At snack time, a queue forms in front of the Mille et Un counter. This bakery-tea room with a refined and elegant decor, located rue Saint-Placide (VIe) a stone’s throw from the Grande Épicerie, is very popular for its delicious pastries, its beautiful pastries… and especially its flan, at the top of our list of the best flan in Paris, which we are revealing to you this Saturday.
Already awarded the prize for best flan in Île-de-France, according to the ranking of the Union of Bakers of Greater Paris 2023, this tasty dessert did not escape Jieon: “This is the first time I have tasted this specialty . The dough is crispy, and the cream has a good vanilla taste, this young Inalco student enjoys. It’s very good. »
At the other end of the room, Brigitte and Jacques came specially from Vincennes (Val-de-Marne) to discover it: “We are fans of flan,” confesses the retired couple. This one is superior to those we have already tasted. We don’t regret the trip. »
A new concept at the time
What these Ile-de-France residents don’t know is that the pastry chef who treats them with this great classic of French pastry is Franco-Korean. Naturalized in 2012, Yongsang Seo has just returned from South Korea, where on February 15 he opened a flan shop in the largest shopping center in Seoul — the very first in the country. “I also hope to open a Mille et Un there,” he confides. What a long way since his apprenticeship…
Now aged 54, this pastry chef arrived in France with his wife and children in 2002 to pass a CAP in pastry and complete his work-study program at Michel Galloyer’s Grenier à pain, before taking the helm of one of the boutiques of the brand rue du faubourg Poissonnière (9th). Eager to stand on his own two feet, he created Mille et Un in 2017. “The concept of a bakery-pastry shop-tea room with modern decor and all-day service was new at the time,” underlines Yongsang. SEO.
“Laboratory tests to obtain this texture”
Its famous black sesame or matcha rolls, its Paris-Séoul (a revisited Paris-Brest), its Saengcreams – these cakes made from sponge cake, mousseline cream and fresh fruit – or its gorokés, a savory specialty made from minced meat , potatoes, carrots, onions and curry sauce, quickly became the house’s best-sellers. In the window, they rub shoulders with classic French pastries and tempting pastries. But it was its flan that made the house famous.
“It consists of puff pastry, which is rare, and a very creamy mixture and not too sweet but enough for the flan to be delicious,” describes the chef. We carried out numerous laboratory tests to obtain this texture. It’s all in the cooking temperature. There is no other secret. We continue to improve our know-how in order to achieve great regularity in production,” he confides.
Keen not to put both feet in the same shoe, Yongsang Seo also participated in the best croissant prize at the beginning of April. A new reward in perspective? Answer this Monday, May 13.
