Hi folks, I’m a long-time Paris lover and foodie, returning for a few days this April, and I’m looking for recommendations for somewhere new to try on my last night. I’m drawn to warm, intimate and authentic spaces—i.e., not stuffy—with unique and wonderful food, and natural wines (more classic done bio than not “funky” though). Not looking for Michelin, though I am open to tasting menus. I especially enjoy contemporary cooking and young chefs trying new things.
For reference, here are places that I’ve previously enjoyed on my own:
Habile.
Le Servan
Early June
Géosmine
Les Enfants Du Marché
Fulgurances L’Addresse
I will be visiting these spots earlier in my trip with other guests, so I’m looking for a different angle for my last night:
Parcelles
Le Bon Georges
Au Bon Saint Pourçain
And here are some spots that I’ve been considering, though I’m very open to new additions as well:
Aléa
Kubri
Pouliche
Le Maquis
Dandelion
Au Passage
Chantoiseau
Jeanne-Aimée
Chateaubriand
Mosuke (on waitlist)
Any thoughts on these or other recommendations? Any new openings coming by early April that I should watch for?
All of the places are your list look great, for different reasons. I haven’t been to Habile, Early June or Dandelion. The latter because I have heard from friends that it is about 80% Americans and extremely noisy.
But based on what you’re looking for two places come to mind, neither of which I would hesitate to recommend for solo dining. One is Petrelle in the 9th and the other is Automne in the 11th. Both kind of rustic with great tasting menus which you can check out online. Automne has a Michelin star but doesn’t feel stuffy at all.
Thanks for this! You’re helping me whittle down the list for sure. It’s so hard to escape the Americanization of Parisian restaurants (I say as an American, though I’ve also lived in and been visiting Paris my whole life and seen the change ).
At the moment, I’m considering Kubri for something different. And adding Mokoloco to my list by another recommendation, waiting to see who the chef might be there though.
Regarding Habile and Early June, it’s the owners that make give them that extra special quality. They’re both run by young duos who are exceptionally warm and creative hosts. Food was exceptional at both (the was a Korean theme when I was at Early June, but they rotate chefs) and EJ’s wine list is stellar. Habile was quiet, but EJ is a lively and vibrant vibe. Very young crowd.
The last time I was at Clown was in the spring of 2019 when Sota Atsumi was there and, of course, it was phenomenal. But he has since opened Maison Sota. I was there in the fall of 2019 and I wasn’t wild about it, but I’ve heard it’s gotten better (per Meg Zimbek on Paris by Mouth). I haven’t been back to Clown Bar, so I’m no help there.
Thanks for the info on Habile and Early June. I also love very young creative chefs.
I tend not to seek out Lebanese (Kubri), Moroccan or any Asian cuisine (such as Korean) since I can find good places with all three in San Francisco. Nevertheless, I do like Kubri.
We went to Dandelion shortly after it opened and, although it was good, we thought that it would need some time to develop. Chef Villard had been to the Fulgurances branch in Brooklyn for a stint last year and we went twice, loving his cooking. We’ll definitely try it again when we come back to Paris.
I went to Maison about a year ago, I also had been a fan of Sota’s cooking at Clown Bar, but I was severely disappointed by Maison.
I thought the cooking was disincarnate, overfussy and self-conscious, the setting (beautiful as it was) seemed a bit pretentious to me, and not much was left of the wonderful product-handling I had witnessed at Clown Bar. The whole affair had become far more complicated than it was before and that didn’t suit me. Not going again.
I think all your choices are interesting. A few of them seem inessential to me, for instance Pouliche and perhaps Le Maquis, which serves nice food but not enough of it. Better go to the totally unrelated Bistrot du Maquis, at a short distance. I heartily recommend Chantoiseau and Le Bon Saint-Pourçain. Mosuke not been as yet.
Well, tourists are EVERYWHERE in Paris so you always hope for the best. I went on January Sunday night and there was only 1 other American (that I could see). She was a chef (i think, she had tattoos of knives and pigs on her arms) and she ordered the brains. So, nah. But, it can be a problem in other places that are new, closer in, left bank etc. Had a little discussion w/one of the waiters about their spirits and wines. We’re going back to Paris (anniversary trip) end of March and hope to go again. I had one of the best magret of duck I’ve had anywhere. Also had a lovely Normandy cider, which strangely enough, is hard to get a small producer in Paris.
Breizh Café and notably L’Epicerie Breizh Café (rue Vieille-du-Temple) sells ciders from many small producers in Brittany, Normandy, pays Basque, etc. Also, Benoît Noël’s excellent Normandy ciders from Pont-Audemer are available in some organic food stores, like Le Retour à la Terre, rue Le Goff.
Loving this community! Thanks for all the responses—and I’m finding the other threads super informative too! I had no knowledge of Normandy ciders before this.
After much consideration and some other advice, I’m revising my list down a bit for this trip, with some new options in the mix:
19 St. Roach
Chop Chop
Kubri
Mokoloco
However I am definitely going to keep some of your recs for my next trip with more guests, like Petrelle, Clown Bar and Chantoiseau.
Also, as @Carmenere mentioned Breizh Cafe for the ciders, I wanted to follow up that their crêpes are some of the best savory crêpes in the city. They do a sarasin (buckwheat) flour, which gives it an almost crispy outside, but more importatly, is completely gluten free for anyone (like myself) who is sensitive to wheat product and more importantly for celiacs. Wonderful for those of you who can eat anything too though.
I think I mentioned HO on Fodors to you, so glad you got lots of good info. We liked Kubri when we went in 2023. Wished we had more people so we could have tried more different things. People have also said they have a dj some nights and it gets very loud. Also is Chop Chop Cho Cho? We had a reservation at cho cho and had to cancel last minute. It looked really interesting and I’m sorry we missed it.
I’m not familiar with Fodors, so that must have been someone else, but thanks all the same!
This is Chop Chop: https://www.instagram.com/chopchop.love/. I get the sense it’s in a similar style to Early June and Mokoloco as a wine bar that features a rotation of touring chefs.
ChoCho seems interesting, but not quite what I’m looking for on this trip. It strikes me as a spot that might be more fun with a group than solo.
Sorry about that, the Fodor’s poster actually just put up a post asking about Paris bistros. I always tell people asking about restaurants on Fodors to check out hungry onion or Paris by Mouth. The suggestions on fodors are usually pretty touristy and always on left bank.
A true crêpe de blé noir (buckwheat crêpe) is always 100% buckwheat-based.
I agree about Breizh Café, you have to know that they use a certain type of organic buckwheat that is grown in Brittany and barely sifted, so the appearance of the crêpe is very dark.
To try another style, go to the equally good Crêperie Pen-Ty, near Place de Clichy, where the crêpes are Finistère-style, i.e. lighter and crispier (kraz). Very very good, and inexpensive.
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