A twittering birdie has just revealed that Djibril Bodian from Le Grenier à Pain in Montmartre has won the 2010 Grand Prix de la Baguette de la Ville de Paris.
Bodian, a Senagal-born baker who grew up in Seine-Saint-Denis, is no stranger to awards. He earned a 5th place ranking in the 2009 competition and 4th place in 2007. Bodian was also one of only a handful of bakers to earn a 3/3 rating in the Palmarès 2005 (most recent) guide to Paris boulangeries.
Phyllis Flick, who served as a judge in today’s competition, promises a full report on her blog about what it’s like to watch Ghislain Arabian chew her way through a mountain of baguettes. I can’t wait to learn the rest of the results, and promise to update my Google map of the Best Baguettes in Paris as soon as the top 10 for 2010 are announced.
Le Grenier à Pain (Djibril Bodian)
38 rue des Abbesses, 75018
6 Responses to The winner: the best baguette in Paris is from Djibril Bodian at Le Grenier à Pain
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Just a question – isn’t this particular boulangerie part of a franchise chain?
Yes indeed – Grenier à Pain has 8 locations in the Paris area: http://www.legrenierapain.com/pages30.html.
It’s the individual baker who enters competition, not the establishment. However, a baker from a second Grenier à Pain establishment in the 13th has placed in the top ten twice in recent years.
Being a franchise doesn’t seem to equate with poor quality when we’re talking about bakeries. Just look at Eric Kayser!
Indeed. I used to buy sandwiches and cakes from the branch in the 10th and they were great, but what I wonder is how much freedom the individual baker has. I guess in this case they must be able to do more or less their own thing concerning baguettes, with the other products sold coming from some centralised source.
I’m still a bit confused though: The Baker’s Chamber’s official list has Le Grenier as the winner, yet the names of the bakers listed are Michel Galloyer and Anne-Marie Guillard. “Le Parisien” of today shows a picture of Djibril Bodian…
I love this bakery! The ficelle provençal with sundried tomatoes and olives is to die for. Well done Djibril!
It’s confusing because some sources are indeed listing Michel Galloyer and Anne-Marie Guillard as the winners. They’re the owners of the bakery. The prize (so far as I know) is awarded to the individual baker, not the bosses, so that’s Djibril Bodian.