Bread & Roses

A Nice classic reworked: Pissaladière feuilletée incarnated here as a square shell of golden puff pastry filled with onions, tomatoes, anchovies and tapenade. 

Bread & Roses
7, rue de Fleurus, in the 6th Arrondissement.
01 42 22 06 06.
25, rue Boissy d’Anglas, in the 8th.
01 47 42 40 00.
Mon–Sat, 8 a.m.–8 p.m.
If it’s true that we eat with the eyes, then the sight of the organic breads, oversize pastries, golden quiches and colorful salads on display at Bread & Roses will leave anyone sated.
This bakery slash tea salon slash épicerie on the rue de Fleurus has been serving its well-heeled neighbors near the Luxembourg Gardens since 2003. Lucky them.
There’s a cross-channel sensibility on display here, from the scones piled on the counter to the Bolands crackers on the shelf to the Stilton in the broccoli quiche and the wild Scottish salmon. Cheesecake and carrot cake are at home next to clafouti and mille-feuille.

Everything is available to go, but I like to lunch at one of the tables in the light-filled room or, even better, take a table outside. I ordered a pissaladière feuilletée, a reworking of the Nice classic, this one a square shell of golden puff pastry filled with onions, tomatoes, anchovies and tapenade. Like almost all of the lunch plates, it was accompanied by an herb salad of delicate greens tangled with mint and tarragon and chervil—delicious.
Other options include a plate of tabbouleh and eggplant caviar, a more-or-less classic chèvre on toast, Italian or Spanish ham, and smoked salmon, all served with an assortment of their fantastic breads.
Save room for dessert if you can. The tall, not-too-sweet cheesecake is one of the best I’ve had on any side of the Atlantic, but the thing to do is look at the case yourself and see what appeals. 

The quality isn’t the only thing that’s high at Bread & Roses. A flaky scone with butter and jam will run you 6.50 euros, a petit déjeuner at grand cost. The quiches and savory tarts go for 17.50 euros.
In a nutshell: Bread & Roses is perfect for a lovely loaf or a light lunch near the Luxembourg Gardens, but it will cost you a few livres (pounds).
Price check: Lunch plates from 17.50 to 24.50 euros. Breads and pastries from 1.30 to 9.50 euros.
If you like the sound of Bread & Roses but prefer something in the Haut Marais:
Tartes Kluger
6, rue du Forez, in the 3rd.
01 53 01 53 53.
Mon–Sat, 10 a.m.–8 p.m.;
Sun, 11 a.m.– 4 p.m.