Pâtisserie Lac

Pâtisserie Lac is one of the best-known pastry and chocolate houses in Nice. It was founded in 1995 by Pascal and Valérie Lac, who opened their first shop in Beaulieu, has been a member of the Relais Desserts association since 2006, and today its shop on Rue Barla, in the port district, is where many local families buy their cakes for Sunday lunch. The business has grown into several shops on the Riviera, including a branch on Rue de la Préfecture in the old town.

The cakes are the speciality. Gault&Millau praises the entremets, layered mousse cakes, for their finesse and flavour, mentioning a hazelnut and chocolate entremet, a lemon and almond cake with Linzer biscuit, mascarpone and Madagascar vanilla, and a 70 per cent dark chocolate cake with salted caramel from Guérande. Many of the cakes are also made in small individual sizes, which is ideal for visitors who want to try more than one.

Chocolate is the other half of the house. The chocolatier works with single-plantation cocoa beans and makes bonbons, ganaches and pralines, chocolate bars and spreads. The shop also sells macarons, marrons glacés and fruit or chocolate-coated marshmallows. Lac received the Award du Chocolat from the Club des Croqueurs de Chocolat in 2008 and 2009, a distinction given to only a small number of French chocolatiers.

This is a shop for takeaway rather than a sit-down café, so buy a selection and eat it on a bench by the port or back at your hotel. The tourism office lists opening hours of 09:00 to 19:00 every day, but notes that hours are not guaranteed, so check before you go, particularly on public holidays. Animals are not allowed in the shop.

Pâtisserie Lac suits food lovers, families buying a treat and anyone looking for a box of chocolates to take home. Choose an individual entremet and a few chocolates for a quick taste of the house style.

Rue Barla is a short walk from Port Lympia. Combine your visit with Chez Pipo for socca, the confectioner Florian on the quays, or a walk up Castle Hill from the port side.