I visited Ina Garten’s favorite cheese shop in Paris and the tiny, charming fromagerie was a feast for the senses
While in Paris, I visited Ina Garten’s favorite cheese shop, Barthélémy.Erin McDowell/Insider
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During a recent trip to Paris, I stopped by Barthélémy, a cheese shop frequented by Ina Garten.
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The shop is located in Paris’ seventh arrondissement and has been in business for over 50 years.
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I could immediately see why Garten fell in love with Barthélémy, which lived up to the hype.
Celebrity chef Ina Garten spends a lot of time in Paris, and she even visits the city every year for her and her husband Jeffrey’s anniversary.
Ina Garten.Evan Agostini/AP
Paris holds a special place for Garten: A trip she and Jeffrey took in 1971 inspired her to hone her cooking skills and explore her passion for food.
“It was the first formative period in her cooking,” Jeffrey told Food Network when Garten’s 2016 book, “Cooking for Jeffrey,” was released. “All those little shops in Europe — the boulangeries — Ina would walk through them and just glow.”
Garten has even written a cookbook, “Barefoot in Paris,” dedicated to the city’s cuisine. She has also praised the city’s food scene on Instagram and has called out a few of her favorite spots to visit.
In one post from May 2022, she revealed that her favorite cheese shop in the city — and the world — is Barthélémy, writing, “Too much cheese; too little time! … Barthélémy is my favorite cheese shop in the world and it’s right around the corner.”
Barthélémy is located in Paris’ seventh arrondissement, a short walk from the Musée d’Orsay.
The exterior of Barthélémy in Paris.Erin McDowell/Insider
When I visited around the holidays, the shop was decorated with festive garlands and ornaments, which gave it an adorable, intimate feel. Though I’m by no means a cheese expert, I was excited to step through the doors to this tiny shop and see what makes Barthélémy so well-known.
Outside the shop, I could peer in to see a festive window display of different cheeses.
A window display outside Barthélémy.Erin McDowell/Insider
Owner Nicole…
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