Cultured Traveler: In Paris, Where Artisanship Becomes Art

Rebecca Marshall for The New York Times

Left to right: the baker Mickaël Morieux, the corset-maker François Tamarin and the florist Jacques Castagné. More Photos »

ANY search for Parisian chic leads almost inescapably to the glossy boutiques that line the Rue du Faubourg St.-Honoré or to the Michelin-starred temples of gastronomy that anchor the capital's grand avenues.

But such addresses are only part of what makes Paris so elegant. The city's true lifeblood of luxury can be found in the small neighborhood shops — some of them virtually unknown even among Parisians — owned by members of an elite group of professionals called the Meilleurs Ouvriers de France, or Best Craftsmen of France.

These artisans represent more than 200 professions throughout the country, including those devoted to food, like fromagers, chocolatiers and butchers; others that deal with the decorative, like hairdressers, florists and corset-makers; and even fields like Web design and taxidermy.

Each member of the group has passed a rigorous competition to obtain the lifelong title of Un des Meilleurs Ouvriers de France, which the Ministry of Labor awards to about 2 percent of applicants every three to four years. Created in 1924, the group has as its goal the recognition of exceptional French craftsmanship, and ensuring the survival of traditional know-how. Recipients become ambassadors of their métier, and must pledge to pass along their knowledge to members of the next generation. The group has about 4,000 members, about 200 of them based in Paris.

"We must protect these métiers. If we lose all the brains in our country, we are lost," said Jean-François Girardin, former chef de cuisine at the Hotel Ritz in Paris, Meilleur Ouvrier de France, and the vice president and treasurer of the Société Nationale des Meilleurs Ouvriers de France, a professional organization.

Some members of the Meilleurs Ouvriers de France are famous, like the chef Joël Robuchon and the New York chocolatier Jacques Torres, but most of them are artisan-merchants little known outside their profession or neighborhood. Market competition means that most of their exquisitely created products are affordable, putting small everyday luxuries within the reach of most consumers.

I recently visited the Parisian shops of five members of the group, and found the timeless craftsmanship that is a hallmark of French life on full display.

The Baker

Shelves of bread are stacked up along the walls of the Boulangerie Morieux: dense, dark loaves of rye; rustic sourdough rounds made with whole wheat and spelt; butter-rich, yeast-puffed croissants; golden-crusted baguettes with a honeycombed interior. In 2011, the shop's owner, Mickaël Morieux, was among six bakers awarded the title of Meilleur Ouvrier de France, chosen from a field of more than 100 finalists. For the competition, he produced more than 200 baked goods in 13 hours (baguettes, whole wheat loaves, croissants and small cakes among them) with each piece meeting precise standards of size, weight and quality.

His final project was a towering edible sculpture of bread devoted to the theme of Blaise Pascal. It depicted key elements in the life of the French mathematician and philosopher, including a Pascaline calculator and a prie-dieu prayer desk. "The judges require perfection," Mr. Morieux said. "I strive to replicate this level."

At his bakery in Boulogne-Billancourt, a Paris suburb, Mr. Morieux selects all ingredients himself, visiting artisanal mills to create his own blends of flours. "The ingredients of a baguette are not expensive," he said. "What's expensive is the transformation. The savoir faire is priceless."

Boulangerie Morieux, 35, rue d'Aguesseau; Boulogne-Billancourt; (33-1) 41-10-94-36. A baguette is 1.22 euros, or $1.55 at $1.26 to the euro; bread from 5.65 euros per kilogram.

The Florist

After more than two decades of entering a range of professional florist competitions, Jacques Castagné was finally awarded the distinction of Meilleur Ouvrier de France in 2004. "All those other competitions gave me the time to establish my own style," he said. While many Parisian flower shops bring in blooms from across Europe, Mr. Castagné stocks his store, Art et Végétal, with flowers grown by local producers.

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