wvdthree

Hello all,
I’m headed to Paris in early March for eleven nights to celebrate a milestone birthday and am looking for current recommendations for restaurants and interesting food related activities, stores, cookware shops etc.. I’m an ex chef and I lived and went to cooking school for a year in Paris in the mid 80’s. I make it back every 3-4 four years but am looking for some fresh ideas. I’m staying in the 11th near M Voltaire. If there are any places near there great but I plan on making every night a dining adventure so will go pretty much anywhere. Language is not an issue.

As far as restaurants I’m interested in French bistro/ bistonomie type of places. 55 euros pp for a three course prix fixe menu excluding wine. I enjoy regional/rustic cooking and updated versions of classics but nothing too fusion..y or plates that are fussed over too much. Not a huge fan of foams/gels/powders etc.. Nor am I a fan of most natural wines, so no restos that serve only these types of wine. A few of my favorites from 2017 were Astier, La Regalade, L’Os a Moelle, Juveniles, Auberge Cevennes Pyrenees,

Also looking for ideas for interesting food related activities. Markets/shops/artisanal food producers, not cooking classes however. I thought I’d take a tour of the Rungis Market but reviews of tours there are not terribly positive. I’m browsing site like Lefooding, TA, Alex Lobrano, Patricia Wells etc. but am looking for some personal recommendations from the folks on this great forum. Thanks in advance for any responses.

Best,
wvdthree

AJPeabody

You might find your best advice on this on Chowhound, where there are at least three Parisians that post regularly on questions like this. John Talbott is one of these, and he has a restaurant blog that is sure to give you some good ideas. The two that I would list from recent experience are La Pie Noir (Brittany food) and Le Cosi (Corsican).

https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=...10.JtGIMW26Z_0

https://www.restaurant-le-cosi.fr/en/

https://www.chowhound.com/tag/paris
https://johntalbottsparis.typepad.com/

jpie

Yes I agree with AJPeabody about chowhound and the blogs. My favorite restaurant of the moment that fits your profile more or less is Le 52 in the 10th. I have been there twice now and each time has been excellent. The octopus was a stand out-I rarely find people who cook it well. Unfortunately their menu link seems to be broken at the moment, but if you look them up on yelp there are some menu pictures that will give you an idea of prices and some items. They are casual, open 7 days a week and don't take reservations-which is of course bad on a busy weekend but great if you are playing tourist and want a lunch at a weird hour like 3pm


Le 52 | Café Restaurant - Paris 75010

My other favorite restaurant is nouvelle Indian called Desi Road near the Pont Neuf. We eat a lot of ethnic food in Paris because since we have a house outside of Paris in the country we are always looking for great ethnic food in Paris (and high quality French food is cheaper in the country!)

Desi Road

Desi Road

Here is an additional interesting food blog about Paris-this article is about the chef of Frenchie's the fast growing favorite of US visitors:

https://www.wendy-lyn.com/city-guide...egory-marchand

wvdthree

Thanks @jpie and @ajpeabody for your replies. Le 52 looks right up my alley and will be on my short list. I'll try the other sites you recommend as well.

Best,
wvdthree

Flwrhead

I absolutely loved Les Papilles, 30 Rue Gay-Lussac. Great wine and the best meal we had in Paris.

tuscanlifeedit

We set our pp at about 35-40 Euro and like these types of restaurants, too. Last February, our favorites were Le Mazenay, Pottoka, Aux Buerre Radis, Hebe and L'Ange 20. I skipped Aux Petit Carieux for someone's recommendation of Boucheron Rouillare and I was sorry I did. I would totally stand beside the rest of these because they were wonderful.

Maribel

A big ditto to AJPeabody and jpie's Chowhound France forum suggestion.
I follow John Talbott's recommendations there as well as those of Parnassian and Ptipois, excellent Chowhound contributors who are incredibly knowledgable about the Parisian dining scene.
I also subscribe to Le Fooding's newsletter and have the APP
https://lefooding.com/en.
I also look at Patricia Wells' blog (have her APP) and Alexander Lobrano's blog from time to time and Paris by Mouth.
Blog ? Patricia Wells
https://www.alexanderlobrano.com

Recent favorites in the 7th: Pottoka, Bistrot Belhara (both Basque), Philippe Excoffier
In the 15th: La Cantine du Troquet Dupleix (Basque-Béarn comfort food--several of Christian Etchebest's Cantine du Troquet locations we've enjoyed, but no reservations accepted)

*

AJPeabody

Note that Les Papilles has a no choice meal of the day that is decided upon by the chef on that day, but if I recall correctly, needs reservations in advance if you want a spot. For those of us with food allergies or requirements, that's not a good thing.

KTtravel

We really enjoyed our food tour from Food by Mouth. They limit the group so it is able to visit small shops easily. The guide we had was very enthusiastic and we had a terrific time.
We also loved Les Papilles but you have to be OK with eating whatever the chef wants to prepare that day.

jpie

If you are reading Alexander Lobrano then you probably also know about David Lebovitz as well. I notice he lists a couple of other food tour groups besides Paris by Mouth so thought I would add that link at least

https://www.davidlebovitz.com/tours/

And a couple of other restaurants-the first one is in the Batignolles area-very hip these days and it is a favorite of our young "hipster" foodie friends-their favorite neighborhood go-to place.

La Fabrique de Bouchons

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura...de_France.html

This one is a very good "1 star" neighborhood cous cous restaurant near the Moulin Rouge. It is called L'Avenir (means "the future"). It is inexpensive, small and quite yummy for cous cous:

L?AVENIR I RESTAURANT COUSCOUS & TAJINES PARIS 9 75009

51 Rue Blanche, 75009 Paris, France

Also I assume if you get to France fairly often you may have visited Amorino-great gelato place where they serve the gelato in the shape of little flower-surper yummy. A number of them in Paris

http://www.amorino.com/en/city/paris.2.html

jpie

Also meant to mention that Eatwith might interest you. They are eating events at "locals homes" . Some people complain it is just tourist stuff but friends who have done it have enjoyed it-meeting both other travelers interested in culture and food, as well as meeting local hosts who like to hold food-centric events at their homes. They do have some folks offering classes but others are just dining events

https://www.eatwith.com/

Iwan2go

I was excited to click on John Talbots’s blog and see, first one up, posted today - Zebulon, in the First. We went there twice in October and loved it. Plan on going again in June.

wvdthree

Thanks to all for your responses. I'm making notes fast and furious!! Making dining plans is much of the total enjoyment of any trip for me. Les Papilles looks great from what I can see on Trip Advisor but they have no website. Can anyone comment on the price of their no choice, fixed price menu? I'll be digging into all of the links you have provided. Thanks again.

Best,
wvdthree

AJPeabody

Price: https://lefooding.com/en/restaurants...papilles-paris

Pepper_von_snoot

Pottoka is my favourite restaurant in Paris.

Les Papilles 👍

1 Michelin Star: Les Climats 👍👍 Excellent wine.

L'Ange 20 is good for lunch.

Thin,aristocrat 🤠

kerouac

You might enjoy Coretta on the corner of the Parc Martin Luther King. The chef is Mexican, but her food is French.

https://www.restaurantcoretta.com/

plambers

pottoka, l ange 20 and le hide were our favorites last trip. and in that order. enjoy!

wvdthree

Hey Kerouac,
Coretta looks tasty indeed!! I can't find a price for a current carte or evening fixed price menu on their site. Have you been there personally and if so can you comment on cost?

The plates on their sites and TA look both tasty and certainly very pretty. I recently read a quote by David Rathgerber, chef/owner of L'Assiette in Paris that I thought was interesting and is something I agree with. He said he is against the current fashion of what he calls "cusine d'assemblage". Indicating he doesn't like or agree with the practice of chefs artfully tweezering 9-12 disparate elements together on a plate which sometimes seem to have nothing to do with each other and/or do not compliment each other. Tiny smears of this and several tiny drops of that or sprinkling of some odd powder. He prefers dishes in which the elements have been cooked together and therefore the resultant more melded flavors. There, I said it, my bias toward that kind of cooking philosophy, indeed a bit old school. I don't mind pretty plates as long as it's not at the expense of the overall taste of the dish.

That said Kerouac, Coretta may very likely be on my short list for my eleven night dining spree. Thanks Kerouac!!

wvdthree

Wow Plambers, Le Hide looks exactly like what I really enjoy!! I'm quite sure I will be eating there one night. I continue to be amazed at how reasonable it can be to eat in Paris with a fixed price menu. I have no problem finding place I like perfectly well that charge 35-40 Euros for three courses without wine. At places in the US that I dine at if I want to eat well, starters are 15, mains are 28-38 and desserts are 10 ish. And don't get me started on the now normal practice of wines by the glass, nothing terribly special starting at $10-12, absurd. The dining scene in the US has exploded over the past 20 years but better deals are to be had in France.

Judy

We have eaten at Coretta and enjoyed the meal. I cannot remember the cost, though, so it must have been fairly reasonable. Did you search on John Talbott's site? Whenever he reviews a restaurant, he notes the cost.