Cakes and kings. (Credit: Photos provided by the pastry shops/ Montage by Nima Salha)
Not quite the same, not quite another, each galette des rois (king's cake) finds its own identity even if the fundamentals are, in the end, always the same.
The galette is a story of good ingredients and expert technique. Here is our selection, subjective of course, and unranked.
Clément's galette: Classic and perfectly executed
Clément is the story of two brothers, Clément and Marc Tannouri, passionate about bread, high-end artisanal pastry, viennoiserie, and their native Zahleh.
In 2025, they opened their two counters — in Zahleh and in Kaslik — while maintaining their main lab in Zahleh, where all production is done before daily deliveries to Beirut, Metn, and Kesrouan.
The galette's composition: Inverted puff pastry and homemade frangipane with selected almonds.
Clément Tannouri explains: "Our galette des rois is faithful to tradition: an inverted puff pastry — an exacting technique for incomparable flakiness — and a refined homemade frangipane prepared with selected almonds. It’s an homage to pastry craft, where precision and simplicity shine. The traditional galette is honest — it showcases the puff pastry, the balance of the frangipane, and our house’s expertise."
Our review: Perfectly baked, the puff pastry is wonderfully buttery, the frangipane ultra-generous, and the "fève" (small figurine buried inside the cake) is delicate and stylish. This is a high-quality classic galette.
Practical info:
Fèves: Made in France by a specialized house to an exclusive design for Clément. This year, they're shaped like a bee. One golden fève is hidden in 200 galettes. Whoever finds it will be entered into a drawing, with the winner receiving a round-trip ticket Beirut-Paris-Beirut for two.
Size and price: Galette for 8-10 people is $60, individual size $6.
Ordering: 3 business days in advance for traditional galettes, or online at clementlebanon.com. Mini-galettes available daily.
Delivery: Beirut, Metn, Kesrouan, Zahleh and surrounding areas.
Address: Zahleh, behind the new Serail. Tel: 81 989 192.
Instagram: clementlebanon
La Tarterie's galette: a little Lebanese touch
La Tarterie opened its first shop in November 2024 in the heart of Ashrafieh, rue du Liban. At the same time, a food truck tours all over Lebanon, meeting food lovers.
Their signature: sweet tarts with buttery notes and perfectly crispy savory tarts with Lebanese flavors, made to order with ultra-fresh ingredients and artisanal skill.
The galette's composition: puff pastry, cream without eggs, almonds, walnuts, orange blossom, rose water, mastic.
La Tarterie explains: "This year, our galette des rois naturally fits our DNA: a French galette with an elegant, fragrant Lebanese twist, filled with a delicate blend of walnuts and almonds, scented with orange blossom, rose water, and mastic. It perfectly represents La Tarterie's spirit: a bridge between tradition and Lebanese identity, a generous, aromatic, and above all different galette that surprises while remaining comforting."
Our review: A galette for those who like to think outside the box. The presence of walnuts and scented almonds lightens the frangipane, though some may find it a bit too present compared to the puff pastry.
Practical info:
Fèves: Imported from France, these fèves are little animals themed around La Tarterie’s emblem, the squirrel. As last year, a contest: whoever finds the squirrel fève wins a tart of their choice.
Sizes and prices: For 4 people $32, for 6 people $40, for 10 people $60.
Ordering: It's recommended to order 24 hours in advance. Some galettes will also be available in store.
Delivery available
Address: rue du Liban, Ashrafieh. Tel: 79 108 801.
Instagram: la tarterie
Bakelab’s galette: A taste for detail
Bakelab Counter is an artisanal bakery-café in Mar Mikhael offering sourdough breads and hand-crafted viennoiseries made with local flours.
A sister to Bakelab Academy — a bread-baking academy launched by the Bakalian family (of Bakalian Flour Mills) — it opened its doors in April 2023. Initially meant as a retail outlet, the bakery soon became a neighborhood gathering spot.
Bakelab explains: "For galette des rois, we’re quite purist. After testing several flavors this year, we returned to basics: a frangipane galette made with inverted puff pastry. This process ensures more even lamination and yields a fine, super-crispy pastry. The almond frangipane highlights pure almond flavor, lifted by subtle vanilla for roundness and balance."
The galette’s composition: Inverted puff pastry, classic almond-vanilla frangipane.
Our review: This is a place for detail. From the box — decorated with Laure Ibrahim’s comic-strip-style illustrations of a cast of characters everyone can relate to — to the frangipane, subtly enhanced by vanilla notes.
Practical info:
Fèves: Ceramic, imported from France. This year: Small crowned frogs in various colors, collectible.
Size and price: Galette for 6-8 people is $55.
Ordering: Available only by pre-order at bakelabcounter.com. At least 48 hours’ notice required.
Delivery: Covers Beirut and suburbs, from Kaslik to Khaldeh, and the Metn. Whole galette not sold in store, but available by the slice there.
Address: Bakelab Counter, rue Pharaon, Mar Mikhael, Beirut. Tel: 81 557 354.
Instagram: bakelabcounter
Des Choux et Des Idées' galette: The intensity of toasted almonds
Passionate about pastry, and after studying at Paris's Ferrandi school and a six-month internship at the Georges V hotel, chef Samer Kobeissi opened a "laboratory of delights" in Ashrafieh named Des Choux et Des Idées.
It’s a place where tradition, creativity, and precision are the watchwords for creating artisanal pastries with special attention given to both appearance and flavor.
Galette composition: inverted puff pastry, frangipane with toasted almonds.
Des Choux et des Idées explains: "For our classic galette, we chose these flavors to revisit traditional taste with a twist: inverted puff pastry yields flakier, lighter layers and the toasted almonds make the frangipane more intense."
Our review: In this highly praised galette, the pastry is perfect, crisp and airy. The toasted almond frangipane offers deep, intense notes. The result: a refined, balanced galette.
And also: The shop also offers a galette with roasted hazelnuts and dark chocolate—a creation inspired by the Nutcracker, the theme of their year-end collection. It features a hazelnut and dark chocolate cream.
Practical info:
Fèves: Ceramic, imported from Paris, shaped as miniature pastries. This year, two special copper Nutcracker-shaped fèves grant gift certificates at Des Choux et Des Idées.
Size and price: For 6-10 people, from $45.
Ordering: Two days in advance.
Delivery available
Address: Ashrafieh, Sassine. Tel: 70 779 772; 01 200 955.
Instagram: deschouxetdesidées
Céline's galette: elegant and light
Céline, named after founder Céline Dabbous, is a brand-new high-end artisanal pastry shop that opened last October in Saïfi. Its target: fans of French sweets, viennoiseries, and pastries.
Composition: inverted puff pastry, frangipane, orange blossom water.
Céline explains: "Our galette is made with Isigny AOP butter, renowned for its rich aroma and exceptional quality, and with an inverted puff pastry for a light, evenly baked result true to classic methods."
Our review: We loved its elegance with a powdered sugar design and its lightness, the sweetness of the frangipane, and the subtle touch of orange blossom water, even if the flavors are still a bit timid. A promising start!
Practical info:
Fèves: Fine porcelain, crafted in France, depicting Gaspard, Balthazar, and Melchior—three unique collectible figures.
Sizes and prices: For 6-8 people $50, for 10-12 people $60.
Ordering: At least two days in advance.
Delivery: Home delivery launching in the coming months.
Address: Saïfi Village, Beirut. Tel: 03 155 526.
Instagram: celine.artisans
Pâte à Choux’s galette: classic and unsurprising
One of the first places in Lebanon to offer French pastry, Pâte à Choux opened its doors in 1956 in Hamra with founder Victor Rebeiz. Now run by his son Makram, this establishment, which has stood the test of time, continues to offer traditional pastries and artisanal creations at several locations around the country.
Composition: Puff pastry, frangipane, hazelnut powder.
Makram Rebeiz explains: "We’re very attached to tradition. Many reinterpretations of the galette des rois often change the taste and symbolism. That’s why we’ve kept the classic almond frangipane on a puff pastry base. We use almond powder with a small percentage of hazelnut powder. Our second galette is the Alsatian galette, a brioche filled with orange frangipane."
Our review: A good galette, classic, by the book, and nothing surprising.
Practical info:
Fèves: Classic fèves—the focus here is on pastry.
Sizes and prices: For 6-8 people $45, for 8-10 people $55, for 10-12 people $65.
Ordering: 48 hours in advance.
Delivery: No delivery during the holiday season.
Addresses: Sodeco 01 614 150 | 03 928 892; Verdun 01 866 228; Hazmieh 05 957 952.
Instagram: pâte à choux
