ZL Cafeteria wins contest for best croissant in Brazil; see where to eat in SP

The Prime Coffee café, in Tatuapé, makes the best croissant in Brazil — this was the conclusion of the seven judges of the competition promoted by the French butter Isigny Sainte-Mère, which took place on the 8th, at the Emiliano hotel.

Responsible for the winning puff pastry, Ismael Duarte beat 13 competitors, eight of them from the capital of São Paulo. The confectionery shop L’Atelier Sucré, from Bauru (SP), won second place, while third place went to the artisanal bakery O Pão, located in the capital, in the Brooklin neighborhood.

Held 19 years ago in France, the competition won an edition in São Paulo on the initiative of the manufacturer. “They decided to bring the event here due to the growth of artisanal bakeries, especially in São Paulo”, says Valéria Nakano, director of importer Calimp.

Tourage, an Isigny Sainte-Mère butter developed to facilitate the complex production of puff pastry, is for the few — a kilo costs R$135.09.

The large amount of butter needed to produce French puff pastries weighs on the cost and causes conventional bakeries to invest in adaptations.

“In order not to use margarine, we prepare the dough with fewer folds. Customers call it croissant, but I think it’s more honest to call it puff pastry”, explains Marcella Moço, partner at Padaria Palmeiras, in Santa Cecília.

Find out below the differences between the two recipes and find out where to find both types of croissant.

FRENCH CROISSANT

The dough, made from wheat flour, water, sugar, salt, yeast and butter, is laminated and folded several times – a large amount of butter is spread over each fold. The process takes up to three days and results in a light, honeycombed croissant with a thin, brittle crust.

Atelier Voltaire Pâtisserie

Graduated from École Grégoire-Ferrandi, in Paris, Frenchman Julien Caille bakes traditional croissants (R$ 12.25) and filled with almond cream (R$ 15), as well as a version with ham, white cheese and béchamel sauce (R$ $20.50).
R. Voltaire, 21, Vila Mariana, south region; @atelier.voltaire.patisserie

Fabricate

The production of croissants, which takes three days, follows a recipe from José Carlos Gomes, who learned the craft at The French Pastry School, in Chicago. In addition to the traditional one (R$ 11), it is filled with cream (R$ 12) and Nutella (R$ 15). The montadito, with smoked salmon, avocado and sour cream, costs R$26.
R. Itacolomi, 612, Higienópolis; R. Conselheiro Brotero, 860, Santa Cecília; R. Faustolo, 553, Vila Romana, western region; @fabriquepaes

Mintchi Croissant

Architect Luísa Garbarino studied confectionery at Le Cordon Bleu, in Paris. Their croissants take three days to produce and come out in three batches a day, with different sizes and flavors: dulce de leche and guava with mascarpone, among others. A tasting with eight small assortments starts at R$80. Stuffed with tomato confit and goat cheese, the large one costs R$29.
R. Simão Álvares, 114, Pinheiros, west region; @mintchi_croissant

Prime Coffee

The winner of the Best Croissant in Brazil contest costs R$16 in the traditional version. The smash, pressed on the griddle, is served for breakfast with raw ham, buffalo mozzarella, arugula, tomatoes, scrambled egg, coffee and orange juice (R$48).
R. Vilela, 652, and R. Padre Estevão Pernet, 718, Tatuapé, eastern region; @primecoffeeoficial

Tre Bimbi

Food engineer, Fernanda Jimenez dedicates two days to the lamination and folding process. Two to three batches come out daily. In addition to the traditional one (R$ 13.90), there is a version filled with almond cream (R$ 28.90).
R. Tumiaru, 66, Vila Mariana, southern region; @tre.bimbi

CROISSANT PAULISTANO

The dough contains eggs and is not folded as many times – not all folds receive a layer of butter, an ingredient that can be exchanged for margarine. Production is quick and results in puffy bread with a soft crust and compact crumb.

Bella Paulista

Part of the daily batches of plain croissants (R$9.70) supply the 24-hour bakery counter, where puffed bread is served with butter (R$14), cream cheese (R$16) or Nutella (R$17).
R. Haddock Lobo, 354, Consolação, central region; padariabellapaulista.com.br

Big Pão Express

The bakery has five versions of croissant, all filled: ham and cheese, chicken with catupiry, pepperoni with mozzarella, four cheeses and turkey breast with white cheese (R$ 9.90 each). On Thursdays, the customer pays half price.
Av. Líder, 1743, Itaquera, eastern region; @bigpaoexpress

Palmeiras Bakery and Confectionery

In addition to the simple croissant (R$7.90), it produces a version stuffed with ham and cheese (R$9.50) and a sweet version, with pistachio filling and topping (R$17.90).
Praça Marechal Deodoro, 268, Santa Cecília, central region; @padariapalmeirasoficial

Ceci Bakery

Voted the best bakery in São Paulo by the Padocaria 2024 competition, the house is an exception: the customer chooses the type of croissant. The team learned the French recipe from Thierry Rabineau, from La Boulangerie Moderne, who became famous in the series “Emily in Paris”. The São Paulo croissant also comes with ham, white cheese or Catupiry filling – all cost R$10.50.
Av. Afonso Mariano Fagundes, 1,350, Planalto Paulista; @padariaceci