Paris Restaurants for Ringing in the New Year

The vast majority of Paris restaurants will be closed through January 2 (see our calendar of holiday closures), but a few will be open to help you celebrate the New Year. There are no bargains at this time of year, but we’ve broken down your options, ranging from 66€ to (gasp!) 980€. Look for the  icon to see what we think are the best bets within each price category.

New Year’s Eve (le Réveillon de la Saint Sylvestre)

Staggeringly Expensive

•  L’Abeille - for 900€ per person (including wine pairings), the nine-course menu will feature oysters, langoustines, foie gras, sea scallops, turbot, young deer, plus a cheese and several dessert courses. Wine pairings for each course include selections like Champagne Dom Pérignon and Château Cheval Blanc. If you’re going to splurge on this level (which we probably never would), the deal at L’Abeille is far more interesting than the apparent rip-offs at Le Meurice at La Tour d’Argent. Reservation and prepayment via La Fourchette is required.

• Le Meurice - for 980€ per person (not including drinks),the menu features a few starters and desserts surrounding a series of four courses with lobster and chapon. Once again: wine is not included. What a deal.

• La Tour d’Argent - for 520€ per person (not including drinks), the menu will begin with an oyster in a green apple jelly, followed by morels and black truffles in a cream sauce, sea scallops with a millefeuille of celery root and black truffle, the prestige “Pattes Noires” poultry from Challans with white Alba truffle, Mont d’Or for the cheese course and several desserts. 520€ per person, not including drinks.

Very Expensive (more than 175€ without wine)

•  L’Agapé – for 195€ (not including wine), the menu includes wild salmon with caviar, smoked veal with truffle oil, ravioli of langoustines with bottarga, truffled sea scallops, foie gras, young dear with truffled jus, plus cheese and dessert courses. Reservation and deposit via La Fourchette is required.

• Flora Danica - for 190€ (including Champagne but no other wine), the menu includes salmon rillettes, smoked salmon, sea bass in Aquavit emulsion with risotto, filet of smoked reindeer (Rudolphe?), and several desserts. Not the most promising option for gastronomes (and much less interesting than L’Agapé‘s option above), but perhaps useful for those who insist on being on and around the Champs-Elysées. We don’t understand you, but we know you exist.

• Fréderic Simonin - for 290€ (not including wine), the nine course menu is a progression of luxury ingredients, including foie gras, truffles, caviar, lobster, young deer, cheese, and desserts.

• Les Ombres - for 360€ per person including all drinks, the six course menu includes caviar, sea bass, Challans chicken with foie gras and truffles and desserts, unlimited Champagne, plus mineral water, coffee, and an Eiffel Tower view. Reservations and prepayment required via La Fourchette.

• Senderens – for 375€ with wine pairings or 270€ without wine, the menu includes a truffled amuse-bouche followed by a truffle burger, sea scallops with truffles and leeks, chicken stuffed with crayfish and truffles, a pumpkin dish, and several desserts including a Saint-Honoré cake with truffles.

• Shang Palace - for 250€ (not including wine) those who are sick of holiday food can opt for an eight-course menu with Chinese dishes like tempura oysters and beef with mushrooms. Reservations required via La Fourchette.

• Verjus - for 200€, the restaurant will serve a special multi-course menu with wine pairings and Champagne included. They’re already fully booked up, but you can ask to be added to the wait list in case of cancellations.

Expensive (more than 85€ without wine)

•  L’Auberge du 15 - for 100€ (not including wine), the multi-course menu will include chestnut soup with truffles and toasted almonds, sea scallops with buttered and truffled scallops, suprême de volaille fermière (farm-raised chicken) with roasted foie gras and truffled mashed potatoes, and dessert. Reservations via La Fourchette.

•  Bar le Passage – for 95€ (not including drinks), the menu includes sea scallops with truffles and leeks, chicken breast stuffed with crayfish, a pumpkin dish and several desserts. This is the more casual bar above the restaurant Senderens (described above).

• Chamarré Montmartre - for 159€ (not including drinks), the menu includes seven courses featuring lots of seafood and a main dish of partidge, followed by cheese and dessert courses. Reservation and prepayment via La Fourchette is required.

• La Fermette Marbeuf - for 155€, the menu includes foie gras, seared sea scallops with mushroom ravioli, veal with foie gras, cheese and several desserts with a coupe de Champagne Pommery brut (other wine not included).

• La Maison de L’Aubrac – for 135€, the menu includes a glass of Champagne and a selection of mises en bouche like a macaron of foie gras and spice bread, truffled risotto with quail’s egg, and Macaron de foie gras au pain d’épices, sea scallops with caviar, and a choice between two starters and two mains (oddly, none of these are steak). Dessert, mineral water and coffee are also included.

• Pinxo will be serving a multi-course menu for 110€ featuring lobster with truffles, sea scallops, lamb, cheese and dessert. Wine pairings, including Champagne, for an additional 38€. Reservation and deposit via La Fourchette is required.

• Qui Plume la Lune - for 150€ (not including drinks), the chef will be serving a seven-course improved tasting menu. Reservation and prepayment via La Fourchette is required

• Also open, but not necessarily doing a special holiday meal: L’Ateliers de Joël Robuchon Saint-Germain & Etoile

Moderate (less than 85€)

•  La Compagnie de Bretagne will be serving a special lobster menu for 66€ per person including two glasses of Champagne per person (now we’re talking). The menu starts with lobster coral-buttered blinis and continues with lobster bisque, lobster terrine, a Breton cleanser of cider granité, and a main course of lobster à l’armoricaine followed by several desserts.

• Juveniles will be serving a 65€ menu with wine at retail price, and they’re already fully booked.

•  Miroir - for 80€ (not including drinks), the menu includes truffled foie gras, sea scallops, roasted and stuffed bird, truffled Brillat-Savarin (cheese) and desserts.

• Ô-Château will be serving a  multi-course dinner priced at 75€ without wine and 125€ including wine pairings. The menu features salmon, house-made foie gras, duck with morel mushrooms and black truffle purée, and a tangerine bûche.

• Verjus Bar à Vin - the wine bar below the restaurant will be open and serving small plates (no holiday menu) and of course wine, and we expect it to be packed (really, really packed) and fun.

• Brasseries and bouillons open 365 days/year: Le Pied de Cochon, Chez Jenny and all of the Flo brasseries (Bofinger, La Coupole, Julien, Le Vaudeville, Terminus Nord, Brasserie Balzar, Le Boeuf sur le Toit), and Chartier (very inexpensive).

New Year’s Day (le Jour de l’An)

• La Compagnie de Bretagne will be serving a special lobster brunch for 49€ per person not including drinks

Related Posts

• Celebrating Christmas in Paris Restaurants
• Our Calendar of Holiday Closures