Macaron Critique: Arnaud Delmontel, Carette, & Lenôtre

My macaron dégustation continues.
This time my search covers 3 famous Parisian macaron/pâtisserie powerhouses.
I believe I've already tried Lenôtres' but I don't remember much.

My search brought quite disappointing results.
I find often that "powerhouses" which run solely on word of mouth and/or magazine plugs
perhaps begin living up to their reputation, but as the years go by and their clientele continue to
swarm in regardless (see: Ladurée), the quality of their macarons diminish.
Such is the sad fate of the following macarons.

Arnaud Delmontel
57 Rue Damrémont, 75018 Paris

This dude has garnered like a million awards for his creations, followed and worked under the best pastry chefs / restaurant chefs in the country, opened his first bakery in 1999, followed by 2 more in the next decade. In 2007 he won the "Best Baguette of Paris" award. Which I still need to look up. . . (who won this years'? I just found out, thanks Google. --> Le Grenier à Pain, 38 Rue Abbesses. Funny. That's right next to Coquelicot and I was going to go in when I saw it. What is it about Montmartre and good bread? Must be in the air. Last year's winner was in Montmartre too)

And yet.

He can't even manage to live up to a simple tartelette aux fraises...
This was his downfall for me.
Sure, his brioche de saint génies was FABULOUS, and his macarons were so-so,
but to f*ck up a tartelette aux fraises? That's a no-no.
I haven't even tried the ones that Fréd makes at our bakery.
I'm scared to frankly.
But that's a different story...

I tried his passion fruit & his rose.
Passion fruit was yum, rose was yuck. Worst rose I've ever tasted, possibly.

Blech! I don't know if I just got a bad one, but the "crust" wasn't even a crust, it was cake-y, but not moist, there was too much syrup, the strawberries were mushy, and ... blech, I would never buy another one again, especially for what I paid. It was like 4.50. I could have done my groceries with that kind of money!



Carette
Patisserie, Salon de thé - 4, Place du Trocadero 75016

I really had my doubts about this place,
and it just goes to show how strong a woman's intuition is, because I was damn right.
This place sucked.
I knew the moment I went on their website and there was English & French, but not only that, the English version preceded the French one. You actually have to click on the French version if you wanted to see it in French. Sad. Tourist trap? I think so.
I'm sure it used to be wonderful, but being located so close to Trocadero. . . there's no place within like 20 miles of the Eiffel Tower that isn't overpriced and catered to those of a less-palatable pedigree. (ha.)

I originally wanted to take George there with me so that we can have lunch together, but in perusing the menu, 25 Euro for a simple Croque Monsieur is a little much, don't you think? Plus it was crowded and it was stressing me out just standing there.

So I just got the macarons to go.
No pizzazz, no glitz. Just in a little sack.
How boring.

Hazelnut
Citron
Cassis
Rose
Black Cherry
Café

I found the macarons from Carette much too sweet and uninspired. There weren't any flavors that blew my socks off, and a couple actually made me want to vomit. I didn't even continue after the first bite, and when I offered the rest to George, he grimaced and tossed it into the next Parisian trash sack. Cassis and Black Cherry were god-awful creations, and the only slightly (but not by a long shot) redeemable flavor was café, but aïe. . . I'm never going back there again.



Lenôtre
You may have heard of Lenôtre.
They have boutiques across Paris and are a pastry school as well.
Their cakes look pristine, their pastries -- inspired, and their macarons. . .


like the size of a penny.
I mean what the heck, Lenôtre, can't spare a little more almond flour & egg whites? Geez.
I've nothing really to complain about their macarons except um, I expected better.
Not only are they insubstantial, they are very very very fragile. Most macarons
withstand a simple nudge from the metal tongs that you might use to gingerly pick them up with, but not these -- these crumble under the slightest breeze. And the ganache ---- flowed like water.

Maybe they should stop opening new boutiques and start refining their techniques.
EEEEEEEeee....

haha okay.

Pampelmousse (grapefruit), Pistache-Pralin (pistachio & praline), & caramel

Pistachio praline was the best of the three.
Pampelmousse was weird with a bitter aftertaste... but I guess that's what I get for ordering grapefruit flavored anything.