Butter me up: Paris gets its first boutique devoted to France’s favorite fat

PARIS (AP) — The contradiction of the trim Parisian and the butter croissant now has a storefront.

Le Butter Shop, billed as Paris’ first boutique devoted entirely to butter, opened last month a short walk from the Eiffel Tower — with 30 varieties from small family producers in Brittany, the Loire Valley and northern France.

France eats around 8 kilograms (18 pounds) of butter per person a year, so says the agriculture ministry. It's among the most in the world. Yet the home of Chanel and Dior keeps an obesity rate well below the average for wealthy nations — 14%, compared to an average of 19% for the developed countries that make up the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

At the new boutique, customers taste by the spoonful before buying anything from a 10-gram pat to a kilogram (2.2-pound) block: the classics, then shallot, pepper, seaweed, wild garlic, fine herbs and lemon with green pepper.

At the sweet end: vanilla, raspberry, strawberry and chocolate.

“Most people don’t expect to like a raspberry butter or to like chocolate butter,” said owner Erwan Leo, 34. “And when they try it, this is where they’re just like, ‘Oh wow, OK.'”

Leo, who also runs a wine-tasting business, said butter should be used like wine, to make a meal better — “the goal isn’t to get drunk.”

Mehreen Himayat, 25, and Salman Bin Ehsan, 27, of Dublin, Ireland — a country known for its rich golden butter — saw videos of the shop at home in Dublin, Ireland, before traveling to France.

“We came here just to taste the butter,” Bin Ehsan told The Associated Press.

Alexandra Incolano, a 36-year-old who lives near Paris, came to the shop with a specific mission.

“I’m getting married on Saturday and I’m going to have a cheese centerpiece,” Incolano said. “I saw on Instagram that they had lots of great butters and I thought it could be a little something extra for my guests, a little surprise.”

The reputation of French butter is also attracting visitors who work professionally with food.

“I know that there’s some of the best butter in France, but I’ve never tried any,” said Aleksandr Balaban, a 31-year-old Estonian chef working in Norway. “I work in Norway, they really like salted butter, and my friend asked me to bring him some French butter as well.”

Leo said the secret to savoring fatty butter is to be like Parisians: Walk a lot, and practice moderation. “We don’t go beyond four tartines a day,” he said, referring to a French open-faced sandwich.

Tasting butter works like tasting wine, he said: “You have to grab your spoon, you put it on your palate, on your tongue, it has to melt a little bit, and then the flavors are going to start coming one by one.”

“The Italians choose olive oil, we choose butter,” Leo said. “We learn how to master it.”

Neighborhood supermarkets give butter a vocabulary: beurre doux, demi-sel and beurre salé, sometimes studded with salt crystals. Bakers fold it into croissants; cooks whisk it into sauces.

Butter is the fat of France’s dairy-producing north and west, and of Brittany above all.

Salt preserved it before refrigeration, and Brittany’s exemption from the gabelle, France’s old salt tax, kept Breton butter salted as much of the country went unsalted.

The legacy lives on in crêpes, salted caramel and kouign-amann, whose Breton name means “butter cake.”

Leo’s producers churn from selected cows and higher-fat milk; an extra 2 or 3 percentage points, he said, “really makes a huge difference.”

The tiny shop has drawn crowds through social media and now has a staff of four.

“From day one, it’s been crazy,” Leo said. “Most people come in with wanting to try one or two butters, they end up trying 25 butters because they’re just so curious.”

Next up: a croissant-flavored butter, and perhaps violet.

“This is limitless,” Leo said.

Packs of butter with different flavors are displayed in a refrigerator at Le Butter Shop, the first shop devoted entirely to butter in Paris, France, Tuesday Aug. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

An employee gives information to a customer at Le Butter Shop, the first shop devoted entirely to butter in Paris, France, Tuesday Aug. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Packs of butter with different flavors are displayed in a refrigerator at Le Butter Shop, the first shop devoted entirely to butter in Paris, France, Tuesday Aug. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Owner of Le Butter Shop, Erwan Leo, poses in his first shop devoted entirely to butter in Paris, France, Tuesday Aug. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Manchester City signed highly rated teenage midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille on Wednesday, getting a rising star seen as the Premier League giant's long-term replacement for Rodri.

The 18-year-old Morocco international has signed a five-year contract, City said. No financial details were given but French sports daily L'Equipe and the BBC were among those reporting the transfer fee to be 100 million euros ($117 million).

Bouaddi, a deep-lying midfielder, is being viewed as the long-term replacement for 2024 men's Ballon d’Or winner Rodri, who recently joined Barcelona after helping Spain win the World Cup.

City's midfield rebuild under manager Enzo Maresca, who has replaced Pep Guardiola, has also seen the club spend $155 million on England international Elliot Anderson and is unlikely to stop there, given Bernardo Silva has already left after his contract expired and Nico Gonzalez has traveled to Newcastle to tie up a transfer. Reports in the British media say City retains an interest in Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez.

The fee makes Bouaddi the most expensive player sold from the French league, surpassing the 90 million euros Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal paid to get Neymar from Paris Saint-Germain in 2023.

“This is a very special day for me and my family,” Bouaddi said. “I’ve watched City for many years, and I love their style of play. City always try and play quality football. And they have shown they are winners, this club feels like it’s built to win.”

Although Bouaddi impressed at the World Cup with his assured touch, tactical understanding and maturity, he had already caught the eye two years ago.

At the start of his career he was being touted as Lille’s best midfielder since Eden Hazard, who left to become a Premier League star with Chelsea.

Bouaddi joined Lille’s academy in 2021 and, just three days after his 16th birthday, became the youngest player to appear in a European game in a Europa Conference League match last October against KI Klaksvík.

City's director of football, Hugo Viana, described Bouaddi as “a player equipped with everything a top midfielder needs.”

“At just 18, he already has outstanding football intelligence and that will only improve under the guidance of Enzo,” Viana said.

“We have watched him very, very closely and throughout that process we have become increasingly convinced he is a huge talent who will thrive at City.”

Bouaddi's skill set may be lacking in one area: goals. He did not score in 96 games for Lille and has yet to find the net in eight games for Morocco.

“I am only 18. I am happy with the progress I have made so far, but I also know I can improve so much,” he said. “This is undoubtedly the best place for me to do that.”

Lille has earned a reputation as one of best sellers of talented players in European soccer.

The northern club sold Ivory Coast forward Nicolas Pépé to Arsenal in 2019 for 80 million euros and Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen went to Napoli the following year for a similar amount.

Manchester United paid 62 million euros for central defender Leny Yoro two years ago.

Last year, goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier was sold to Paris Saint-Germain for 40 million euros and center back Bafodé Diakité went to Bournemouth, for around the same fee.

City beat Bournemouth 2-1 in its season opener on Sunday thanks to a pair of late goals, marking a successful start to Maresca's tenure following the departure of Guardiola after a trophy-laden, 10-year spell.

In that game, Maresca played Marc Guehi — a center back — as a holding midfielder, a sign that City was short of options in that area. Bouaddi will solve that and could make his debut against Crystal Palace on Friday.

See AP’s full soccer coverage here

Manchester City's head coach Enzo Maresca reacts during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Bournemouth in Manchester, England, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)

FILE - Morocco's Ayyoub Bouaddi vies for the ball during the World Cup quarterfinal soccer match between France and Morocco in Foxborough, Mass., near Boston, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, file)