Every Paris neighborhood has at least one bakery making an excellent baguette, so Parisians are unlikely to travel a substantial distance for a fresh stick of bread in the French tradition. Nevertheless, you might want to walk a few extra meters to try what a jury of local connoisseurs considers la crème de la crème of that delicious and deceptively simple staple of oven-fresh fare in Paris.
The winner of Paris’s Best Baguette in the French Tradition for 2020 has just been announced, and the prize goes to… Taieb Sahal, an artisan baker at Les Saveurs de Pierre Demours, 13 rue Pierre Demours in the 17th arrondissement. He receives 4000€ and the honor of supplying the Elysées Palace, official residence of the President of France, for one year.
As each year since 1994, when the annual event was first held, competition was tight between the 210 fresh baguettes that were entered this year. So you can’t go wrong by breaking bread bought from any of the nine runners up noted below, nor from the bakeries of previous winners also noted here.
Held annually since 1994, the Grand Prix de la Baguette is organized by the City of Paris in partnership with the Greater Paris Bakers Union. The jury of 17 was comprised this year of baking professionals and six Parisians randomly selected though an online application system. The jury spent the afternoon of March 5 tasting all of the baguettes entered into the competition.
Entries, deposited fresh that morning, had to measure 55-70 centimeters (21.7-27.6 inches), weigh 250-300 grams (8.8-10.6 ounces) and have a salt content of 18 grams per kilo of flour (just under 1.5 teaspoons per pound). They were judged on appearance, baking, smell, crumb and taste.
Winner Taieb Sahal, age 26, is of Tunisian origin. You’ll note below that a significant percentage of past winners have names of African, particularly North African, consonance.
2020 Grand Prix de la Baguette
WINNER – Taieb Sahal of Les Saveurs de Pierre Demours, 13 rue Pierre Demours, 17th arr.
2. Baptiste Léauté of L’Essentiel Mouffetard, 2 rue Mouffetard, 5th.
3. Liman Tigani of Boulangerie Martyrs, 10 rue des Martyrs, 9th.
4. Laurent Demoncy of Au 140, 140 rue de Belleville, 20th.
5. Antonio Teixeira of Aux Délices du Palais, 60 Boulevard Brune, 14th.
6. Khemoussi Mansour of Aux Délices de Glacière, 90 Bd Auguste Blanqui, 13th.
7. Ahmed Ounissi of Boulangerie Lorette, 2 rue de la Butte aux Cailles, 13th.
8. Thierry Guyot of Boulangerie Guyot, 28 rue Monge, 5th.
9. Giovanni Bianco of Giovanni boulangerie contemporaine, 49 rue Chardon Lagache, 16th.
10. Jérôme Leparq of Maison Leparq, 6 rue de Lourmel, 15th.
Recent previous winning bakers and bakeries
2019: Fabric Leroy of Boulangerie Leroy-Monti, 203 avenue Daumesnil, 12th.
2018: Mahmoud M’seddi of Boulangerie 2M, 215 boulevard Raspail, 14th.
2017: Sami Bouattour of Boulangerie Patisserie Brun, 193 rue de Tolbiac, 13th.
2016: Florian Charles of Boulangerie La Parisienne, 48 rue Madame, 6th.
2015: Djibril Bodian of Le Grenier à Pain, 38 rue des Abbesses, 18th. (A two-time winner, he previously won in 2010.)
The bread shown above did not win the Grand Prix de la Baguette, but those are nevertheless the best traditional baguettes in the author’s neighborhood – bakery at 58 rue de Lancry, 10th arr..