I've been here a whole month but have felt no inclination to step into a Laduree or Pierre Herme. On the contrary I've been craving more down-to-earth comfort food like puddings and tarts, the unconscious conditioning perhaps from spending winters long-ago in UK where these desserts are more commonplace.
A good thing then that we knew just the place to find such things in Paris. Because husband brought me here our honeymoon. A Priori The is located in a very old building of Galerie Vivienne, where the passageway's charming cobbled stones and beautiful mosaic flooring helps to detract from its mostly high end lifestyle shops. The teashop is can be found in one of its wings, and is smaller than I remembered, but the first time we had come early on a weekday morning, and this time we arrived in peak teatime slot of 4pm on a Saturday afternoon. Fortunately the tables turn over very fast and we were able to sit ourselves inside and get warm. The owner is an American lady and she was, like our first time, sitting in a corner doing her paperwork and keeping a benign eye on everything.
Before sitting down, I went over to the cake table to choose my 'cake' as my English friends would say. There are cheesecakes, muffins, brownies, muffins and most tempting of all, a red fruit crumble, the last item fitted my cravings precisely. It would be perfect if they had rhubarb crumble, but red fruit was okay too. It arrived in its own little deep dish, the crunchy crumble fashionably thin and just enough to protect the beautifully coloured compote inside. A lovely midafternoon treat, not too sweet, or too too rich, just right. We finished the crumble, and the thick hot chocolate, and went on our way, memories revived.
A Priori The
35-37 galerie Vivienne, 2nd arrondissement
M: Bourse
