Pierre Hermé

Pierre Hermé is the London boutique of the Paris pastry house, set on Monmouth Street in the Seven Dials quarter of Covent Garden. It is the place in the city to buy the macarons, chocolates and cakes that made the name, and it runs a click and collect service from the shop for anyone who wants to order ahead.

Pierre Hermé himself was voted Best Pastry Chef in the World by the panel of the World's 50 Best Restaurants in 2016 and named by Vanity Fair the same year as the fourth most influential French personality in the world. He says he learned by working alongside the experts, and that his ideas for taste and texture come from a weakness for sweets, from encounters, fragrances and sensations. The brand is a member of the Comite Colbert, the association of French luxury houses, and partners with the Raffles and Ritz-Carlton hotel groups.

Macarons in Seven Dials, boxed to give or eat on the spot

The macarons are the signature, sold in customisable boxes across a wide spread of flavours, from house classics to the seasonal collections and collaborations the brand releases through the year. The range in London also takes in chocolates and chocolate tablets, chocolate snacks, ice creams and sorbets, pound cakes and brioches, and jams, spreads and teas. Everything is presented with the patterned packaging the house is known for, which makes a box an easy gift.

What to expect on a visit

Expect a small, polished shop rather than a cafe, with staff who will talk you through the flavours. It opens from 10am to 7pm Monday to Friday, until 7.30pm on Saturday and from noon to 6pm on Sunday. Click and collect orders placed before 6pm are ready the next possible day, and next-day delivery is available on orders placed before noon. Among the bakeries and patisseries in Covent Garden this is the one for French patisserie at its most refined, and for a Japanese take on the craft, WA Bakery on New Row is a few minutes' walk south.