This week, No. 22 on our list of 25 Beautiful Objects, comes from France!
After spending a full day at the Louvre, basking in the presence of the greats, we stumbled upon this FANTASTIC eclair pop-up shop just outside the museum. L'Eclair de Genie. Look at this spread.
22. L'Eclair De Genie eclairs
The founder, Christophe Adam, wasn't kidding when he decided to call his posh pastry outing L'Eclair De Genie ("Eclair Genius")
Notice the special attention given to aesthetics. Each eclair is carefully crafted, with a rich, glossy glaze and toppings in metallic & pop colors. They look downright luxurious! And that's exactly what Christophe is going for.
You'll find fancy macron shops across Paris, but a luxury eclair outing? There's only one :)
When I dug deeper (here and here), I found that Christophe started L'Eclair De Genie to introduce a new concept of a pastry shop - "flash engineering". The idea is to create a place where you'll find a collection of beautiful looking eclair, each appearing as a "flash of genius". Behind the scenes, Christophe & his team get to experiment, take creative risks and get quick feedback on if their ideas are working or not.
We had their No. 12 Pistachio Cream & No. 22 Passion Crispy Raspberry. Hardcore deliciousness.
Christophe's experimental magic definitely comes through. It's no wonder L'Eclair De Genie shops have opened up in Japan and Italy too. I'm waiting for one to show up in the US! When? :)
