The Church of the Magdalene – a culinary itinerary for those with a sweet tooth

The streets aroundThe Church of the Magdalene Considered one of the most important culinary districts of Paris thanks to several legendary food shops and one restaurant (at least), which are definitely worth mentioning. This itinerary will help you get to know some of the tastiest places in the area.

We will begin the tour by standing facing the Church of the Magdalene. You can get there by The metro lines 8,12 and 14 (get off at Madeleine station).

Have you arrived and are you ready for a culinary journey? Let's get started!

Food stores and restaurants around Madeleine

Patrick Roger The Chocolate Statue

Patrick Roget is considered one of the most important chocolatiers in France and has won many awards, including the title MOF (the literal translation of the title's acronym is "Best Chocolatier of France"). France"), which constitutes the highest mark of quality in everything related to French cuisine.

Beyond great (and expensive) chocolates, Patrick Rogé is known for the sculptures he sculpts from chocolate, so every visit to him is a bit like visiting a museum.

Address: 3 Place de la Madeleine

Patrick Rojas's website

Lucas Carton Restaurant

This magnificent restaurant opened in 1880, was previously run by legendary chef Alain Senderens (1939-2017) and is currently run by chef Julien Dumas. This is one of the most well-known and respected 3 Michelin star restaurants in Paris and is also one of the most beautiful. Pay particular attention to the magnificent Belle Époque facade.

If you would like to get to know this restaurant a little better, and enjoy a little nostalgia along the way, I found a video from 1987 that shows us Alain Sendrance's "soldiers" as they create some of the famous dishes of French cuisine.

Address: 9 Place de la Madeleine

Restaurant website

Caviar Kaspia

If you had enough money to eat in a cardboard box and still have some left over, then this is definitely the place for you. It's a combination shop and restaurant, which revolves entirely around caviar and seafood.

The place opened in 1927 and was a pioneer in spreading the culture of eating caviar among the fat and the slobs of the ParisYou can buy the finest types of caviar here (in black beluga of course) and/or enjoy it in the restaurant attached to the boutique. Here is a short video in French about the place, which will make all the gluttons among us drool over our keyboards 🙂

Address: 17 Place de la Madeleine

Caviar Kaspia website

The House of the Truffle (La Maison de la Truffe Madeleine)

After we tasted the caviar, it was time to taste another delicious and expensive food of its kind: the truffle mushroom.

The shop and restaurant next to it were established in 1932 by truffle merchants from the town of Carpentras whoIn ProvenceIn 1978, chef Guy Monier purchased the store and built a small restaurant next to it where you can taste the produce sold there. In 2007, the place was purchased by the Kaspia group (the same caviar store I mentioned earlier) and two years later a second, larger restaurant opened here.

If you would like to learn more about the place and truffles in general, you are welcome to watch this video (it is in French but there are English subtitles):

Address: 19 Place de la Madeleine

The Maison de la Truffe website

Crab Royale

Note: It seems the place has closed. I'll leave the text below until I can get to Paris and verify it.

At the same address as Maison de la Truffe is the restaurant La Crabe Royale, which, not surprisingly, specializes in crabs and seafood. The restaurant, which was founded in 1870, is named after the royal crab, which is considered one of the largest crabs in existence (it weighs about 15 kg) and can be found mostly in the Bering Sea. You can learn more about this crab in the following video:

At the restaurant you can find the Kamchatka royal crab, considered the tastiest and largest, and surprisingly the prices won't knock you out of your chair or give you an upset stomach (26 euros per leg or 37 euros for a tasting plate).

Address: 19 Place de la Madeleine

Crabe Royale restaurant website

The late Hediard and Fauchon

These two shops used to be the pinnacle of visits to the Madeleine culinary complex, but unfortunately both have closed. Nevertheless, it is impossible to talk about the area without mentioning them in at least a few words.

The Dior store opened in 1854 and initially specialized in spices imported from the various colonies of France. The store grew and developed over the years and became a foodie's paradise. Until 1987, the store was owned by the same family that founded it, but since then the store has changed hands several times until it went bankrupt in 2013. Here is a video in English telling of its sad downfall:

The name Fouchon is much more familiar to the Israeli public, and rightly so. This food store, which spread across several stores in Madeleine Square and which also contained, among other things, an excellent patisserie and a café, became the place that most symbolizes the culinary complex around the Madeleine Church.

The store was opened in 1886 by Auguste Fauchon and gained international success thanks to the quality of the food and products it sold. As a result, the store grew and opened dozens of branches all over the world. The rapid growth was a hindrance to the chain and caused it heavy losses in the US and China, which was joined by a crisis. the corona virusAs a result, the chain continued to survive but the legendary stores on Madeleine Square closed in 2020.

You can learn more about the store closures in Paris in this article:

Maille's Mustard Shop (Boutique Maille Paris)

While the west side of the Madeleine Church contains quite a few food shops, the east side contains very few places of interest to the gluttonous tourist. The standout shop is May's, located on its southeast side.

The Maille family began as a vinegar manufacturer, which they even tried to sell in Marseille as a cure for the plague that raged there in 1720. In 1747, the family began producing mustard and set up the first shop on Rue Saint-André des Arts inIn the 6th arrondissement In Paris. Madame de Pompadour, the famous mistress of Louis XV, fell in love with their vinegar and from that moment on, the islands became suppliers to the French royal family.

The family's vinegar and mustard business continued to grow over the next few years, with many of Europe's royal houses buying their famous vinegar and mustard. Fast forward to today, you'll be happy to know that the excellent mustard (I didn't taste the vinegar) is still with us and can be bought and tasted at the branch near Madeleine Square. My favorite flavor is the berry flavor, by the way.

Address: 6 Place de la Madeleine

Maille's website 

This is where our culinary tour ends. I hope you enjoyed it (from the sights) 🙂

You've finished the culinary tour around the Church of the Magdalene - where else can you explore?

First of all, if you have yet to enter the Church of the Magdalene, now is the time to do so. You can learn about its fascinating history atThis article.

Secondly, since the Madeleine is at a crossroads, you can choose to visit the 1st, 8th, or 9th arrondissements after you've finished visiting there. Here are some articles that can give you some ideas on what to do next on your trip:

• Attractions in the first arrondissement of Paris | The Louvre and more
• Attractions in the 8th arrondissement in Paris | Much more than the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysees
• Attractions in the 9th arrondissement of Paris | The Opera and more

Is it worth living near the Madeleine?

The answer is unequivocal – yes! The Madeleine is close to Place de la Concorde, Tuileries Gardens AndParis Opera.Beyond that, both Madeleine station and Place de la Concorde have quite a few metro lines, so you can easily reach quite a few places in Paris from there. And the last reason is of course the culinary scene. Right, Fushun Closed in 2020, but there are still quite a few great food shops nearby (especially relevant if you decide to rent an apartment in the area).

If you accept my offer and decide to live in the area, I recommend that you take a look at these two articles, which contain places to stay in the Madelen area:

• Recommended hotels in the 8th arrondissement of Paris (Champs Elysées, Madeleine, Arc de Triomphe and Chabad House)
• Recommended apartments in the 8th arrondissement of Paris (Champs Elysées, Madeleine, Triumphal Arch and Chabad House)