Rose Bakery

Rose Bakery is a small bakery/restaurant of British inspiration in the rue des Martyrs, close to where we live. I love this place and find myself going, on my own or with friends, as often as the opportunity arises. It is run by a couple - he's French and she's British - who used to own a similar operation in London.

A low semicircular wrought iron door opens onto a long and narrow room. Historically, this used to be a "chartil", where produce merchants stored the wooden carts they sold their fruit and vegetable out of. The walls are painted white, with a large abstract painting covering the furthest wall, the floor is bare concrete, the tabletops are mat metal, the staff - all young foreigners - wears white aprons, the food is served in polished earthenware plates, and somehow the combination of all this gives off a fresh, clean atmosphere.

They're open for lunch only, and serve a small rotating selection of dishes. Immediately on the right when you enter is a large takeout counter, which allows you to see what's on offer that day. They make the cutest square vegetable tarts and a bunch of salads (lentil salad, potato salad, carrot salad...) all wonderfully well seasoned, to which they add other dishes (soups, risotto, ...), as well as brunch items on week-ends (omelets, pancakes, ...). Some dishes are British, like the delicious kedgeree (a Scottish dish of rice and fish) I once had, or bangers and mash. All this is served with Poujauran bread, and filtered water.

On the sweet side, they make truly excellent baked goodies : scones, shortbread, cookies, brownies, cheesecake, carrot cake, date cake, fruitcake, lemon cake, and a flourless orange cake I just had to try and emulate. Around Christmas time, they also make Christmas cake and Christmas pudding. In the afternoon, all this can be accompanied by one of the very good teas from their selection.

They also sell an array of British goods (baked beans, Marmite, oatmeal crackers, cereal, tea, parsnip chips...), British cheese from Neal's Yard Dairy (stilton, cheddar, wigmore...) and organic vegetables.

I had lunch there a couple of weeks ago, and it happened to be the day of their first anniversary, so I was offered an appetizer of two mini-quiches and a little tumbler of champagne. Nice, huh?

Rose Bakery Map it!
46 rue des Martyrs
75009 Paris
01 42 82 12 80

2008 Update: Rose Bakery has opened a second location in the 3rd arrondissement; it offers much the same dishes and desserts as the one on rue des Martyrs.

30 rue Debelleyme, Paris 3ème / map it!
M° Filles du Calvaire
01 49 96 54 01