Best pastry place we went to in town (although the best Croissant is right across the street at Cafe Varenne! shh!) You can't really go wrong with anything here, but the big standouts for me were the Pain Au Chocolate and the Rhubarb tart. Make sure to get the Rhubarb tart! Everything is freshly made regularly and as best-in-class presentation and flavor. Worth the trip! Try and get there right when they open at 10 to get the pastries at their freshest.

We got our morning pastry fix at Des Gâteaux et du Pain on Friday before heading to Lyon to watch the Women's World Cup (USA! USA! USA!). This location was pretty close to our hotel and the Luxembourg Gardens, where we had taken our daughter to play that morning. What makes this patisserie (boulangerie?) different from others that we've been to so far is its "modern" feel. The room is small and quite sleek-looking, so it feels like you're in some contemporary gallery bake shop. Not bad, per se, just...it's own thing. We skipped desserts, though they looked amazing, and settled on a chocolate croissant, a mini cheese quiche, and a rhubarb turnover kinda thing. Croissant was good, but not as chocolate-forward as we would have liked. We also enjoyed the quiche, but room temperature quiche isn't as good as warm quiche (nobody to blame, just the situation). Our absolute favorite was the rhubarb treat--it was our first time eating that fruit (vegetable??) in a pastry and we absolutely loved it. All in all, not our favorite breakfast experience, but we did like it and would definitely recommend it if you want to try something a bit more "a la mode" in Paris.

I decided to come to Des Gâteaux et du Pain for its Kashmir -- a soft biscuit, crème brûlée, hints of dates and citrus and a mind-blowing vanilla mousse. Although I was already planning on getting this particular pastry, I was overwhelmed with how aesthetic and tasty everything looked. This place offers a wide variety of desserts and tiny cakes that'll satisfy any taste palette. The prices are steep (10€ minimum to use a credit card), with each little dessert cake around 7€. This might not become a regular stop for me because of the prices, but it'll be a tasty treat to have every so often. Additionally, the Pains aux Raisins was amazing - it was flaky in just the right ways and the raisins were spread evenly and added a hint of sweetness. This shop obviously knows how to execute traditional Parisian treats. I would recommend this place to anyone, not to mention the location is great as well.

I'm always interested in the way women see, and leave their mark on, the world. Lately, one of my biggest thrills has been to see more female film directors and patissiers shape my biggest passions: cinema and pastry, and so I was really looking forward to Claire Damon's Des Gateaux et Du Pain. Sure there are lots of talented pastry chefs that are women, but sadly too few still run large, successful patisseries. Claire has impeccable credentials working with Pierre Herme, at Fauchon, Laduree, and then joining Bristol, Plaza Athenee, before charting her own path in the world of gateaux (with David Granger, who handles the "Du Pain" side of the equation). I never took up art in college, so it's hard for me to spell out how everyone can use the same basics (base, pastry cream), ganaches, mousses, flourishes, garnishes and decorations - and yet, have very different products. It's not that you've not seen generous use of flowers or nuts or berries in presentation at other patisseries, but one look at the Pamplemousse Rosa, Lipstick apricot, Baton De Rhubarbe, J'adore La Fraise - even if your eye is untrained like mine - you can pick up a very different vision, and design, at work here. I went with four different pastries here to see the range of her work: Le Gateau au Chocolat: soft cocoa biscuit, bitter chocolate ganache, chocolate mousse. Vert Absinthe: Shortbread pastry, lime cream and mint leaves, green tomato jelly and candied angelica. Le Calisson: almond biscuit, almond and apricot paste jelly, apricot compote, candied melon cubes. Baton De Rhubarbe: almond biscuit, vanilla cream, cream with rhubarb. They were all thoughtfully designed with the ingredients complementing each other well. I did not expect the Vert Absinthe to be my favorite, but the intense lime cream and the aroma of the mint leaves was intoxicating. Substantively different. Memorable. For some reason, the other sharply etched memory while observing the pastry was the translucence of the gelee... Des Gateaux et Du Pain: Imaginative. Original. Delicious. (4.5 stars. Rounding down because I really didn't like either the caramel fleur de sel sables or the speculous cookies)

We bought two items from Des Gateaux. One item was the chassoun au pomme. It outshines any American Danish, but there are better things in Paris to eat. Eating it wasn't a waste, but when you only have one stomach, and there are so many good pastries, there are better items available. The other item purchased was the lipstick cerise pistache. OMG! This was one of the top 3 things I ate in Paris, and I don't take this lightly. I went around finding the award-winning pastries, croissants, baguettes, etc. The airiness - the acidity - the sweetness - the flavors - the crunchy nuts. It all worked so perfectly together. It was 7 Euros, so it wasn't cheap, but it's SO WORTH IT!

What a beautiful store. Cakes on one side. Pasties on the other. We went to the Rue de Bac location. Had a dark chocolate mousse cake that was perfect. Not too sweet. Their croissants were fantastic too. Highly recommend visiting.

Des Gâteaux et du Pain is like a jewelry store of pristine pastries. This shop is GORGEOUS! You must make sure you order one of these sugary jewels AND a croissant.

Another little pastry shop where the pastries are displayed like jewellery and where the staff is attentive and unbothered. I came for their famous little lemon tart and I was quite disappointed by it but the highlight came from that amazing apple tatin that has a little je ne sais quoi that would make me come back again! Their Croissants are really good as their lemon curd chausson. In another word, it has more goodness than what I thought and I would be back to try more.

I read about this bakery in the Paris pastries app, the pictures looked amazing so I thought I should give it a try. Unfortunately, the pastry I got was not to my liking. But I rated this place a 4 star because of the quality of their pastries. Their pastries are more of a liquor pastries (they soak their baked goods in a sweet liquor). Which I'm sure this technique has a large fan base, which is why it is labeled as one of the best bakeries- just not for me. The liquor over powered the flavors of the bread. Other than that their service and presentations were on point.

Rue du Bac is just about the best pastry street in Paris. If what you see here doesn't tempt you, then try a Paris-Brest at the Patisserie des Rêves or less expensive fare at Secco or chocolates at Marcolini or chocolate mousse in a cone at Chapon or a Millefeuille at Angelina. They are a bit obsessed with rhubarb at the moment and also strawberries. Consensus at my house was that the strawberry fare was the best. Offerings change so don't go expecting one certain thing or you might be disappointed. Prices are on the high end, but better to overspend on pastries than on t-shirts.