There are multiple Verot locations, so I don’t recall which I went to this time, but here’s another endorsement, along with food porn. The foie gras I got there was very good, and the pate en croute was excellent.
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re 7e Monoprix(s), the food-only shop on Bac, just north of Blvd St. Germain, is excellent. No specialty islands like the Rennes venue, but good packaged deli meats and cheeses, inc. Cantin. Decent produce and wine. Plus basic household necessities.
While we’re on the topic of Paris Monoprix, I’ve got a few recommendations.
There’s been a trend in Paris food supermarkets these last few years to redesign the floor plan entirely and keep up with the societal trends, for instance making more room for supposedly healthy foods and installing wider rows, resulting in a lesser choice of foods. This is how we now can find, at some Carrefour addresses, six different flavored quinoas but no polenta anymore.
This is happening particularly with Monoprix (Carrefour has calmed down somehow). The « new » Monoprix are distinctly less fun than the ones with the former design; they’re more dimly lit, there’s more space to walk and less kinds of foods to choose from, most stuff organized in islands, meats in glass cases and much less self-service items*, a big stress put on repetitive healthy (generally heavily processed) foods and less stress put on meat products, etc. My favorite Monoprix, the Beaugrenelle one, has undergone these changes and I’m not going there anymore.
However, some Monoprix have not had (yet?) that disastrous renovation, or have had it and it was superficial, and there’s a few I recommend for choice and ergonomy:
- Monoprix rue de Rennes at Saint-Germain-des-Prés, as was mentioned above.
- Monoprix Saint-Augustin
- Monoprix Opéra (avenue de l’Opéra)
- Monoprix rue du Faubourg-du-Temple near Goncourt,
- Monoprix Ledru-Rollin near Voltaire.
These are still intact and just as exciting as ever. There may be more that I don’t know of.
- Yes of course I like talking to someone when I buy my meat. But when I go to a grande surface, I also enjoy the freedom of being able to look at all the cuts on a stall and picking the one I like. When I want someone to pick the meat for me, I go to my neighborhood butcher.
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Add the rue St-Antoine to the list of Monoprix that are less interesting after redesign.
Reading this thread is really making me miss Paris. We usually stay in the 6th or 7th so many of the places are very familiar to me. The Monoprix on Rue du Bac was our local supermarket. I remember going one morning there and walking by Atelier de JR and seeing a pile of flowers in front of the locked doors and wondering what that was about. Found out later that afternoon that JR had passed.
If the OP needs a good neighborhood spot, we are fans of Le Comptoir des Saint Peres on Rue Jacob.
Thank you- love that street will try it next trip. This trip turned into a pavement pounding working trip. When I got to eat it was more incentivized by easy and low key. Bar de Pres- first night tradition, For rue de Saints Peres- Caffe Toscano was very pleasant- very good for solo pace. Went on a Thursday rainy night after Asia NOW show with no problem, but I may have looked wet and pathetic. There is also a prepared food place on the street that is more intimate and homey. If I want a “grandma” hug, for some reason Allard does that for me (missed it this trip- but NB last year open NEW YEARS DAY- very hard to find one.) The bartender at Bar de Pres makes great non-alcoholic cocktails for those who like. Also Madame Pic for non-alc pairings.
So really, no food adventures. With your non-French passport you can get a 10% discount card at BHV! Nothing beats a solid Bon Marche sale. Warning- if you see older French ladies shopping on sale folded cashmere sweaters there- step back quietly and you won’t get hurt. All in all- success for work, but not much food report. Thanks all-
You also were able to get the 10% discount card @ both printemps & lafayette. Add that to a lot of sales items and bingo. I hope it’s still true.
Thanks for these suggestions of non-alc cocktail places. Very helpful to husband R who doesn’t usually drink more than eau pétillante. Most places just offer the alternative of fruit juices (too sweet before a meal) or soft drinks. At home I make him what in Australia they called a soda-lime-bitters: a bit of lemon-lime cordial over ice in a tall glass, sparkling water and a splash of bitters.
Baby steps! Walked by Lafayette last winter holiday season- still kind of scarred, but I have a low threshold for certain combinations. Will gather the discount cards when I am brave. Thank you
I will brain dig for more sophisticated non-alc option places. I kind of had conversations with restaurants regarding expensive tasting menus with no proper non alcoholic accompaniment. Seriously, water or something severely palate disrupting. I quizzed the tea selection to try to create tea pairings- could make stuff up but it was just an idea. So far the Madame Pic did some seriously fantastic work with non-alc pairings. And not things pretending to be alcohol- I hate those. Whatever you do- enjoy!
For a non-alc food(?)/drink not so Parisian break- Great tea shop Wysteria in the 6th I believe. Taiwanese based original and just the shop in Paris. Beautiful story. A different area, way off the tourist track I think. Or maybe not knowing Paris- you turn a corner and surprise!
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