Paris_ City Guide (Lonely Planet, 7th Edition) - Lonely Planet [173]
L’ATELIER DE JOËL ROBUCHON Map International €€€
0 826 101 219; www.restaurants-joel-robuchon.com; 5 rue de Montalembert, 7e; starters €20-45, mains €27-58, menu €110; lunch & dinner to midnight daily; Rue du Bac
It’s a mean feat to snag a seat at this celebrity-chef address, which accepts reservations only between 11am and 11.30am the day you want to dine or at precisely 6.30pm for dinner. Once in, you’ll realise what all the fuss is about. Diners are taken on a mind-blowing culinary tour of the finer things in French gastronomy, lobster, sardines, foie gras and milk-fed lamb included. And with accolades like ‘chef of the century’ and ‘world’s best restaurant’ under Joël Robuchon’s belt, you know it’ll be good. Dining is stool-style around a U-shaped black lacquer bar and the décor – bamboo in glass vases and the like – throws in a touch of Japan.
L’ESPLANADE Map Fusion €€€
01 47 05 38 80; 52 rue Fabert, 7e; meals around €50; lunch & dinner to 12.30am daily; La Tour Maubourg
An address to impress (so dress to impress), Café de l’Esplanade might well be one of those chic, hobnobbing society places to be seen in between business deals – it is of the same Costes brothers ilk as Café Marly, Georges et al, much loved by politicians and journalists. (In the Sarkozy-Cécilia soap opera, this was where the pair made public their reconciliation before splitting again.) But take one look at the astonishing view and you’ll understand why. This is, after all, the only café-restaurant on the magnificent Esplanade des Invalides. No menus – just à la carte until half-past midnight.
BRASSERIE THOUMIEUX Map French, Brasserie €€€
01 47 05 49 75; www.thoumieux.com, in French; 79 rue St-Dominique, 7e; starters €10, mains €25, menus €15 (lunch only) & €35; lunch & dinner to 11pm daily; La Tour Maubourg
Chef Christian Beguet has been here since 1979 – and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Founded in 1923, Thoumieux is an old-school institution just south of the Seine, loved by politicians and tourists alike. Duck thighs, veal, snails…the menu is typical brasserie and the service, silky smooth. It has 10 rooms up top should you need to crash.
LA GRANDE ÉPICERIE Map Wok & Sandwich Bar €€
01 46 39 81 00; www.lagrandeepicerie.fr; 26 rue de Sèvres, 7e; sandwich menus €9-11; 8.30am-9pm Mon-Sat; Sèvres Babylone
Join the hordes of workers from the offices in this area for a quick tasty lunch at the Espace Pic Nic, in the ground-floor food hall of stylish Le Bon Marché department store. Hover around the bar over a wok-cooked hot dish (€8.05), a design-your-own sandwich (pick the bread type and fillings yourself; €5.38), a self-designed salad (€6.75) or an 11-piece sushi plate (€11.60). Pay marginally less to take the same away, or build your own gourmet picnic from the food hall.
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SELF-CATERING
Just west of Invalides spills an open-air food market six days a week on Rue Cler. Or there’s the finest of fine food halls La Grande Épicerie (see above).
A fromagerie to die for, Quatrehommes (Map; 01 47 34 33 45; 62 rue de Sèvres, 6e; 8.45am-1pm & 4-7.45pm Tue-Thu, 8.45am-7.45pm Fri & Sat; Vanneau) sells the best of every French cheese, many with an original take (eg Epoisses boxed in chestnut leaves, Mont d’Or flavoured with black truffles, spiced honey and Roquefort bread etc). The smell alone as you enter is heavenly.
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EIFFEL TOWER AREA & 16E ARRONDISSEMENT
The 16e arrondissement is perhaps the most chichi and snobby part of Paris, the kind of area where a waiter will ask a fluent though non-native speaker of French whether they would