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Head over to the up-and-coming Canal St-Martin to watch Parisian bobos, or bourgeois-bohemian, in action. The area is home to fashion designers, artists, and media folk who make the most of the waterside cafés on sunny days. The bistro scene gets interesting east of the Bastille, where lower rents have encouraged young chefs to set up shop. Around Père Lachaise the selection thins, but wander a little farther to multicultural Belleville to find an intriguing mix of Chinese and North African eateries alongside some superb gastrobistros from a handful of gifted young chefs.
An easy walk from Place de la Bastille and the Marais, this sleek 2,000-square-foot café is a favorite spot for breakfast, veggie-centric nibbles, and exceptional scones, breads, and sweet rolls served all day, seven days a week. Mornings are a good time to enjoy the fragrance of fresh roasting coffee, performed in full view.
Anyone with a hankering for enticing, well-priced, gourmet-inflected Chinese fare in a chic setting need look no further. Friendly to both carnivores and herbivores alike, the fried tofu filled with Comté cheese, the cold noodles, and the cucumber salad are just as good as the perfectly crisp caramelized pork or fried chicken. Pairing their choices with a local craft beer, cocktail, or natural wine, Parisians couldn't be happier.
This ever-popular eatery near the canal is the go-to spot for locals and expats with a hankering for all those breakfast comfort foods Mom used to make, but with a gourmet twist. Stacks of ethereally light pancakes or eggs and bacon come with bourbon butter and maple syrup, or a side of fennel sausage, baked beans, hash browns, or a copious serving of green salad. Fruit, yogurt, and granola bowls and other homemade sweets are equally soothing: chia pudding, pecan cake, and an extra-light cheesecake. Wash it all down with a gourmet coffee, homemade soda, a sparkling mimosa, or a bloody Mary.
Master chocolatier Jacques Genin's sophisticated carrés are like small jewels, perfumed with ganaches of exquisite subtlety in seasonal flavors like rosemary, Szechuan pepper, or bergamot. The glorious pastries served in this tearoom and chocolate boutique (one of the loveliest in Paris) are no longer available for takeaway but rather are assembled to order, to be eaten fresh on the premises. Don't forget a cup of velvety, bittersweet chocolat chaud (hot chocolate); the melt-in-your-mouth caramels are also deservedly famous.
You don't have to be a chocoholic to appreciate this cozy little nook of a café focused on all things derived from the cocoa bean: decadent cakes and pastries, chocolates and tablettes (bars of chocolate), and a most sinful chocolat chaud. There are also coffee and other beverages to linger over inside or at a sidewalk table.
This laid-back, no-reservation wine bar near the Place d'Aligre market is a throwback to another era, with just a few tables plus giant wine barrels along the walls for filling and refilling your take-home bottles. A fun time to come is Sunday morning (yes, morning) when it's packed with locals who have just been to the market and want to linger over good food and that first petit blanc of the day.
The Paul Bert delivers everything you could want from a traditional Paris bistro (faded 1930s decor, thick steak with real frites, and good value), so it's no wonder its two dining rooms fill every night with a cosmopolitan crowd. The impressively stocked wine cellar helps, as do the laid-back yet efficient staff, excellent and abundant cheese trolley, and hearty dishes such as monkfish with white beans and duck with pears. The prix-fixe lunch menu is only €22, or you can order à la carte.
The impressive but unfussy gastronomic menu here features Asian-inflected dishes that express the food's far-flung influences. A starter of "zakouskis," several small dishes that may include deep-fried giblets, fresh radishes with anchovy butter, or herb-infused cockles, warms you up for a sublime entrée of whole lacquered quail, cod with spicy black-bean reduction, or crispy melt-in-your mouth pork on a bed of braised leeks. Deliciously nuanced desserts, a good selection of natural wines, and an unbeatable two-course €26 lunch menu add up to an essential Paris dining experience.
Paris's grandest Belle Époque beauty, hidden within the Gare de Lyon train station, has been fully restored to a culinary status almost befitting its eye-popping decor. The menu of French classics is not cheap, though the €56 "travelers menu" for lunch assures you'll be wined, dined, and on your train in 45 minutes. But why not linger? The chic bar is a great place to meet for coffee or a cocktail whether you're heading off on a train or not. Magnificent hardly describes this historic monument's lushly gilded boiserie, extravagant frescoes, and original globe lighting.
Classic bistros are making a comeback in Paris, and this neighborhood favorite embodies everything people love about this French institution. Here, traditional fare is lovingly prepared with top-quality ingredients and paired with a wine list that's so good it's a draw unto itself. The casual-chic atmosphere full of happy diners makes for a reliably delightful lunch or evening out.
Don't let the casual decor and laid-back atmosphere here fool you: this is a seriously ambitious restaurant full of Parisian foodies who would be happy to keep this gem all to themselves. Starters like smoked eel and cabbage topped with a delicate tuille of black rice, smoked zucchini ravioli with lemon butter, or roasted pigeon are gorgeously presented and so deliciously complex they defy description. Though a little out of the way, it's in a great up-and-coming neighborhood and well worth the trip.
The deep sidewalk terrace at this three-in-one gourmet grocer, restaurant, and café is a great place to linger over lunch and a glass of wine, or an early (for France) dinner. The daily menu of hot dishes, soups, and salads complements a wide selection of tasty pastries and classic sandwiches made with top-notch ingredients. In the gourmet shop, Plisson scoured France for all its specialties: cherry juice from Provence, ciders and biscuits from Normandy, the famous Paris ham, and wines and Champagne from the best producers everywhere. Prices are steep, but it's great for a splurge.
One of the city's best examples of the casual gourmet cafés popping up around Paris, Mokonuts is run by a talented husband-and-wife team who create delicious dishes and pastries that are as pleasing to the eye as they are to the palate. Prepare for crowds at breakfast and teatime, when you can choose from chunky multigrain cookies, sweet or savory muffins, tarts, and other sweet goodies. At lunch, locals elbow their way in for a variety of gourmet salads, sandwiches, and hot dishes. Accompany your meal with excellent coffee, a selection of teas, or a freshly made juice, like the refreshing orange-blossom lemonade. Dinner (€70) is served only by reservation for at least eight.
Chef Giovanni Passerini, a favorite Parisian chef, has done it again with this wine-focused spot, the companion to his wildly popular Italian restaurant just a few steps away. It's a wine bar, gastro-bistro, and pasta factory all in one, and the oh-so-good plates of highbrow Italian comfort food are served with his typically masterful selection of well-priced French and Italian wines. The atmosphere is casual and fun while diners get down to the real business of eating and drinking and enjoying every minute of it.
Don't be put off by the name—and the must-try signature dish—at this terrific eatery, where young chef Adrien Ferrand's complex dishes are as magnificent to taste as they are to behold. From a crisp-tender grilled suckling pig to the delicious smoked eel with apple, and a roster of exquisite desserts—Granny Smith broth with hazelnut sabayon or "craquant" of chocolate with caramel cream and banana marmalade—a meal here is a delight from start to finish. The tasting menu (at lunch €32 or €39; €89 at dinner) is a great introduction to this marvelous food.
Cotton-candy-color walls, comfy banquettes, and giant mirrors belie the fact that this cozy eatery is one of the city's top destinations to experience the flavors of the Philippines. Meals are served family-style with one plate for each diner to sample from a succession of dishes, each more delicious than the next, including Hainan soy-glazed burrata flecked with ginger; fried chicken wings with black coffee sauce; and a fish of the day in coconut milk with truffle. For dessert, the strawberry pavlova comes on clouds of pandan cream and a scrumptious lime-zest cheesecake on a bed of crumbled polvoron (a type of shortbread).
With amazing food and a convivial, unpretentious atmosphere, Septime has become one of the hottest tables in town. Seasonal ingredients, inventive pairings, and excellent natural wines bring in diners ready for exciting and sophisticated dishes like creamy gnochetti in an orange-rind-flecked Gouda sauce sprinkled with coriander flowers.
Two young chefs bring their heritage (Argentine and Japanese) and impressive cooking credentials to bear in their beautiful restaurant, steps from the Marché d'Aligre, that's almost worth a visit for the decor alone. But it's the food that has earned them a passionate following among Parisians, for its range, imagination, quality, and sheer deliciousness.
