At first Rose Carrarini thought she was not destined for the restaurant industry. However she was such a great cook that after years in fashion, this South African born Londoner decided to launch her first bakery in Rue Des Martyrs together with her husband Jean-Charles.
The restaurant opened its doors in 2002 and instantly became famous due to its soft and rich chocolate brownies, perfect sponges and the carrot cake, still considered by many foodies among the best in Paris. Today Rose Bakery has devoted customers around the world, including Tokyo, Seoul and London. In many cities it is located inside the trendy Dover Street Market concept stores and this love affair between fashion and food doesn’t come as a surprise since Rose Carrarini is related to the designer Rei Kawakubo, founder of Comme des Garcons and Dover Street Markets. It is almost a family business.
The pastries at Rose Bakery clearly source inspiration from the British cuisine, mixed with the French love for delicious food (Rose is British, her husband Jean-Charles is French). Scones with jam and butter, bacon pies and mouthwatering cakes are among everyone’s favorites. The New York Times once mentioned: “You’re not likely to find loaf cakes so buttery and moist in England”. Rose is careful and scrupulous with ingredients for all of her pastries. She uses only seasonal fruits and vegetables for her salads and pastries, bread from famous Poujauran boulangerie in Paris for sandwiches, crispy English apples for the tarts and Valrhona chocolate for her ricotta brownie.
All dishes are light and healthy and the bakery is rather vegetarian oriented. Vegetables are served with a secret dressing, which even makes kids eat Rose’s veggies without complaining. In Rose Bakery you can be certain to find not boring, but rather creative and tasty healthy food. Sunday morning brunch is famous for fluffy and decadent pancakes served with banana slices and maple syrup. When it comes to drinks, it is always a hard choice for us between the green smoothie and the classic banana honey. In winter, hot chocolate with shortbread is an unbeatable bestseller.
Rose’s food empire also spreads to publishing. She is an author of two cookbooks: the first one shares her signature recipes and the second one, "How to cook an egg", suggests tips for making the best scrambled eggs and many more egg dishes.
Rose Bakery currently has 4 locations in Paris. One of the most exciting venues is inside a contemporary art foundation La Maison Rouge, opened in 2003 by Antoine de Galbert and located between Bastille and Quai de la Râpée. It is a rather non-touristy part of the city, where Parisians love to stroll along the canals on weekends. La Maison Rouge Rose Bakery has a terrace where you can have lunch or enjoy afternoon tea while observing art installations in the courtyard or other visitors playing table football.
She uses only seasonal fruits and vegetables for her salads and pastries, bread from famous Poujauran boulangerie in Paris for sandwiches, crispy English apples for the tarts and Valrhona chocolate for her ricotta brownie.
On your way towards the exit of La Maison Rouge don’t forget to visit the "Bookstorming" shop with a great selection of books and art magazines. Make sure to buy Rose Carrarini’s books, as you most likely won’t be able to leave without her very special food once you’ve TASTEd it!
