Born in Paris, the House of Ladurée has become a symbol of the French art of living throughout the world. Since its inauguration in 1862, the address at 16 rue Royale in the 8th arrondissement has been promoting the art of pastry-making. Today, what was the very first tea room in the capital is absolutely essential for all gourmands.
Louis Ernest Ladurée, a Parisian who was at the time a milling company director, was 26 years old when he created his first bakery in the new Madeleine business district, which was home to the French luxury goods industry. In 1871, following a fire, it was transformed into a pastry shop. Shortly afterwards, the creator's son, married to the daughter of a Rouen hotelier, was convinced by his wife to associate this already famous pastry shop with a café, a new place of conviviality that was booming under the Second Empire.
It was a success and the emergence of a concept that would become a milestone: the Parisian tea room, a key place in the social and cultural life of the time, mainly frequented by women. It was particularly during the 1900 Universal Exhibition that women, who were generally excluded from cafés, met on the first floor of 16 rue Royale.
Managed by the founder's descendants, the luxury French pastry house suffered the full force of the two world wars but was revived in the 1960s thanks to an invention that still makes Ladurée famous today: its macaroons. It was Pierre Desfontaines, the creator's grand-cousin, who had this genius idea with his pastry chef Marcel Thébert: to incorporate cocoa and chocolate ganache between the two shells of an Italian meringue.
Since then, the many flavors of this sweet, but also the rich menu of pastries, ice creams and pastries of this historic address make it a must-see in Paris. Its success gave birth to other establishments, in Paris on the Champs-Elysées in 1997 but also at Harrods, in London, in 2005 and the following years in New York, Dubai, Hong Kong...
A beautiful French success story that should have many more beautiful chapters in the future, as the company knows how to call upon talented pastry chefs to continue the adventure initiated 150 years ago by a modest miller.
To prepare your visit or, for the most impatient, to discover now the sweetness that will delight your taste buds, go here.
Valérie from Comme des Français
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