Boulangerie Utopie is a boulangerie and pâtisserie in the 11th District, near the Oberkampf station, that is extremely popular with both locals and tourists alike. They were awarded the title of the best bakery in France (La meilleure boulangerie de France) in 2016 by the popular TV station M6. Something I didn’t realize before writing this post is that they’re also among TripAdvisor’s top 3 Paris bakeries and in the top 5 for Google Maps.
As their name indicates, they are a bread bakery, but they also carry an assortment of viennoiseries and pastries. The interior of the shop isn’t huge but their products are varied and very creative—one of their popular items is a charcoal baguette. Even with their huge popularity they continue to innovate: every weekend they have a special bread, viennoiserie, and pastry. Their Instagram account regularly posts these weekly changing specials.
On both of my visits there were quite a few people lined up outside. Not a bad sign if people are willing to wait in line at 8 a.m. on a weekend 🙂
The pastry counter, with both large and individually sized pastries, was the first thing I noticed when entering. Since it was still relatively early in the morning, not all the pastries had come out yet. Above the pastries were a few gorgeous puffy brioche loaves.
And behind these is the bread! Their famous charcoal baguette is in the far left of the second image.
The viennoiseries are closer to the checkout area. In addition to croissants, they also have pain suisse, some more conventional roulés, and the decidedly unconventional roulé au séame, which is made with activated charcoal and black sesame. Also pictured below are two of the viennoiseries du week end (from two different weeks): a raspberry coconut flower and a dark chocolate and lemon roll (which looks super delicious; I’m kicking myself for not getting it).
Directly behind the cash register, a doorway peeks into the kitchen where you can watch the masters at work. One of the highlights of my 8 a.m. visit was watching the baker take several freshly baked loaves of their l’authentic bread out of the oven! (The downside to this was that they weren’t ready to sell 😢)
Finally, to the left of the checkout is my favorite part: the breads sold by weight. You can buy as little (even just a slice!) or as much of each of the below breads, which they’ll slice on the cutting board right in front of you. This is something that I noticed many (but not all) of the bakeries I visited in France doing for some of their breads, and I really wish American bakeries could emulate this 🙂
(Apologies for the weird lighting in some of the above photos! My excuse is that I don’t have Lightroom or the storage space to shoot in raw 😅)
Bread
Sourdough sold by weight 🍞
The star of Boulangerie Utopie is their l’authentic sourdough bread, sold at 7 €/kg. It may look boring and is definitely less eye-catching than their other offerings, but don’t pass on this plain-looking bread, which consists of just a few ingredients (type T65 wheat flour, natural levain, and Guérande salt). It’s crusty with a deliciously moist crumb, and the flavor is well-developed and mildy sour.
This was my favorite bread I ate in France, and I regret not buying more.
Their pain muesli (8 €/kg) is a muesli bread: a sourdough made with T65 and rye flour that has hazelnuts and dried fruits mixed in. The texture is spongey and denser than the country bread. It was not my favorite, and I wouldn’t get this again.
The hazelnut bread (le pain aux noix, 8 €/kg) was our cashier’s favorite bread. Another T65 wheat and rye sourdough with a nutty and slightly savory flavor: the hazelnut aroma really spreads throughout the loaf. It’s not as moist as the l’authentic, but it still has some elasticity and was my second favorite of the by-weight breads.
The last two breads sold by weight were less conventional. The first is a green tea bread encrusted in caramelized rice kernels, labelled le thé vert sencha et riz soufflé (12 €/kg). The color of the crumb is visually striking, and the green tea flavor is just as strong as one expects from the vivid interior. It’s labelled sencha but I thought it tasted more like matcha? It’s also surprisingly very sweet, like a green-tea-flavored dessert. I liked the strong green tea flavor, but the sweetness threw me off a bit.
Here’s the nicely crispy crust of the green tea bread!
Finally we come to the activated charcoal and sesame bread, le pain au charbon vegetal et sesame torrefié (12 €/kg). This flavor combination recurs throughout their products, and for good reason: it works. The charcoal and sesame flavor are both apparent in this slightly savory bread. It’s slightly drier than the hazelnut bread but quite interesting and worth trying.
Weekend bread 🍞
This vibrant fellow is one of their weekend specials: a paprika and curry bread encrusted in sesame seeds. It’s light and fluffy with slightly crisp crust, and really flavorful with a slight kick. It was fun to try, and I wish I could be around for more of their weekend breads!
Bread loaves 🍞
One reason I went early in the morning was that I had to head to the airport right after, and I wanted a couple of loaves to bring home. So these next two breads were enjoyed the next day, after a transatlantic flight. They were still warm when I purchased them, and I can only imagine how delicious they would have been consumed immediately 😭
This torte de sarrasin (2,80 €) is the same gorgeous loaf of buckwheat bread pictured at the top of this post. Like the other breads at Utopie, it’s naturally leavened. I didn’t love eating is as-is (most likely because it was a day old by then) but found that toasting revitalized this bread: the texture became more elastic and less crumbly, and I thought the buckwheat flavor intensified. I’m not sure what the flour makeup of this bread was, but it’s super impressive that they achieved such a tasty loaf with such low gluten content.
Side note: I took out this bread to look at while waiting for the train at the airport, and a stranger commented “That’s beautiful bread.” Indeed 😊
This pave tradition (1,30 €) is a slightly irregularly shaped sourdough loaf that was probably less squished before being added to my luggage. When I tried it the next morning, it was still slightly elastic and tasted like it would have been very moist and spongey if I had eaten it at the appropriate time 😢
As with the buckwheat loaf, I attempted to revitalize it with the toaster, and my attempt worked (I think). The post-toasting bread was light and bouncy, with a crackly and wonderful crust.
Looking back while writing this post, I really regret not buying more bread before leaving. I probably could have gotten 4–5 loaves…
Pastry
The lovely fig tart (5,20 €) pictured toward the top of this article was the only pastry I was able to try here. It’s made up of a pâte sucrée crust filled with fig compote and topped with ganache and fresh fig slices. The pâte sucrée was crisp and well-executed, and the tart as a whole felt fresh and not too sweet. Unfortunately, the beautiful-looking figs on top, which should have been the star, were not ripe. In my book, underripe figs are a deal-breaker. 🙁
Still, I’d like to try more of the pastries (especially the black sesame eclair) and also some of the viennoiseries. Based on their solid and creative breads, I have high hopes for the rest of the products at Boulangerie Utopie, and I recommend checking them out if you’re visiting Paris.
Boulangerie Utopie
20 Rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud
75011 Paris, France
+33 9 82 50 74 48
https://www.instagram.com/boulangerieutopie/
Hours:
Monday: CLOSED
Tuesday–Sunday: 7 a.m.–8 p.m.
Will Travel for Snacks 
thanks for the photos of Utopie”s gorgeous and delicious items. brings back memories and something to try replicate in myhome kitchen, esp green tea and black sesame breads. they were so good.
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