The concierge teams of the Relais Christine and the Saint James Paris have shared some of their "confidential" spots to visit on your next visit to Paris. From just opened restaurants to off-the-beaten path museums, this insiders' guide is the perfect start for your next stay in the City of Lights.
Restaurants that opened or reopened this year and that are not all well-known:
Lasserre: the gastronomic institution on the Champs Elysées with its famous roof opening under the sky of Paris welcomes its new Chef, Nicolas Le Tirrand, who worked at Pavillon Ledoyen, Plaza Athénée, 39V, and offers: crab in a fine Daïkon turnip jelly, lovage foam and warm pincer; turbot flesh in its juice, sauce of asparagus lettuce with Osetra caviar and as a dessert crêpes Suzette, flambéed at the table. 6-course tasting menu at 190 Euro. 150 to 250 Euro à la carte. Dinner Tue-Sat from 7:00pm, lunch Thu and Fri from noon. 17 avenue Franklin Roosevelt, Paris 8th.
In the famous Marigny Theater, the Marigny is the new restaurant of the Costes brothers, true to the tradition of artist and comedian meeting places. It offers a revisited brasserie menu with: eggs mimosa; frog legs in a persillade; rib steak and fries; and apple pie as a dessert. Count 60 to 100 Euro. 10 bis avenue des Champs Elysées, Paris 8th.
Close to the Eiffel Tower, discover the very unique Masha, a place elegantly bringing together clubbing and gastronomy with a French-Japanese fusion cuisine: tataki beef émincé; red tuna tartare Hon Maguro and caviar; salmon cooked slowly; roasted fillet of organic beef in mustard crust and preserved shallots and as a dessert: macaron of red berries and Hojicha green tea crème brûlée. Closed Sun and Mon. 85 avenue Kléber, Paris 16th.
Aurélien Braguier, former executive Chef for Jean-Luc Rabanel in Arles, replaces Christophe Poard at La Truffière. He offers a light cuisine with a Mediterranean touch with Blue lobster cappellacci, lobster bisque, grated caviar, or Limousin beef fillet matured 60 days then smoked with aromatic herbs, market vegetables, and for dessert, a Baba Limoncello, coriander cream, apple and bergamot, ricotta ice cream. Closed on Sundays and Mondays – 4 rue Blainville, Paris 5th.
After the Martinez, Taillevent, L’Instant d’Or and Racines in New-York, the Chef Frédéric Duca has just opened his own restaurant, Rooster, where you will enjoy an ambitious and eclectic French cuisine, frequently renewed. On the menu, brains of lamb fritters, puttanesca sauce; beef with parsnips, carrots, candied citrus fruit and daube juice and for dessert a Panna Cotta, infused with bay leaf, cider jelly, Granny Smith apple sorbet. Tasting menu at 68 Euro, count 45 to 75 Euro à la carte. Closed on Saturdays and Sundays – 137 rue Cardinet, Paris 17th.
On the Champs-Elysées, the Flora Danica is a real Danish brewery overlooking a beautiful garden. The menu by Andreas Møller offers salmon in all its forms: smoked, rillettes, tartar, gravlax… and many others northern specialties as well as meats (duck breast fillet, Simmental beef fillet). For dessert, "Æblekage": Danish compote (apple, whipped cream, macaroon) or a baked Alaska. Count between 50 and 100 Euro – 142 Avenue des Champs-Elysées, Paris 8th.
After Courchevel, Pierre Gagnaire has just opened Piero TT in Paris. A delicious and original transalpine cuisine not-to-be-missed: fritto misto with cooked mustard di Cremona; gambero rosso prawn, deglazed with Cynar, pizzaiola tomato; cappelletti in a truffled poultry broth, and for dessert baba soaked in rum or burrata cheese with campari, chestnut crémeux. Count between 70 and 100 Euro – 44 Rue du Bac, Paris 7th.
The Chef Jean Imbert gets back to his childhood and transforms his restaurant Acajou into Mamie, a tribute to his 92-year old grandmother who gave him his Epicurean taste. Served in a vintage decor, the menu is traditional with chips of parsley roots; grilled white asparagus and zabaglione; the famous veal blanquette with carrots; a pullet with herbs, and desserts by the famous Cédric Grolet: a “failed” chocolate mousse or egg-white mousse for two. – 35 bis rue Jean de la Fontaine, Paris 16th.
At Affinité, owned by the Chefs of Michelin-starred restaurant Alliance, Chef Thibault Loubersanes will ravish you with a Duck foie gras ravioli & beetroot; scallops with a smoked duck vinaigrette and pickled radish; suckling veal from Normandy, yellow turnip and capers, and to finish, a Guanaja black chocolate tart, pecan nut and salt flower. 52 boulevard Saint-Germain, Paris 5th.
Citron, located at the Galeries Lafayette of the Champs Elysées, is the new restaurant of the young fashion designer Jacquemus in collaboration with Caviar Kaspia. A Mediterranean cuisine in a nice decor with a carte offering lemonade, Niçoise salad, pissaladière, sardines in oil, crudités basket, tomatoes and peppers tart… - 60 avenue des Champs Elysées, Paris 8th.
Albert Corre has left Le Petit Pergolèse, taken over by Alexandra Damas. Black slate, red leather benches and contemporary artworks set the stage to taste: artichoke carpaccio with preserved tomatoes and parmesan; roasted cod with quinoa and its truffle juice vinaigrette; rack of lamb roasted with rosemary and as a dessert: île flottante with its vanilla crème anglaise or Grand Marnier soufflé. 38 Rue Pergolèse, Paris 16th.
Hébé is a new restaurant located in the Latin Quarter. In a cozy and warm atmosphere, taste the Mediterranean cuisine imagined by Michel Portos, with among others : bream tartare, avodaco, lime and radish; octopus a la plancha, grilled vegetables, virgin sauce with olives; roast duckling fillet, soy caramel, kabu turnip with saffron & pickles and as a dessert lemon in its declinations, ricotta yuzu condiment, meringue. 15, rue Frédéric Sauton, Paris 5th.
La Gare – In this old Parisian railway station converted into a restaurant in the 90s, and freshly decorated by Laura Gonzalez, the new Chef Gastón Acurio (Manko) takes you round the gastronomic world, inspired by Asian, Peruvian and Mediterranean flavours. He offers sushis, bao burgers, dim-sums or some delicious tapas. 19 Chaussée de la Muette, Paris 16th.
After Girafe, Loulou, Perruche, Monsieur Bleu, and Apicius, Laurent de Gourcuff takes over Coco, situated in a wing of the Opera Garnier. The Chef Julien Chicoisne offers: crab meat and sea urchin tongues, cauliflower mousseline, combava ; cod marine plankton, artichokes, dashi stock and for dessert : Opéra, thin chocolate leafs, coffee cream, chocolate ganache. With its stunning terrace, it is the new place to be in Paris! 1 Place Jacques Rouché Paris 9th.
New address in the heart of Saint Germain in place of le Petit Zinc: le Beau Regard, brasserie chic and bar. At the helm, Mathieu Pacaud (Divellec, Apicius), offers you: sashimi; gazpacho; whiting, tetragon spinach, roasted virgin oil; brill, Béarnaise sauce and for dessert, fine apple pie or chocolate soufflé. Enjoy a friendly atmosphere and a pianist at night. 22 Rue Guillaume Apollinaire, Paris 6th.
Marsan – Is the name of Hélène Darroze’s new restaurant, in tribute of her native city. The cuisine is delicious and sophisticated: oysters with caviar, fresh velvety bean soup; lobster tandoori; fine carrot and citrus fruit mousse; koxkera-style line-fished hake, Soustons white asparagus, peas, clams, egg yolk… and for dessert rhubarb in a sugar crust and buckwheat ice cream, a wink to her origins. Closed on Saturdays and Sundays. 4 rue d’Assas, 6th.
Le Petit Boileau – Christophe Chabanel (Invictus) offers a restyled and modern market cuisine in this former bar: herring and mashed potato, spring onions; Thaï broth and king prawns, rice vermicelli and crispy vegetables; crackled passion fruit, bitter chocolate mousse… Closed on Sundays and Mondays. 98 rue Boileau, 16th.
Brasserie Bocuse – After Lyon, it is the first one to open in Paris thanks to the descendants of “Monsieur Paul”. The menu is good and classical: Bresse chicken in cream sauce and mushrooms; pike quenelles, macaronis “au gratin”; granny waffles… Not forgetting the Beaujolais and good Burgundy wines. Brasserie du Louvre at Hôtel du Louvre, place André Malraux, 1st.
Museums people often do not think about:
Musée Marmottan Monet in the 16th :
In a former home located on the grounds of the Château de la Muette in Passy, next to the Ranelagh gardens, an impressive collection has been assembled, donated by heirs of famous artists, especially Monet, whose son Michel gave over one hundred paintings, among them the giant water lilies. A must visit!Fondation Cartier for contemporary art:
While visitors often think of the Palais de Tokyo at the Trocadero, at a short stroll of the Saint James Paris, of the Pompidou Center in the Marais and of the recent Louis Vuitton Foundation designed by Frank Gehry in the 16th , there is another unique place to visit in Paris : the Cartier Foundation. Initiated in 1984 by the former President of Cartier n a suggestion by the sculptor César, it is since 1994 located in Paris, in a building by Jean Nouvel. 261 Boulevard Raspail, 14th.
Musée Nissim de Camondo :
Run by the MAD who also oversees the famous Musée des Arts Décoratifs in the Louvre, the Musée Nissim de Camondo located 3 rue de Monceau in the 8th opened in 1936 to display the unique collection of French 18th-century art assembled by the owner of the mansion, Count Moïse de Camondo. His and his children’s apparments can also be visited.
Le Corbusier’s apartment:
At nr 24, rue Nungesser & Coli in the south of the 16th district, the apartment where Le Corbusier lived from 1934 to 1965, on the 7th and 8th stories of a building he designed himself, has just been restored exactly as it was in 1965. A special visit needed for design lovers!
Musée Dapper
The 16th district of Paris is probably the one with the more museums, from the Museum of Mankind to the Musée de la Marine (navy), the museum of fashion, the Yves Saint Laurent foundation and many others! One of the least known is probably the Musée Dapper, dedicated to promoting and supporting African arts, ancient and contemporary! A great stop while shopping on famous Victor Hugo avenue!
Monnaie de Paris:
France's longest standing institution and the oldest enterprise in the world, Monnaie de Paris was officially founded in 864 with the Edict of Pistres. In the Edict, Charles II - known as Charles the Bald - decreed the creation of a coining workshop in Paris, attached to the crown, in addition to eight further workshops in the provinces. The Parisian workshop, the only one in France in continuous operation since it opened, gained precedence under the Ancien Régime as the country's foremost mint.
The current building at nr 11, Quai de Conti, just off the Relais Christine, was built on a decision by Louis the 15th and opened in 1775. The institution still counts 300 employees in Paris, producing 12000 gold coins, 100000 medals and 130000 official decorations a year. Since it full renovation a few years ago, it also host the 3-Michelin star gourmet restaurant of Guy Savoy as well as 3 to 4 cutting edge contemporary exhibitions each year!
Musée Edith Piaf
In Paris’ 11th hip district, after visiting the now famous Atelier des Lumières projecting art works on walls, Paris’ famous cemetary Père Lachaise (pay a visit to Oscar Wilde, Franz Schubert, Jim Morrisson and many others!) or maybe before having a drink at Le Perchoir or dinner at the iconic bistro Chateaubriand by Chef Inaki Aizpitatre, you can visit the small former apartment in which one of France’s most iconic singers, “La môme Piaf”, lived at the beginning of her career in Ménilmontant. The famous black dress and many personal objects of the singer of “La vie en rose” can be seen, as well as a shop with exclusive books and music.
Musée Zadkine
Along with the Musée Bourdelle (dedicated to the sculptor Antoine Bourdelle, in the 15th district), the Musée Zadkine is one of the last museums/workshops to be seen in Paris. Located at 100bis rue d’Assas in the 6th, just behind the Luxembourg garden (which especially designed Tolix chairs are the best for taking the sun!), this museum is dedicated to the sculptor Ossip Zadkine (1888-1967) who lived and worked there until his death. The museum also welcomes temporary exhibitions.
Maison de Balzac
In the 16th district (147 rue Raynouard), visit the home of one of France’s most famous writers ever. Newly reopened last summer, it presents Balzac as well as his main characters.
Maxim’s Art Nouveau museum
While everyone knows the famous restaurant partly belonging to Pierre Cardin, the fact that the famous designer recreated a 3-story private apartment dedicated to Art Nouveau is almost a secret. Over 550 pieces from 1900 he assembled are displayed (Majorelle, Tiffany, Gallé, Toulouse-Lautrec…). Only downside: the apartment can be visited upon reservation only by groups of 20 persons!
Let Houlahan Travel help you plan your next trip to Paris! Call us at 847.868.4502 or email us at info@houlahantravel.com.