Travel Guide: Paris Restaurants

Writer Jane Sigal hit every arrondissement in Paris in search of culinary brilliance. Here, her Paris restaurant picks, from haute to casual, plus tips on how to score seats at Paris's toughest tables.

Chilled Fennel-Grapefruit Velouté with Lemon Olive Oil

Paris Restaurants: Top New Tables

Septime

Waiters bring radishes and butter to every table at this rustic-cool spot with an open kitchen and tables that resemble old barn siding. Precise technique and cheeky combinations, like pan-roasted chicken on top of a smear of mustard-peanut butter, elevate the unfussy food.

Vivant (photo)

Two things you'll always find at bistro impresario Pierre Jancou's places: impeccably sourced ingredients and natural wines. At Vivant, in a former bird shop with stunning Art Nouveau tiles, he cooks more elegantly than ever, offering dishes like foie gras tucked under roast duck served with an avalanche of vegetables. The Italian-heavy wine list has around 150 labels, including Pantellaria whites and Lambruscos.

Le Pantruche

The banquette at this freshly painted 1930s-era bistro is packed with local families and Parisians from all over the city who come for Christian Constant protégé Franck Baranger's blackboard menu. The prix fixe of market-inspired dishes, like pollack with beer-braised onion puree, is so well priced that you should have enough euros left for a bottle of Loire Valley Chinon.

Sola

Chef Hiroki Yoshitake, born in Japan, trained at Paris's L'Astrance before taking over this spare two-level space with stone walls and sprays of papyrus. Yoshitake's Franco-Japanese background plays out in a fusion menu starring dishes like fennel velouté with citrus oil, served alongside a rectangle of foie gras with miso.

L'Abeille

The over-the-top grandeur of the new Shangri-La Hotel Paris is an apt setting for chef Philippe Labbé's opulent cooking, served in a formal yellow and gray dining room. Try one of the intricate dishes that come in two portions, such as poularde torchon—the juiciest, tastiest chicken—which appears first as basil-dusted breast, then as crisp-skinned thigh.

Sassotondo

Ricotta and mozzarella are now common on Paris menus, but not house-made tagliolini twirled with moist flakes of daurade and artichokes. Chef Michele Dalla Valle's Tuscan-style cooking is good enough to justify one non-French meal in Paris, especially since Sassotondo is open on Sundays, when most places are closed.

Paris Restaurants: The Hottest Spots in Town

Certain Paris restaurants are impossible to get into, no matter who you know. Here, our tips for scoring a table at these usually tiny, always packed bistros.

Le Comptoir

Why Bother: On weeknights, Yves Camdeborde serves an ambitious prix fixe of Béarnaise-style dishes.
The Tip: Call five months ahead or reserve a room at the attached Hôtel Relais Saint Germain, which guarantees a table.
Plan B: Camdeborde's place next door, the standing-room-only, small-plates spot L'Avant Comptoir.

Le Chateaubriand

Why Bother: Inaki Aizpitarte is the current "It" chef in Paris, serving cutting-edge food in provocative combinations of raw and cooked ingredients.
The Tip: Call two weeks ahead between 3 and 7 p.m., Tuesday to Saturday.
Plan B: Le Dauphin, Aizpitarte's Rem Koolhaas–designed tapas bar next door.

Spring

Why Bother: Chicago-born chef Daniel Rose serves an always-changing, highly inventive prix fixe menu.
The Tip: Call one calendar month ahead between 3 to 10 p.m., Tuesday to Saturday.
Plan B: Wine tasting at nearby Spring Boutique, then a last attempt to grab a no-show's spot at Spring.

Frenchie

Why Bother: Grégory Marchand weaves American-style informality into French market cooking in a tiny space.
The Tip: Call two months ahead between 3 and 5 p.m., Monday to Friday.
Plan B: Head across the street to Frenchie's new Bar à Vins, which doesn't require a reservation.

More Table Tips

With notice, top hotel concierges can work miracles. That's one reason rooms at the Four Seasons George V start at four figures.
Call only during the restaurant's specific reservation hours. If no one picks up the phone, keep trying.
Go in person during the day or at around 7 p.m. to check on cancellations. Many bistros have a late-night seating that's less full.
Once you've got that hard-earned slot, make sure you confirm it on the day you're going—through your hotel, by phone or in person.

Jane Sigal is a contributing editor to F&W. She is working on a book about Le Cirque.

Great French Recipes:

French Hors d'Oeuvres

French Main Courses

French Wine Pairings

Published October 2011