Where? Capkao, 3 Rue Suffren, 44000 Nantes

Paris Brest Capkao Nantes

The Pioneer: Philippe Conticini in Paris

Philippe Conticini is undoubtedly the chef who restored the Paris-Brest to its former glory during the era of his “Pâtisserie des Rêves.” Since the 2000s, his recipe has evolved: today, he’s returned to the classic form of his Paris-Brest, offering a version with chocolate and praline. Inside the light, airy choux pastry, you’ll find praline pastry cream, a chocolate crisp, and an almond-hazelnut praline that melts in your mouth with every bite.

Price: €9.90
Where? Several locations in Paris

The Most Japanese: Pâtisserie Tomo in Paris

Available only from November through May at the Parisian shop on Rue Chabanais, the Paris-Kyoto consists of two small “dorayaki” that replace the traditional choux pastry. These soft, fluffy “pancakes” are dusted with “kinako,” a roasted soybean powder, and filled with an almond-hazelnut praline mousseline cream. Caramelized almonds are arranged all around the edges. “It’s the signature pastry at Tomo, whose name means ‘friendship’: the Paris-Kyoto embodies the bond between France and Japan, and it’s actually the first Franco-Japanese cake created by the bakery. Since the distance between Paris and Kyoto is much greater than that between Paris and Brest, it’s very tall!” they explain. A delightful, sweet journey right on your plate.

Price: €9 to eat in, €7.80 to go
Where? Tomo, 11 Rue Chabanais, 75002 Paris

The Most Authentic: Pâtisserie Durand in Maisons-Laffitte

You’ll have to head to the Yvelines to taste the very first Paris-Brest, the one for which “only Pâtisserie Durand holds the original recipe.” The shop’s story begins in the early 20th century, in 1907 to be exact. Since then, three generations of the Durand family have run the business, and today Stéphane, the great-grandson of the founder, Louis, is at the helm. Louis Durand invented the Paris-Brest in 1910, on the occasion of the eponymous bicycle race. In the display case, the Paris-Brest still boasts the same design: a crown-shaped choux pastry, a nod to a bicycle wheel, sprinkled with slivered almonds and dusted with a light layer of powdered sugar… and a touch of mystery!