Paris Bakery & Pastry

Whoever would have thought it a decade ago, a fancy French bakery on Moore Street. Not that it’s so strange. Moore Street is close to the historical heart of Dublin’s food culture, and making good bread is just as down to earth as selling fruit and veg from a pram.

Not that making good bread is all that Yannick Forel and his team do at the Paris Bakery, far from it. Not only do they produce a full range of those wonderful typically French artisan breads and gorgeous pastries every day, but they also have an extensive deli and speciality food area, wine sales - and a restaurant.

It’s a place with that pared back chic that the French do so well, a simply stylish look that works equally well whether tucking into a (somewhat Frenchified) Full Irish at opening time, an anytime snack such as a yogurt fruit croissant sandwich, a light lunch of salade niçoise, or a blanquette of lamb or salmon en croute for dinner.

One of the absolutely nicest things you could have here is probably the simplest too - just a cheeseboard or cured meat selection, available for one or two, and just the thing with a glass (or bottle) of wine; the cheeses will be French and the meats will be a combination of French and Spanish - and, with these notable exceptions, all of the meats used are Irish.

Yannick worked at Fallon & Byrne and BrookLodge Hotel before opening here and he’s not shy of including Irish ingredients, or the occasional Irishisation of a classic - eg the BLT which, unusually, is made with soda bread.

Prices are very reasonable (the most expensive main course, duck confit, is only €14.50) and everything on the sandwich menu is available for a euro less to take away.

Paris Bakery filled a niche from day one, it’s great for shoppers and business people in the area, but it’s also become a destination. A surprising number of people find a pressing reason to be in the area around mealtimes, and its success has already led to expansion.