About to make my first visit to Paris and wanted to see if other potheads have recommendations- so far I plan to visit E Dehillerin and Atelier du Cuivre
Depends what are you looking for, the links above sums up more or less the shops you can find in Paris.
Looks like you are going for the copper ware.
A. Simon and Mora has sections specifically for pastries.
If you are looking for beautiful ceramics, table wares or cocottes, maybe it worths also going to the department store Galleries Lafayette, Printemps or BHV. Years before, as a tourist, I downloaded a tourist discount card on their website. It’s like “duty free” without going through the trouble of filling the forms of duty free.
Beware of E Dehillerin, the price they show are without TVA, you need to add 20%. Actually most of the stuff in the stores don’t have a price tag, but a number, you need to either ask the guys around for the price, or you need to look it up in a catalog yourself, just like Paris in the past, quite charming if you want a certain experience. Personally, I don’t go there anymore, there are too many tourists and the wait can be quite long, especially I want to quickly grab a thing and run.
Thanks for the information!
Yes I’m mostly interested in copper - especially pieces not widely available stateside.
Mauviel 1830 is quite famous for it’s copper, you can check out in their website for the shops and addresses in Paris. (Most places mentioned in Lebovitz’s link carry their stuff.)
I had already bought my one and only copper piece, a little 2.5-liter lidded pot whose tag called it a “faitout,” at the Clignancourt flea market for 150 Euro, so we went to Dehillerin “just because we had to.” There was a price schedule posted for most of the items and made it clear about the TVA as well. I bought a pointy little “office” knife for a total of 18 Euro, more or less as a souvenir. It was fairly late on a Friday evening, so the tourist crowd was down to about par with locals, and all actual shoppers, and I got checked out fairly fast.
Seriously, though, Leibovitz’s suggestion of flea markets and brocantes is a good one. Most of my cookware was gotten from flea markets, yard and estate sales, and antiques malls in both Tennessee and SoCal, and the hunting is every bit as good in France. Just be aware that French copper runs heavier than ours: that little pot is damn near four pounds!
1 Like
Was just in Paris
Dehillerin seemed like it was less well stocked than the last time I was there in the mid 2000s. Still worth checking out.
Atelier du Cuivre (12th Arr) - Very nice copper pieces, bought a inox saute pan with removable handle (Sauteuses manche bois démontable). Only problem, its really an appliance store with some cookware upfront. They carry a limited range of copper pieces, i.e. I wanted a larger sized saute pan however they only stocked the tin lined version. Additionally the store does not process VAT rebate, something to be aware of… Btw, came across an article M. Bloomberg commissioned A. Cuivre for a custom copper bathtub for his home in Manhattan…
Check out Forge de Laguiole at Place Madeleine for beautiful Laguiole style knives. http://www.forge-de-laguiole.com/en/
Have fun.
“ONLY stocked the tin-lined version”?? I find it infuriating that Mauviel chooses to send us only steel-lined copper ware; does that not play against our reason for using copper anyway, its even heating? If I could afford it I’d stock up on tinned copper ware and ship it home, since every piece I have is from flea markets, antique malls and yard sales. Including, you might have noticed, my one Parisian score …
Yes, it needs careful treatment and eventual retinning. I wish I could find a car that easy to take care of!
Actually, the alternative to tin usually offered in France is nickel, not stainless steel.
I schlepped several tin-lined pieces back in my luggage a number of years ago but have barely used them. Terrified of tin melting into my food.
Just keep it below 450º and you’re fine! Look, we’ve been cooking with tinned copper long before we even had thermometers. (Okay, so the Romans got their water from lead pipes too, but that’s a whole 'nother thing.) I am careful with stovetop use – never heat a dry pan on an open flame for more than a second or two – but as long as I’ve got either water or a decent volume of oil (low-temp, such as olive) it’ll be okay. Oven use is never above 375º. Besides, tin is non-toxic, and if it melted into your food said food would be burnt anyway.
@ onzieme: Did not know that. I just know that Mauviel actually boasts about their stainless liners for our market.
Inox = stainless steel.
The French word for nickel is nickel. It’s a dull gray in appearance. Whenever I’ve bought copper in France, they’ve always asked if I would accept nickel lining instead of tin.
Thanks for the clarification. I’ve only come across the inox or tin, don’t recollect encountering nickel in the stores.
