Paris, close to the 1st

Regional Dining Discussions France
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There are many threads here on this grand topic, but I’m hoping my questions are specific enough to warrant another. @SteveR suggested I ask, and I’m shamelessly dropping his name.

We’re to be in Paris very soon, staying very close to the Louvre and have reservations in boldface below, and constraints listed in brackets:

Sunday: Lunch?, Dinner?
[need to be very close to our hotel, which is very close to the Louvre. Maison Maison for one of these?]

Monday: Lunch? [needs to be v. close to Louvre], Dinner: Granite (see Q1 below)

Tuesday: Lunch: Jules Verne (once in a lifetime, and all that), Dinner?

Wednesday: Lunch? [possibly near d’Orsay], Dinner: L’Ami Jean

Thursday: Lunch? Dinner?

Any suggestions for the question marks?

Notes:

  1. Any current accounts of Granite? Reports on HO have been way up, then down.
  2. We have serious reasons to be near the 1st, 4th, 11th, 7th and 6th.
  3. Casual places that you can just drop into without the ned for reservations would be great.
  4. Great boulangeries and fromageries in our nbd (esp 1st) would be even greater.
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It would be helpful if you would indicate what type of place you are looking for, e.g., price, type of food.

Re your list of questions:

  1. If you look down just a little on this board, you’ll see that Granite is in the process of changing chefs. I’m not sure where it’s at currently.
  2. n/a as I don’t understand what you are asking.
  3. Other than a brasserie or a café, I’d always call or otherwise reserve in advance, even if just 20-30 mins in advance.
  4. I’ll leave that to others, especially as you have given no specific location.
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For dinner one night I would strongly recommend NHOMe on rue de Montpensier in the 1st. Our dinner there is described here.

If you are looking for something more traditional you could consider Chez George on rue du Mail.

There are so many great places in 4th, 6th, 7th and 11th, that it’s impossible to suggest anything without more information. But near the Musée d’Orsay you could try to book a table at Café des Ministères for traditional French, or around the corner at Hémicycle for more contemporary cuisine.

For lunch near the Louvre, I have had several very decent lunches at Café Marly under the arcades of the Louvre. Great interior space too. My husband loves their long skinny croque monsieur. Overpriced but not bad.

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As for casual places where you don’t need a reservation, I agree with @onzieme that unless it’s a café or brasserie you would have a slim chance of finding anything decent. Many restaurant owners are actually insulted if patrons don’t call ahead.

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Which means you can be almost everywhere in Paris, which is a relatively small, compact and round-shaped city. Also, what do you mean by “being near” these arrondissements? Literally it means that you can be in the 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 8th, 12th, etc. Arrondissements of Paris have a helicoidal structure so you’re always near several of them wherever you are…

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Thanks, I was using the word “near” loosely. We’re going to be spending a lot of time at the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay (multiple visits to both) so I was looking for places that would not require a long trip from those locations. We’ve been to Paris three times before and always been able to get around fine, but have not been in recent years. @SteveR tells me that Uber is very convenient in Paris, so we might consider places further afield, but if we can eat well nearer where we are, we’d prefer it.

I was hoping that the three places I already have reservations at might suggest a maximum price point for food to folk here. I’d prefer the other meals to be less expensive (under, say, €75 pp for food).

@onzieme , does this clarify things for you? As @Carmenere and @sfcarole had divined, I meant arrondissements in point 2 in my post. I had noted from this board that Granite was changing chefs, and that was why I wanted to know if anybody had eaten there recently. I should also explain that I’ve read several of the threads about Paris on HO. L’Ami Jean is on my list, for example, partly on @SteveR’s recommendation, but also because of discussions here. Amarante is also likely to go on our list.

We eat most things and every cuisine. I’m based in the US (Boston and NYC), so food that we can get easily here (Chinese, Indian, Italian, for example) would not be a top priority unless there is something really unusual on offer. I guess I’d mainly be interested in traditional French food, but would also consider modern takes on it.

On our very first visit to Paris (over 40 years ago), juts out of grad school, we had no money and subsisted almost entirely on north African sausage sandwiches from street vendors, and couscous at small sit-down places. For sentimental reasons, if there’s something in that general class that anybody can recommend, I’d jump at it.

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Les Parisiens not far from the d’Orsay on the 6e/7e border, is a steal at lunch if you get the menu. Just make sure to focus on the fish! [Non-fish items are usually less impressive.]

Le Petit Vendôme in the 2e has fantastic jambon beurre sandwiches for takeaway or to eat at the bar for a light lunch. Le complet, a sandwich with goat cheese, olive oil and jambon de pays, was also excellent; try both.

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“Amarante is also likely to go on our list”.

By the way, Amarante is one of my favorite places if I’m craving traditional cuisine. Closed Wednesday and Thursday.

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First, I’m going to respectfully disagree with my friend SteveR about Uber. Unless you have mobility problems, the métro is SOOO much faster that car travel until late at night. Our mayor, Anne Hidalgo, has made automobile travel increasingly difficult in Paris. But there are lots and lots of stairs in the métro, so that’s why I made the proviso about mobility problems. As for uber vs. cabs, consider also that uber cannot use the bus/taxi lanes. Before you order an uber, check travel times on google maps, ratp, city mapper, or some other platform.

Sunday is difficult near the Louvre. The closest places I would recommend would be Benoît and Aux Lyonnais (both Ducasse places), Frenchie (not cheap and lots of Americans, but good food), Café des Compagnons, and Aux Crus de Bourgogne, none especially close. If the weather is nice, consider going to the Palais Royal and sitting outside catered by one of the cafés there or even making your own picnic.

Re Wednesday lunch near Musée d’Orsay, I like le 122 (it’s gone up and down but it’s up now) on the rue de Grenelle. La Laiterie de Clotilde is also good for somewhat casual lunches; for more serious, Gaya, especially if you like seafood. Various cafés on the bd St-Germain, e.g., Mucha, are decent, too.

For reservations in general, if using the phone intimidates you, note that most places also reserve on the internet (and a few now even reserve exclusively on the internet).

If you’re going multiple times to the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay, consider buying a membership, which can be cheaper and also allows you to avoid lines in many cases. Also look into the American Friends of the Louvre and the American Friends of the Musées d’Orsay et de l’Orangerie, where you can deduct part of what you pay. Also, those cards entitle you to discounts at certain other museums.

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Thanks. Lots to chew on.

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For an expensive lunch, somewhat similar to Alliance in terms of the French by a Japanese chef food, there is also Akabeko, very close to the d’Orsay. Onz reviewed it here.

As I wrote in my note, I was expecting not to love it, but the food was very good, and we will go back.

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Hi, I think you can scroll through the choices of cars in your Paris Uber app and get an actual taxi as a choice. I also have Free on my phone, and I think taxis are available there as well. If not in an actual taxi, Paris can be pretty frustrating overground.

Anyone been to Juveniles recently? Wine bar open for lunch. I think you’d still need reservations. Le Florimond is over by the Musée D’Orsay. I haven’t been in years, but it’s on my list to go back.

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I was at Juveniles a couple of years ago. I thought the food was fine, but nothing better than I can get in lots and lots of other places, and I wasn’t enchanted by the wines on offer (YMMV). Two seatings, so if you are with an old friend and want to catch up, it can be a problem. Unsurprisingly, largely an anglophone crowd.

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