Oysters in Paris
In a half shell, here’s everything you need to know about buying, ordering, and eating oysters in Paris.
October 2014
Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen
This historic three-star restaurant is perched in a pavilion just off the Champs-Elysées and has been a dining destination since the French Revolution. Long-time chef Christian Le Squer handed the reigns to Yannick Alleno in July 2014, and Alleno has promised a renewed focus on what he considers to be the great strength of French cuisine – sauces.
Arnaud Larher
This Meilleur Ouvrier de France has two boutiques in Montmartre.
La Cave à Michel
There is no real “Michel” behind La Cave à Michel – the name of this lively, standing-room-only Belleville wine bar uses the name in its French sense of “everyman.” And indeed, the bar is as welcoming and informal as its product standards are rigorous and precise. The product of a friendly collaboration between caviste Fabrice Mansouri and Romain and Maxime Tischenko, the brothers behind next door tasting-menu restaurant Le Galopin, La Cave à Michel rivals the Left Bank’s L’Avant Comptoir for the best Parisian cuisine you’ll eat standing up. Romain Tischenko reins in his more maximalist impulses in the bar’s tiny kitchen, and turns out small plates of jewel-like delicacy: beef tartare beneath ricotta salata, bass céviche, or mozzarella with salmon roe. Mansouri’s selection of natural wines is well-considered and well-priced. If service can become a little sluggish at times, it’s because the bar is reliably packed with restaurant industry regulars and Mansouri has a gift for banter. Serious cuisine is rarely this fun.
— Aaron Ayscough, January 2016
Caffè Stern
Many powerful names/brands have come together for this long-awaited opening inside the Passage des Panoramas. The Alajmo family (of the three-starred Le Calendre in Padua) have partnered with David Lanher (Racines, Vivant) to convert an engraving shop into an Italian restaurant. They had some help from designer Philippe Starck, but thankfully not too much. The historically protected space – a series of dimly glowing rooms that date back to the 16th century – is stunning. Read More »Caffè Stern