In Paris, more than eating out, what I did most was buy a baguette and take it home to slather with cheese.
Ever since watching Yumeiro Patissiere as a kid, the thing I most wanted to visit was a dairy farm (that episode where Caramel gets chased by cows and ends up lost), but I never managed to find a friend to go with. Still, every Saturday when I did my market run I’d always stop by this cheese shop (the internet-famous Maison d’Isabelle is right next door, so you can swing by here after grabbing a croissant). It’s run by an MOF (Meilleur Ouvrier de France) cheesemaker and has 4 locations in Paris — I only just noticed on the business card that there’s also a restaurant in the 9th!
The shop is small, with the house’s own flavored cheeses laid out by the door, including my friend’s beloved truffle brie, which makes even the most basic bread taste ten times better.
My personal favorite is their butter! It absolutely destroys Bordier / Échiré — super rich, top-tier butter. The only better one I’ve had is at Plenitude, but for sheer milkiness this one still wins. You have to get the demi-sel (half-salted).
The cheese quality is excellent across the board — I still think about it after moving back home. My favorite is Brillat-Savarin, and when I looked up why it tastes so incredible, turns out it has 72% fat content (brie is 28%). I also keep Comté around the house as a snack, a little piece whenever the craving hits. I like strong flavors so I go for 30+ months aged, but if it’s your first time, try 12/18 months!
For soft cheeses to spread on bread I rotate through different ones. Favorites so far: Laguoise, Chaource, Saint Marcellin, Roquefort (blue), Valençay (goat — proceed with caution). If anyone’s interested I could do a whole cheese post sometime. Sometimes I get bold and if I see a cheese someone else has already cut in half, I’ll buy the other half and try it at home. Success rate is about 50/50 — found some I really loved, and some that were completely not for me. (Note that soft cheeses can’t always be cut.)
Best to go in when it’s not busy so you can ask the staff for recommendations (they all speak English) and sample the little tasters on display. The second it gets crowded, Parisians start doing their usual thing and get irritable, to the point where sometimes I’d finish my croissant outside, start tearing into my baguette, and wait for the crowd to thin before going in.
There’s also another cheese shop COW — Cheese of the World — right next door. I bookmarked it but never made it; if you’re in the area, go check it out!
📍Laurent Dubois Marché Maubert, 47 ter bd Saint-Germain, Paris, 75005
Other Location:
- 2 Rue de Lourmel, 75015 Google Maps
- 97-99 Rue Saint-Antoine, 75004 Google Maps
- 58 Rue d’Auteuil, 75016 Google Maps