Gouthe Colore
Almond Croissant
Praline Brioche
Coffee Éclair
Tarte Tatin
Baba au Rhum
Taking advantage of free metered parking until 9:00h while walking the cobblestone streets of the 2eme arrondissement near to my hotel, it was en route back to the car that I decided to stop into Jean-Philippe Nicolle’s Gouth Colore, and although breakfast had already been enjoyed with plans in place for lunch at Maison Troisgros at 13:00 I couldn’t help but sample the goods after speaking with a young female clerk who claimed the small patisserie produced some of the best pastries in town.
Small, but more a café than other boulangeries in that it offers a handful of indoor tables at which guests are invited to enjoy coffee or tea along with the finely crafted confections, Gouthe Colore is decorated in whites plus strips of color that give it a more cheerful feel than other brick-laden locations, and with clean lines alongside smiling service the experience is quite unlike other crowded boutiques like Bernachon or Bouillet where the clerks seem only concerned on making a sale and getting back to other business – a much appreciated gesture to those who are occasionally off-put by what may seem like abruptness despite actually just being the French ‘way.’
Tempted by no less than a dozen cakes, cookies, tartes, and viennoiserie as well as a wide variety of chocolates and ice creams all fabricated in house, it was eventually in a quintet of options that an order was invested, all but a warm almond croissant with a great bit of crunch but a touch too much sweetness nicely packaged to-go and enjoyed en route to Roanne.
Admittedly better enjoyed in a seated environment, but mostly amenable to consumption on the go while minding for crumbs and fillings that threatened to soil clothes more appropriate for the dining environs to come, it was with careful bites that the yeasty baba was first enjoyed and managing to mitigate the impact of alcohol with both fruits and a lacquer of sugar the custard within was an unexpected surprise placing Nicolle’s version a rung above several other local iterations, a compliment equally bestowed on the freshly piped éclair that offered textbook choux and a great degree of bitterness as opposed to several others that trended too sweet.
Admittedly eating in an order that did not particularly take into account the palate dulling effects of rum and dark espresso it was perhaps an effect of this choice that saw the praline brioche prove far less impressive than the version at Boulangerie du Palais just two hours before, but discarding most of the almost stale-tasting roll along the roadside for local birds Gouthe Colores’ Tarte Tatin offered an almost immediate reprieve, the thinly sliced apples halfway between firm and softly caramelized atop an all-butter shell that left shirt, pants, and car covered in flakes that were easily brushed away.
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