#2: The Don

In life, there are the ones who make it, and the ones who don’t. Paris’ version of this undeniable rivalry of life revolves around the humble baguette. Don’t tell me you didn’t see that one coming…

Each year, a competition takes place that serves to separate the men from the boys, the wheat from the chaff if you prefer, and proclaims one lucky stick the best baguette in Paris. Not only does the winning bakery get to paste the title all over their premises and attract queues that could rival the Louvre, but they also get given the honour of supplying baguettes daily to the President for a whole year. If that’s not kudos, then I don’t know what is.

This year’s recently proclaimed winner is the Aux Délices du Palais bakery in the 14th, and the talented hands that created the magical bread wand belong to 24-year-old Anthony Teixeira. Baking wizardry clearly runs in the family; his father won the same accolade 16 years ago, making the bakery the first in the competition’s history to have ever won twice.

The family’s baguettes are obviously hitting the judges spot somewhere, being the perfect combination of airy, moist and chewy on the inside, and well-cooked, crusty and deliciously fragrant on the outside. Forget those anaemic efforts from the supermarket, the only way to get your daily bread in Paris is to head to a bakery who can rake in the prizes. And now you know exactly where to find it.