Fromagerie Laurent Dubois: the most demanding and creative cheese shop in Paris
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The most demanding cheese shop (a mix of rigour and excellence) in Paris
Born in a family of cheesemongers, Laurent Dubois is the first cheesemonger to win the award Meilleur Ouvrier de France (Best Craftsman of France) in France in 2000 thanks to his pyramid of flavours composed of 120 cheeses. Nearly twenty years later, he owns three cheese shops in Paris and a cheese restaurant on the 8th floor of Printemps du Goût.
Here is the unique cheeses you will only find at Laurent Dubois’ cheese shop
Homemade creations that give cheeses a look of small pastries such as strawberry basil goat cheese, blackcurrant crémeux from Burgundy (=Brillat-Savarin) or the famous Roquefort cheese with quince paste, Laurent Dubois’ first creation.
Portrait of Laurent Dubois
Which cheese do you prefer?
I don’t have a favorite cheese, it depends on the time and the season. At the moment (ed: in July), I like goat cheese and fresh cheeses such as Saint Marcellin. In winter, I prefer mountain cheeses like Comté. I also love blue-veined cheeses.
Is there a cheese you don’t like?
I don’t hate any cheese. But I am less sensitive to tasteless and impersonal cheeses: the whole category of pasteurized, industrial cheeses don’t really fancy me!
Do you eat lots of cheese?
When you really like a product, you tend to eat it a lot because you understand the complexity of the flavors and enjoy it even more. As part of my job, I eat cheese regularly to test them, but I rarely do it alone. When I do a tasting it is always with my collaborators. Outside the cheese shop, I often eat cheese with my friends, I’m always the one who brings the cheese, of course!
What is the most unlikely or funny situation in your career?
At the very beginning of my career, about thirty years ago, we went to a farm producer in the Cévennes with my father. The producer aged his goat cheeses in an former iron mine, which gave them quite a specific appearance and colour! It is a really unlikely place to age cheese.
What did it change in your career to become Best Craftsman in France in 2000?
In 2000, only few professionals knew about this awards in France, it was not as well covered by the media as it is today. The opening of the competition to cheesemongers was a boon for our sector after the upgrading to European standards in 1998, which had eliminated many small producers. But that didn’t change my career. I gradually founded my three cheese shops. This award allowed me to attract and train many young talents who have later created their own cheese shops.
Do you still consider yourself as a cheesemonger or more as a businessman?
I don’t think I’m a businessman, If I was, I would have accepted big contracts to get rich but I didn’t. It took me twenty long years to create these three shops. Plus, I am still very present in the field. I am still turning over the Comtés, delivering cheeses to my shops.
Are there things you continue to do yourself that you could delegate to someone else?
Yes, I do, I keep turning over the Comté and delivering my shops, for example. I need to be in contact with people who work with me. Last Saturday all morning I was at the checkout for example. My business could basically run without me but I like to remain very present.
What do you prefer about being a cheesemonger?
My job has changed a lot throughout my career. At the beginning, it was a lof of learning. At 30 years old, when I created my first shop with my wife Carole, we were doing everything. At 40, I opened a second shop and at that time I did a lot of sourcing to find new producers to work with. Now, with my three shops and the restaurant at the Printemps du Goût, I am still doing many different things.
Laurent Dubois’ tasting tips
What are your favorite cheese and drink pairings?
I really like the fruity and dry white wines from the Loire Valley with goat cheese, especially crottins or Charolais. I like to drink a natural sweet wine with blue-veined cheeses, a yellow wine with an old comté. For cheese and wine pairings, my best advice is to go for regional pairings and enjoy local wine and cheese depending on where we are !
The Laurent Dubois’ cheese shop
You transform classic cheeses into original creations, can we say that this is what makes your shops unique?
Our cheese creations are quite unique! We first learn about our cheeses and then think about how we could make them even more special. We choose rather young cheeses and enhance them with pairings. Our creations look like small pastries. I really work like a pastry chef, I have a laboratory in each store to create small quantities of cheese creations every day that we sell the same day or the next day.
In a word, the Laurent Dubois cheese shop is the most?
Demanding / Creative
Anything to add?
I would like to point out that even though the cheese shops are under my name, I didn’t do anything on my own. My wife has a big part to play in the success of this cheese adventure. People around me who work proudly for the company are also essential to our success.
In short, you should go to the Laurent Dubois’
If you want to discover his great selection of farm-house made raw milk cheeses.
If you are curious to taste the homemade creations that look like lovely small pastries.
If you are shopping at Le Printemps and you want cheese, Laurent Dubois has a restaurant on the 8th floor of Le Printemps du Goût, with a beautiful view over Paris!
Practical information
Laurent Dubois’ historical shop in the 15th
with a beautiful art-deco style
2, rue de Lourmel
75015 Paris
Opening hours:
Tuesday to Saturday from 9am to 8pm
Sunday from 9am to 1pm
closed on Monday
Laurent Dubois’ shop in the 5th
where you have good chances to cross paths with THE man
47 Ter Boulevard Saint-Germain
75005 Paris
Opening hours:
Tuesday to Saturday from 8am to 7.45pm
on Sundays from 8.30am to 1 pm
closed on Monday
Laurent Dubois’ shop in the 4th
smallest and cutest cheese shop in Paris
97-99 Saint-Antoine Street
75004 Paris
Opening hours:
Tuesday to Saturday from 8am to 7.45pm
on Sundays from 8.30am to 1pm
closed on Monday
Cheese shop and Restaurant
with a beautiful view over Paris
64 Boulevard Haussmann
75008 Paris
Opening hours:
Monday to Saturday from 9.30am to 8pm (8.45pm on Thursday)
on Sundays from 11am to 7pm
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