| L'Absinthe
24, Place du Marche Saint-Honore
75001 Paris
Tel: 01.49.26.90.04
|
Absinthe is the name of
a popular Paris bistro where, though they don't serve Absinthe,
they do serve excellent food in a friendly setting. Located
on a quiet but very chic square, in warm weather you can dine
on the terrace. The bistro is part of super-chef Michel Rostang's
restaurant empire so, quality is kept high while prices run
at about 40 euros per person with wine. |
| Alain Ducasse
Plaza Athenee
25, avenue Montaigne
75008 Paris
Tel: 01.53.67.66.65
|
It's new again. Super
chef Alain Ducasse has settled into his new home at the Plaza
Athenee hotel, in a contemporary space designed by the young
Patrick Jouin. Meals to remember (with many new dishes) from
the only French chef to have received two three-star Michelin
ratings in the same year. Prices to remember too. Count 140
euros and up. |
| Les Bookinistes
53, quai des Grands Augustins
Closed for lunch Saturday and Sunday
Tel: 01.43.25.45.94.
|
A few years ago Guy Savoy,
a chef who has a two-star restaurant named after himself, decided
to extend his domain by creating gastronomic bistrots that would
serve simply cooked, excellent food, at affordable prices in
a friendly atmosphere. This is one of these bistrots. Les Bookinistes
is facing a row of bouquins, or book stalls, on the Left Bank.
Inside, there is a sense of fun and ease that is reinforced
when you receive one of the warmest welcomes in Paris. The set
lunch menu of three courses is 25 euros, a seriously good price
for the quality of the food on offer in a restaurant that prizes
simplicity, flavor and fun over pomp and ceremony. |
| Le Clos
des Gourmets
16, avenue Rapp
75007 Paris
Tel: 01.45.51.75.61
|
The owners are Arnaud
Pitrois and his wife Christel. He creates his magic in a five
square meter kitchen, and she runs the dining room. Arnaud is
only 28 years old and has a very impressive background that
shows up in every dish. He has worked with Guy Savoy and Christian
Constant, who have probably done more to add new ideas to classical
French cuisine than anyone else in this city. They have trained
an increasingly important group of young chefs who are dedicated
to their craft and who have opened their own restaurants where
one can eat superbly at very reasonable prices. Le Clos Des
Gourmets is one of these. The menu changes slightly every week,
and daily additions are marked on a blackboard. |
| Les Grandes
Marches
6, place de la Bastille
75012 Paris
Tel: 01.43.42.90.32 |
Legendary chef Christian
Constant has conceived the menu for this large, airy, contemporary
restaurant next door to the Bastille Opera. The 300-place restaurant
gets it names from the graceful, curving staircase leading to
the upstairs dining room. The interior by Elizabeth de Portzamparc
is refined and modern. The owner is the Flo group, proprietors
of Paris favorites like La Coupole, Julien and Brasserie Flo,
amongst others. While they may have made the leap to designer
interiors, the food is traditional French with Constant's
creative touch, of course. Menu at 30 euros. A la carte over
45 euros per person. |
| Jules Verne
Second floor Eiffel Tower
South pillar.
Tel: 01.45.55.61.44 |
The Jules Verne Restaurant
is on the second platform of the Eiffel Tower. A private elevator
(you must have a reservation to gain access) takes you 123 meters
up, where a welcoming committee will greet you. Although dinner
is quite expensive, lunch is a very good value. There is a lunch
menu from Monday to Friday consisting of three courses for 45
euros and a selection of wines priced under 30 euros. |
| L'Os a Moelle
3, rue Vasco de Gama
75015 Paris
Closed Sunday & Monday
Tel: 01.45.57.27.27
La Cave de l'Os a Moelle
181 rue de Lourmel
75015 Paris
Tel: 01.45.57.28.88 |
Thierry Faucher, who worked
with the brilliant Christian Constant, is another one of the
talented young chefs contributing to the modernization of traditional
French cuisine. Faucher opened his restaurant, L'Os a Moelle,
outside of Paris' chic districts in order to offer excellent
food at reasonable prices. The result is that he is booked full
every night. He's also taken his concept one stage further and
opened a bar across the road where you can eat at one of two
communal tables. L'Os a Moelle is small, friendly and unfussy.
At lunch the prix fixe menu is 25 euros with a choice of six
entrees. At night the price is 30 euros for a set, six-course
meal with a choice of dessert. It's all decided for you but
you won't be disappointed. Everyone arrives anticipating an
unknown menu--one they know will be brilliant. Meanwhile, across
the road the atmosphere is informal and the food is homey. The
set-price menu is 20 euros, and you serve yourself in your own
time. |
| La Regalade
49, avenue Jean Moulin
75014 Paris
Closed Sunday and Monday
Tel: 01.45.45.68.58 |
Yves Camdeborde's popular
restaurant, La Regalade, is intimate, cluttered and warm. The
food is what the French call cuisine familiale, but the menu
goes from the fine and subtle to the truly traditional. This
restaurant caters to those who believe that simpler is better.
Camdeborde is definitely one of the talented young chefs who
exercises this thinking and the price, 28 euros for three courses
at lunch, is very reasonable for the standard of quality. |
| Rotisserie
d'en Face
6, rue Christine
75006 Paris
Metro Odeon
Closed Saturday lunch and all day Sunday
Tel: 01.43.26.40.98 |
While it might not sound
very French, a meal of meat and potatoes is at the heart of
the country's culinary experience. Long before nouvelle cuisine,
there were grilled steaks and plump fowl turned over a fire.
What could be better then a crisply roasted free-range chicken,
accompanied by a creamy puree de pommes de terre, then followed
by an excellent dessert? Not much. Fortunately, Parisian chef
Jacques Cagna, of the famous restaurant that bears his name,
created the Rotisserie d'en Face, an open, roomy restaurant
where you can get exactly this meal and more. About 45 euros
with wine. |
