"Du Pain et Des Idées is best known for its Insta-famous croissant dough swirls called escargots, filled with berries and cream cheese, cinnamon and orange rind, or pistachio pastry cream studded with chocolate chips. They’re delicious, but we always sideline them for the croissant. Denser than others on this list, their pleasantly misshapen form clearly shows they’re handmade with love. We’d gladly sit through an hour of traffic on the Champs-Elysées for the pleasure of teasing off their caramelized ends. There’s also a vanilla-esque flavor that’s a welcome change up to those that taste like they’ve been dunked headfirst into a vat of melted butter. Croissants aside, it should be against the law to skip the sacristain, a twist of custard-filled croissant dough generously covered in cane sugar." - emily monaco
