Croissant no.1

Many years ago when I lived in Glasgow I started what was obviously a precursor to a blog, but in a notebook and dedicated to trawling the cafes of Glasgow in search of a decent croissant.

I am now in Paris and thus much better placed to record my travails in the bars and patisseries of the city searching for that ultimate pastry.

Having made inquiries the previous evening I'd been directed to the Rue des Martyrs where I was to find Delmontel - find it I did, however it was closed.

So, needing sustenance I popped over the road to the nearest cafe for my fix.

As an aside, on the platonic ideal of a croissant. 

As I see the Croissant.id in my mind there is an almost impossible amount of butteriness within the delicate leaves of the pastry, the interior shouldn't have too much resistance to pressure, in a sense it should almost blush to the touch. 

The exterior though should be possessed of an impish desire to nestle fine leaves of golden brown pastry in all the crevices of whatever clothes you're wearing. These leaves though should disappear into a golden caramel butter haze of joy the second they meet the tongue.

Obviously this is not the most possible of mental constructs, but it has suited me well for many years and as such I'm going to stick with it.

Anyway this morning at Le Select Bar:

The atmosphere was convivial with two French workers enjoying a coffee each whilst dressed in what appeared to be a version of a white hazmat suite (not pictured). A nice zinc bar was at a good leaning height, and my request for un cafe et un croissant was met promptly with very little querying of my pronunciation (so far so good).

The coffee was standard French bar, espresso, muddy water dark with a limescale like scum on the top.

The croissant was mediocre, as you'll see in the second photo, the interior architecture is just a little too even, and there isn't quite enough cooking on the outside, however this isn't the end of the world, particularly for croissants that need to sit on a bar, it is better to be a trifle underdone than overdone.

All in all, I enjoyed my breakfast and will probably plump for about a 3* mark (this mark may be subject to later amendment should other Parisian croissants raise the bar more than expected)