Paris is the home of haute cuisine and French cooking has shaped how many of us eat to today. Which is exactly why a trip to Paris soon is an absolute must. From high-end fancy dining with globally recognized chefs to small bistros, there’s something around every corner to whet everyone’s appetite. Here is our selection of the most interesting and hidden gems to try when spending some time in the City of Light.
La Fontaine de Mars, Latin Quarter
There are plenty of unassuming bistro-style restaurants on-hand to blow your socks off, but this discretely located one is one of the most surprising of the lot. From the checkered tablecloths, overcrowded seating and the menu on blackboards, nothing about La Fontaine de Mars seems particularly distinctive – until you take a bite. This Latin Quarter gem is pure Southwest French classic through and through – staples, such as the cassoulet and baba au rhum are done to perfection, and patrons tend to roll out of the door. The classic French décor and charmingly inattentive service just adds to the whole Gallic flair. Be sure to arrive hungry.
Ladurée, Champs-Élysées
If there’s one thing that gives French teatime a competitive edge over the English high tea, it’s the delicious cakes. In no other place in Paris is it more appropriate to nibble on delicate sweet macaroons, flaky mille feuille and delicate tarts than in the legendary Ladurée. Grand chandeliers, plump cushions, and plush washrooms all work to make Ladurée, not to mention its location on one of Paris’ most famous avenues, the Champs-Élysées, one of the most sophisticated and glamorous places for tea in the city. Ladurée is the perfect place to rest those feet from pounding the sidewalks window-shopping in all of the area’s most fabulous designer boutiques. The important thing is not to feel too bad about indulging here, so long as you do so with your pinky out.
Café de Flore, Left Bank
Whether you visit on the sunniest day of spring or in the coldest of winter, you will be hard pressed to find a free outside table at this vibing café. Just a few skips away from the Jardin de Luxembourg, the second-largest public park in Paris, Café de Flore, is filled with bright young things drinking cappuccinos over heady philosophical conversation. The interior is pure Parisian Art Deco chic, with deep red leather banquettes, a long bar, and dark wooden tables. In typical Parisian style, the mustachioed waiters are always busy and moving with swift actions, so be sure to know what you want and preferably, how to order it in French.
Le Chateaubriand, Oberkampf
The Chateaubriand has ridden a locavore-dining trend that has seen the fancy pants haute-cuisine restaurants take second place. At Chateaubriand atmosphere is definitely off the menu and instead modern takes on contemporary Basque cooking, from the region in the north of Spain, and that takes the idea of molecular gastronomy to new levels. The interior is low-key and looks much like an old school French brasserie with prices to match. Recently voted the best restaurant in France by an influential poll of chefs and critics, Le Chateaubriand is certainly beginning to get some backs up in the snooty world of French cooking. Found a little way out from the traditional heart of Paris in the Oberkampf area it is close to all the hippest, and alternative, nightlife in town.
Derrière, Marais
If you’re tired of eating out all of the time, Derrière is the perfect choice. With beds for seats, a ping-pong table and tons of books and CDs to sift through, the aim of this concept bistro is to be a home away from home. Each of the rooms are decorated as if they were actually in the home – there’s the living room, the bedroom upstairs and a smoking room that’s entered Narnia-style through the closet. The eccentric North African owner Mourad Mazouz hasn’t neglected the menu either with excellent seasonal French dished always on offer. The outside courtyard conveniently connects to one of Paris’s most eccentric bars Andy Wahloo, for mojitos afterward.
What are you holding out for? Cheap flights to Paris await.
