There are days where everything just falls into place. Like the Saturday morning not long ago when I had invited my husband to a surprise lunch at Chez Janou. I’d read about the place: Lovely terrace and good olives, down-to-earth atmosphere and small fried fish like in Marseilles. We just had to try it.

The restaurant was humbly placed on a corner behind Place de Vosges and our spirits were raised already when we saw the front. Sort of like a garden pavilion with green twining plants, sunblind, colored lamps and lots of people closely seated drinking rose wine in the sun.

Photo Helle Moos

We got the last table outside. The waiter, a big, happy strapping fellow, was joking with everybody and before we knew it we were chatting away with the American archaeology professor and his assistant at the table next to ours on one side and the two young Parisian women on the other side.

All around, people were commenting on each others food, toasting, smiling and laughing. A wholly uncomplicated atmosphere, which is otherwise rare in Paris.
Vi had sword fish on skewers with lemon rice, the special of the day, and even the chef must have been an easygoing man, because, oh, it was so light and delicious. Simple, honest food.

Inside, a fine old bistro with mosaics on the floor, yellow walls and shelves full of good wine emerged. So even on a winters day, it’s nice to be Chez Janou.

Chez Janou, 2, rue Roger-Verlomme, 3. arr. Metro: Chemin-Vert

By Louise Sandager, extract from the travel guide PARIS mon amour!, published by Gyldendal.

The foodie world was buzzing in January with news of Pierre Jancou’s new wine bar. The man who transformed and then sold La Crèmerie - a well-known haunt for left-bank wine lovers – was starting something new in the city’s oldest covered passage.

I went to Racines with a friend during its opening week, before they had even turned on the gas.  It takes a special kind of place to prepare a memorable meal without even having a stove.  A spell was nonetheless cast, primarily because of the wines – all untreated, small-batch beauties that come from trusted organic producers.  These were accompanied by crusty baguette, farmhouse cheeses, rillettes, and a salad of vegetables from Alain Passard’s famous organic garden. Were we tipsy, or was this a nearly perfect lunch?

I returned yesterday with the same friend to explore that very question. With gas and a working stove this time, Jancou prepared festonati au ragoût (pasta with an authentic bolognese sauce), joue de cochon (pork cheeks), and a tartare (raw beef) with hand-cut fries. We had one of each, after revisiting his delicious salad and rillettes.

The Racines rematch found me (again) tipsy and completely won over. The complexity and unpredictability of the wine is a major reason, but I also love the care that goes into selecting each ingredient, the simplicity of preparation, and the obvious love that Jancou has for what he’s doing now. Be advised, however, that he also loves his family and spends his weekends at home with them. So book ahead (you won’t get in otherwise) for lunch or dinner Monday through Friday.

Pierre Cagnaire

Paris receives some compensation after being totally overshadowed by Tokyo in the latest Michelin restaurant-guide.

In the Restaurant Magazine’s recently released list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants no less than eight Parisian restaurants are ranked, which is more than any other city in the world.

Also on national level France is leading with 11 restaurants ranked on the prestigious top 50 list, which is formulated by a jury of 682 highly respected food connoisseurs.

However, Paris doesn’t offer the world’s best restaurant. For a third consecutive year, the father of molecular gastronomy Ferran Adrià’s restaurant El Bulli north of Barcelona was crowned the world’s best restaurant, followed by the inventor of snail porridge Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck in Berkshire (UK) and Parisian top scorer Pierre Cagnaire.

As the only one out of the top three restaurants, The Fat Duck can brag about being one of the sexiest restaurants in the world according to The Guardian. The newspaper has The Fat Duck as number 48 on its list of the sexiest places to be fed.

Written by David Rich Momondo 

 
Photo by Redking

Innovation has no limits, when looking at ways to avoid taxes. Just look at Parisian restaurant Le Refuge des Fondus in Montmartre, where wine (both red and white) is served in baby bottles, in order to circumvent tax laws on glasses of wine (and distract attention from the quality of the wine!).

The formula ‘fondue washed down with wine served in baby bottles’ is really popular and the restaurant is always filled with a relatively rowdy and fun loving (predominantly expat) crowd. The guests are seated shoulder to shoulder on benches along communal tables sucking on their baby bottles while dipping meat and vegetables into the bubbling oil or cheese in the fondue pots.

Le Refuge des Fondus is anything but a bastion of haute cuisine, which the restaurant's prices clearly indicate. A fixed menu including appetizers, a fondue meal and dessert plus a bottle (baby, of course) costs € 17, and the price also includes free tagging opportunities on the walls.

Le Refuge des Fondus
17, rue des 3 Frères (near bottom of Sacré Coeur)
75018 PARIS
 

Most working people take their lunch in restaurants between 1 and 2 P.M., so expect it to be busy!
Dinner is never eaten before 8 P.M., and it’s very common to meet for dinner at 9 or 10 or even later. But usually, the French go out for dinner at around 9 P.M. It is very rare for a restaurant to serve food before 7 P.M. – unless it has stayed open all day without interruption.

LES HALLES (1st & 2nd arr.)

In rue Montmartre, 2nd arr. You'll find a cool café, Café Noir along side an Italian restaurant La Bocca and a bar Le Coeur Fou.

LE MARAIS (3rd & 4th arr.)

Le Georges

For a panoramic view of Paris, you should go to Le Georges.

Le Georges, Centre Pompidou

Café Beaubourg

At the foot of Beaubourg, on the square, is another one of the Costes brothers’ places, the eternally popular

Café Beaubourg, 100, rue Saint Martin, 4th

From the north to the south end of rue Vieille du Temple, you can take in lots of espressos in between the art galleries and the shopping:

Café Le Progrès

A good and cheap old-fashioned café with a young and hip crowd for coffee, lunch and aperitif.

Café Le Progrès. Corner of rue de Bretagne and rue Vieille du Temple. 3rd arr.

La Perle

An awfully modest looking bar which all of a sudden has became THE place to go for the hip crowd in Paris. People are standing in droves on the street at night, in order to drink espressos or wine from, let’s be honest, greasy glasses.

La Perle. Corner of rue de la Perle and rue Vieille du Temple. 3rd

A little string of cafés and restaurants with different design, but similar spirit and the same owner. Small outside terraces and lots of passers-by to look at.
Les Philosophes, no. 28
Le Petit Fer à Cheval, no. 30
La Belle Hortense, no. 31
L’Etoile Manquante, no. 34
- all in rue Vieille du Temple, 4th arr.

Le Trésor

And in a pretty flower decorated alley without any traffic coming from rue Vieille du Temple, Passage du Trésor, you will find a restaurant with a large and quiet terrace. Good Italian and French cuisine, reasonable prices and lots of satisfied customers for both lunch and dinner

Le Trésor, Passage du Trésor, 4th arr.

Next to the restaurant is the Café du Trésor with a similar terrace, if you only need a drink and to rest your feet and mind. And at the bottom of the alley, if you really need reviving, there is a small space, Studio Trésor, which is used by a brilliant Brazilian (and English speaking!) yoga professor, who gives private lessons and teaches small groups in Ashtanga yoga. Her name is Ana Maria, just ask inside the restaurant.

Café Pick-Clops. Café with a long yellow bar and a crowd of hip, young, urban regulars. Great atmosphere. 4th arr.

In the other part of le Marais, around the pretty pink Place des Vosges, you can find some great restaurants. Not the ones on the square itself, but in the streets behind it.

Gli Angeli

Delicious Italian cooking.
Gli Angeli, 5, rue St Gilles, 3rd arr.

Le Petit Marché

Great French food, great atmosphere.
Le Petit Marché, 9, rue Béarn, 3rd arr.

GRANDS BOULEVARD (9th arr.)

Restaurant Chartier

Chartier is a huge restaurant, which attracts hordes of ordinary Parisians and tourists. You will get the atmosphere of a classic, beautiful and noisy French brasserie for a modest amount of money. There is slap-bang service. The waiters run around carrying eight or ten dishes at the time, getting the patrons dispatched in a hurry. There is always a line.

Restaurant Chartier, 7, rue Faubourg Montmartre 
www.restaurant-chartier.com

RÉPUBLIQUE & BASTILLE (11th arr.)

Café Charbon

A big café with high ceilings and a great atmosphere and a young clientele. You’ll get a decent and reasonably priced meal here.

Café Charbon, 109, rue Oberkampf

Café de l’Industrie

A charming and beautifully decorated café/restaurant, with just as charming and beautiful waitresses. A very popular place.  They have a second space across the street.

Café de l’Industrie,16, rue St Sabin

By Katrine Salomon