MAISON LISSAJOUX • BOULANGERIE PÂTISSERIE — Restaurant in Sarlat-la-Canéda

What an amazing find in our “Year in France” travels. In the front window display, sourdough, specialty and traditional rustic loaves are available and we happily worked our way through the choices during our two week stay in Sarlat! Particularly special were the brown sourdough, honey-apricot-fig and the 70 cent ficelle. Once inside and you’re standing before all the pastries and desert options, you realize making choices will be difficult if not impossible. Be sure and bring a friend or two so you can share as many options as possible, or stay for two weeks in town and then you’ll be lucky enough to try at least half of the beautiful choices. So often patisserie disappoint because the beauty fades in the first bite, they are only sweet or pretty. The beauties at Maison Lissajoux are individually nuanced in texture, flavor and appearance, never overly sweet. The Perigordin are a little chewy, a bit crunchy on top with either incredible dark chocolate or toasted almonds and another favorite is the Teresse Anise, a 40 cm long twisted buttery delight that might only be improved if it were another 40 cm! We saved the best for our last visit, the Saint Honore, from delicate puff pastry, the vanilla bean specked Chantilly, creme chiboust to the caramelized crowns, it is superb!

In addition to all this we often enjoyed brunch welcomed by the staff in an atmosphere with a little bustle and the action of the bakery behind a glass wall, quiet enough for conversation with the feel of another time and place, hospitality being paramount. Everything is house made and excellence is the mark here, and we are a little sad to move on in our journeys, as we will miss Maison Lissajoux and the staff.

How can I not mention the croissants!...

An outstanding address in all respects. The quality of the baked goods and pasties is just superb. At a time when 96% of all retail French pastries are brought in frozen from the outside, here everything is « fait maison » from the finest locally sourced ingredients. Make no mistake about it. This is French pastry in the grand manner. Very creative blends of flavors and never cloyingly sweet. The breads and baked goods are of equal quality. If you go, try the pain de campagne. It is a superior loaf. Maison Lissajoux also offers excellent breakfast and lunch menus served in a beautifully decorated and very convivial dining area where excellent coffee, tea, and wine are also on offer. It’s a great place just to sit and relax and watch the master bakers and pâtissiers do their work through the plate glass windows of the kitchen. Jean Lissajoux manages the enterprise and presides over the front end of the house with good humored intelligence and considerable personal charm. It should be noted that Maison Lissajoux has also become a meeting place for the local anglophone community, and Jean, who speaks flawless English, is a master at connecting people with common interests. The enterprise is therefore both a major culinary and social asset for the city of Sarlat. Very much recommended. If you go once, you will...

Returning after 12 months and after a week of trying, I finally succeeded in my mission. Up and out early enough to catch the first bake and have a chance to buy two chocolatine. Flushed with success I decided I would treat myself to a coffee and a croissant. I have heard some people moaning about the fact that some pastries are not available when they arrive. I think they misunderstand the purpose of this establishment. This is not a shop to have fully stocked ready to go off the shelf. There are plenty of bakeries which will do that. This is an art gallery. You do not expect every work of art to be available all the time, all are different, all are unique All are handmade. This is the case with this establishment and as such you are not simply visiting a shop you’re taking part in a...