Top Chef prodigy 24-year-old Alexia Duchêne is serving up an 80 euro prix fixe in the Marais.
This mission-driven restaurant gives local farmers top billing and finally offers Paris a restaurant where omnivores are happy but vegetarians are king.
Pompette is a small plates restaurant boasting a natural wine list from Australian sommelière Jess Hodges. Chef Jordan Robinson’s modest menu is mostly pescatarian with international and North American influences ranging from curry-spiked cockles to fried chicken with white barbecue sauce. Reservations are a must, whether for one of the 28 indoor seats or the dozen on the terrace.
Of Yves Camdeborde's three Avant Comptoirs, this is the one worth making a special trip – a place where the scale of the site finally matches that Camdeborde’s ambition.
Le Petit Sommelier is a rare high-quality non-stop brasserie with a 1000-reference-strong wine list.
This modern, inexpensive brasserie offers classic French fare near Gare du Nord.
Bouillon Pigalle offers cheap classic French food from noon to midnight, every single day.
This bistro is a standout in a neighborhood often defined by industrial cuisine.
Augustin Marchand d’Vins – like Left Bank predecessors La Crêmerie & La Quincave - is a bare-bones cave-à-manger, a wine shop in which one can dine, slightly.
Pastore is a contemporary Italian restaurant near Grands Boulevards boasting a relatively spacious dining room as compared to many of its Parisian counterparts. The 250-reference wine list is sure to offer the perfect accompaniment to Sicilian chef Lorenzo Sciabica's exquisite pastas or the city's best burrata – served simply with a drizzle of infused olive oil.
This bistrot in the heart of the Latin Quarter offers all-day service in its spacious dining room.
This high-end cave-à-manger is housed in a former fromagerie the size of a cheese cube.
Le Maquis is a small French restaurant located on the far side of Montmartre boasting small portions of impeccable, contemporary bistro fare and a small, all-natural wine list. A slight Italian leaning pervades the menu, which also includes more classic French dishes. Lunch is a steal at 16-euro for two courses and 18 for three.
The overarching honesty and generosity of La Vierge’s concept places the restaurant alongside overachieving peers like Belleville’s Le Cadoret at the vanguard of a new generation of Paris bistrot that recognizes the value of virtue.
Cyril Lignac's seafood-focused restaurant replaces an 11th arrondissement neighborhood bistrot.
The best way to understand the underground appeal of Latin Quarter Cantonese restaurant Empire Celeste is by comparing it to another well-known Parisian Chinese restaurant, Davé on rue Richelieu. Davé, which offers run-of-the-mill Chinese cuisine in a cramped, kitchy red interior, is notoriously popular with the fashion set. Its walls are festooned with images of the eponymous proprietor arm-in-arm with Yves Saint-Laurent, Mick Jagger, Kim Kardashian, etc. Empire Celeste, run by three generations of the Wang family since the restaurant’s founding in 1953, is the Davé of another peculiar subculture: the natural wine crowd.
Le Cadoret is a French restaurant in Belleville offering traditional French fare, inexpensive natural wines, and craft beers. With sincere and efficient service and serious value for quality, it's an excellent example of what a modern bistro can be.
This wine bar stands out in the natural wine-staturated 11th arrondissement mainly for its ostentatious design.
Chambre Noire has become the city's most daring and youthful natural wine bar.
Cheval d’Or is a luxury small-plates restaurant in Belleville offering a delicate synthesis of pan-Asian and Parisian cuisines. Reservations are highly recommended for the dining room, though the 20 counter seats are always kept open for walk-ins.
This contemporary French restaurant in the 11th arrondissement is known for its handmade charcuterie, vegetable-driven (but not vegetarian) cooking, and desserts with a savory spin. The 400-reference-strong wine list and impeccable (Anglophone) service make this neighborhood restaurant one worth crossing the city for. Now helmed by chef Christopher Edwards, the menu in summer 2021 is featuring plenty of peak-season produce, line-caught fish, and an incredible selection of white wine and craft beer for sipping on the sidewalk terrace.
La Poule au Pot is a looker. It's wonderful to walk in and witness the vintage wallpaper, the globe lighting, and the silver-plated serving chariot wheeling between Pepto-Bismol colored tables. It is at once a little elegant and also a touch cheesy. One can almost picture the 80s pop stars who used to slouch into these red banquettes, the mirrored pillars reflecting their manliner and sprayed hair. Today's Poule au Pot, having been recently rebooted by star chef Jean-François Piège, reflects something different - a desire for traditional cuisine bourgeouise and also the willingness (by some) to pay for it.
French food magazine Fulgurances opened L’Adresse in 2015 as a culinary incubator featuring a rotating cast of guest chefs.
A simple spot where you can taste bottles of excellent natural wines alongside a few small plates from proprietor Camille Fourmont, formerly the bar manager at Le Dauphin. Not to be confused with the other Buvette, this off-the-beaten path bar (that is technically a shop where you can buy bottles) was selected as the Best Cave à Manger by Le Fooding.
Fresh off Paris’ greatest resto reboot of recent years - transforming the defunct destination Restaurant Bones into the beloved seven-day mainstay Restaurant Jones - chef-restaurateur Florent Ciccoli doubled down on the Voltaire neighborhood in late 2017, opening Café du Coin with the aid of frequent collaborator Greg Back (L’Orillon, Les Pères Populaires).
For the wine-indifferent, Café de la Nouvelle Mairie is merely a timeless, picturesque terraced café on a shady lane beside the Panthéon. But for alert wine geeks, it might as well be the Panthéon itself, as pertains to natural wine.
Le 6 Paul Bert had a brief closure followed by several different chefs and menu makeovers. We're not sure what's going on over there right now, but will update this description after another visit.
A truly mixed crowd packs this Oberkampf wine bar, for natural wine and small plates.
This small plates restaurant not far from République boasts a Japanese-accented assortment of dishes from French-American chef Robert Compagnon. Handmade pastas and yakitori are must-try items on the tasting menu. Ask for seat at the bar to see the binchotan grill at work. The team here easily caters to more (or less!) adventurous diners, with offerings like chicken sashimi and offal skewers. Co-owner Jessica Yang is the Taiwanese-American pastry chef behind the delectable desserts – save room.
We have not yet reviewed this restaurant. Check back soon for our thoughts!
The Bistrot Paul Bert boasts one of the most charming dining rooms and patrons in town, appearing to first-time visitors like the Paris bistro of their dreams.
Avant Comptoir de la Mer is bistronomy chef Yves Camdeborde’s seafood variation on his successful adjacent pork-themed pintxo bar.
Tatiana Levha, formerly at L'Arpège and L'Astrance, and her sister Katia opened this light, airy bistro with a central bar & hand painted ceiling. The short list of offerings changes each day, but expect seasonally driven cuisine inflected with international touches like tandoori spiced beurre blanc atop asparagus or harissa to spice up the line caught hake. Dessert left room for improvement, but otherwise Le Servan had reasonably priced, expertly executed dishes and friendly service in a beautiful space.
Bring some friends to share in Bertrand Bluy's family style dinner at this cave à manger.
Yves Camdeborde's audacious, standing-room-only French pintxo bar is a jostling, jolly spot in Saint-Germain.
A cheerful clone of Jeanne A for the underserved Montmartre neighborhood, this casual eatery and take-out epicerie is open seven days a week with continuous service.
Warm, welcoming and well-priced. This bistro from Christian Etchebest follows the model of his other cantines, La Cantine du Troquet and La Cantine du Troquet Dupleix.
The “bistrot” in question is carnivore-heaven Paul Bert, just next door. But at L’Ecailler the focus is on seafood, including a gorgeous array of Belon, Utah Beach, and Spéciales.
Café des Musées is a reasonably-priced bistro in the heart of the Marais with a notable beef bourguignon.
Christian Constant's casual, no-reservations café is open all day, starting at 8 in the morning.