Owners Ronan & Su Jin Maillet met as French culinary students at the Institut Paul Bocuse in Lyon, honing their craft in Paris before coming to Seoul. Everything about Maillet is centered around quality, quality, quality. They use Valrhona chocolate, Isigny AOP butter, and flour imported from France (“because it’s what I’m used to working with,” Ronan explains).
Every morning they make a dozen varieties of macaron and 10 or 12 varieties of pastry, all cut into Maillet’s distinctive, slim rectangles. Ronan’s Breton roots come through in his penchant for salted caramel—the kouign-amann, a Breton specialty, doesn’t sell nearly as fast as it should. If you prefer fruitier flavors, you can’t go wrong with their apple tarte tatin or the tarte citron. They also stock French organic limonade and Mariage Frères tea. With its pink walls and chandelier, the space is as pretty as their pastries—tea time, anyone?