Restaurant Recommendations
 

I'm going to Paris in February and I'm looking for a recommendation for both a great French Brasserie and also a trendy/hip restaurant where there might be good people watching (not Buddha Bar). Thx

Please, oh please, do a search here for tons of suggestions and recommendation.

For a good French brasserie with great decor, there's Bofinger in the Marais, and Vagenande in the 6th, Boulevard St Germain. I think Bofinger offers a discount if you reserve on line, it is part of the Restaurant Flo Group. As is another brasserie, called Julien.

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Trendy and good people watching - Try Man (dala) Ray just off the Champs Elysee. Check it out especially late when the restaurant morphs into a club. Run do not walk away from Julien. We were there last Nov. and it was a ghost of its former self. Food pedestrain; mediocre as best with diffident service. We always have liked the Flo group but I am starting to have doubts based on our latest visits to Julien and Vaudeville.

You might want to check out this recent New York Times article: "Restaurants of the Year: In Paris, Star Chefs Take a Casual Turn." It was published January 22 and is one the web site.