france · Year round · best Oct–Jun
The townhouses of the 7e. The cellars of the 1er. The tables that do not take new names — and the rare new ones that earned their reservation list in the last eighteen months. A short, biased map of the rooms I would book in the city this season.
Hotels
Book the room — handled personally.
Palace · 5★The Oetker palace on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré — Eric Frechon's three-star kitchen, the rooftop pool, and the city's most consistent service.
Palace · 5★LVMH's flagship inside the restored Samaritaine, with the city's only true Seine-facing palace pool.
Palace · 5★The Dorchester palace on Avenue Montaigne — geraniums on the façade, Alain Ducasse upstairs, and the most cinematic courtyard in the city.
Palace · 5★
Palace · 5★The Philippe Starck palace on avenue Hoche — the Cinéma room, Il Carpaccio, Matsuhisa Paris, and the most cinematic late dinner of the 8e palaces.
Boutique · 4★
Palace · 5★The Peninsula on the avenue Kléber — the rooftop with the Eiffel Tower view, the LiLi cantonese dining room, the most ambitious technology specification of any Paris palace.
Festive · clubs, line-ups, long lunches
Reserve the table for the night out — handled personally.
Japanese-Korean · 8eAkira Back's first European address inside the Prince de Galles — the chandelier room of the old Heures bar, the signature tuna pizza, the Avenue George V dinner with the most ambitious music programming.
Hotel bar · 8eThe Bulgari Paris bar and aperitivo — the marble counter, the long garden, the Milanese ritual that the 8e has finally adopted.
Italian-French · 1erThe Tuileries terrace at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs — the most beautiful lunch view in the centre of Paris and the longest summer afternoon in the 1er.
Russian · 16eThe Paris Society Slavic table in the Hôtel Pauilhac — caviar, salmon coulibiac, the summer garden, and the private salons of the 16e.
French · 8eThe Costes restaurant-club on the avenue Matignon — the long brasserie evening that turns into the basement club at 23h, the Paris address that does not need explaining.
Palace bar · 8eThe Patrick Jouin ice bar at the Plaza — the avenue Montaigne ritual, the cocktail programme that has held the palace's reservation list for twenty years.
Seafood · 16eThe Trocadéro terrace with the Eiffel Tower in full face — Girafe for the long dinner, Suite Girafe upstairs for the rooftop after.
Peruvian · 8eGastón Acurio's Paris Peruvian room on Avenue Montaigne with the Garance cabaret in the basement — ceviche, pisco, and the late dinner that becomes the after.
Hotel · 1erThe Costes original on the rue Saint-Honoré — the patio courtyard, the late dinner crowd, the soundtrack that the city has copied for thirty years.
French · 8eThe Costes corner on Avenue Montaigne — the Sunday brunch, the long lunch on the pavement, the address that the avenue has kept for thirty years.
Italian · 16eThe Paris Society Italian room at the Palais de Tokyo — the long terrace facing the Eiffel Tower and the dinner that takes the Trocadéro crowd.
Palace bar · 8eThe Bristol's dark-night bar — the wood-panelled room, the long cocktail list, the discreet 8e address for the late evening.
Peruvian · 6e
Cocktail bar · 2eThe rue Saint-Sauveur original of the Experimental group — the small bar that started the modern Paris cocktail revival in 2007.
French · 16e
Japanese · 8eNobu Matsuhisa's Paris room inside the Royal Monceau — the only Matsuhisa address in France, signed dishes and the Raffles palace setting.
Hotel bar · 16eThe Brach first-floor cocktail bar — Philippe Starck interiors, the rooftop pool view, the discreet 16e address for the cocktail before the dinner.
Italian · 9eParis Society's Opera Garnier neighbour — the Italian dinner room next to the Palais Garnier and the late-night crowd that takes the room after the curtain.
Rooftop · 2eThe Kimpton Saint-Honoré rooftop — the 360 view across the centre, the cocktails at sunset, the Paris rooftop that the 2e has needed for a decade.
Japanese · 8eThe Vendôme Kinugawa — the discreet older sister of the rue du Mont-Thabor original, with the long bar and the most polished sushi counter in the 8e.
Italian · 10eCabaret · 8eThe Costes basement cabaret on the rue Jean Mermoz — dinner upstairs, piano and live singing in the basement, the address that the after-dinner crowd has earned.
Italian · 10e
Japanese · 8e
Italian · 8e
Rooftop · 9e
Italian · 9eThe Big Mamma flagship in Pigalle — four floors, the glass dome on the top, the beef Rossini that the queue waits an hour for.
Bar restaurant · 3e
Hotel restaurant · 4e
Asian fusion · 8eAuthentic · the quiet rooms
Reserve the quiet dinner — handled personally.
Opens autumn 2026Anne-Sophie Pic's new Paris room inside the Fondation Cartier's new Louvre-adjacent building — restaurant and mixology bar with Paz Levinson.
Italian seafood · 1erThe Milanese seafood institution's Paris room inside Cheval Blanc — the Bertelli supply chain, the Quai du Louvre view, the most ambitious Italian dining room in the city.
French · 6eThe quai des Grands-Augustins room with the painted private salons — the most cinematic small dining rooms in the city and the only Paris address that still keeps the gilt mirrors for the discreet evening.
Pâtisserie · 1erCédric Grolet's afternoon tea in the Restaurant Le Dalí — the fruit sculpture cakes that the world watches on Instagram, in the room they were made for.
Israeli · 1★ · 2eAssaf Granit and Uri Navon's chef's counter on rue Saint-Sauveur — twenty seats, no menu, the most theatrical Israeli kitchen in the city.
1★ MichelinBertrand Noeureuil takes over the one-star vegetable-led room at the George V — the most-watched chef move of 2026 in Paris.
3★ Michelin
BrasserieThe 7e quai brasserie that has not changed in forty years — French classics, the right wine list, the only correct dinner before a Musée d'Orsay morning.
Israeli vegetarian · 2eAssaf Granit's vegetarian room in the rue Saint-Sauveur sister to Shabour — vegetables turned theatrical, the most ambitious meat-free table in the city.
Japanese · 6eThe Saint-Germain soba room that the visiting Tokyo chefs put on their own list — handmade noodles, one of the most disciplined Japanese kitchens in the city.
Japanese-French · 6eCyril Lignac's small Saint-Germain room — sushi counter on one side, French plates on the other, the Paris answer to the late-night neighbourhood dinner.
Mediterranean · 16eAdam Tihany's hotel restaurant on the place Victor-Hugo — Mediterranean-Levantine plates, the Evok signature, and the most ambitious 16e dining room of the last five years.
Trocadéro view · 16eThe Trocadéro terrace at the Musée de l'Homme — the second-best Eiffel Tower view in town, the long lunch on a clear afternoon.
French · 8eThe Costes Lafayette — the corner brasserie on the rue La Boétie with the polished room, the long banquettes, and the after-work crowd of the 8e.
Provençal · 1erJean-François Piège's Provençal room at the Hôtel de la Marine — the courtyard terrace at the Concorde and the Mediterranean lunch the centre has needed.
Japanese · 7e
Italian · 12eGiovanni Passerini's small Italian dining room in the 12e — pasta made in front of the room, a kitchen that has earned the rare regular's reservation list.
Silk Road · 8eAkrame Benallal's Silk Road room on Avenue Marceau — a journey from Marrakech to Samarkand and the only Caucasian kitchen of its kind on Avenue George V.
Japanese · 9eMediterranean · 6e
Bistro · 1erThe rue du Mont-Thabor bistro with the cheeseburger that the fashion crowd has kept on the short list for fifteen years.
Hotel restaurant · 2eThe Hôtel de la Poste du Louvre dining room — the marble counter, the long all-day menu, the discreet centre lunch.
French brasserie · 7eThe 7e brasserie on avenue de Tourville — the morning coffee, the long pavement lunch, the local that the neighbourhood has earned.
Armenian · 3e
Japanese · 3eJapanese pastry · 17eThe Japanese pâtisserie-restaurant from chef Mori Yoshida and team — minimal room, precise plates, the sweetest finish in the arrondissement.
Israeli bakery · 11eTables
Book the table — handled personally.
Garden lunch · 16eThe island in the Bois de Boulogne — the long lunch on the lake, the rowing boat across, the Sunday escape that does not require the train.
Italian market · 4eThe Marais flagship of the Italian food hall group — three floors of pasta, pizza, market, and the bar where the Friday afternoon happens.
Brasserie · 6e & 16e
Brunch · 6eBrunch · 1erBrunch · 9eThe organic Marlette café — the long brunch counter, the pâtisseries from the South-Pigalle bakery, the morning queue that the regulars accept.
Brunch · 7e
All-day · 9eThe small South-Pigalle all-day café — the long brunch, the pavement terrace, the local that the rue Frochot crowd has kept off the main lists.
Brunch · 9e
Brunch · 2eBrunch · 6eBrunch · 3eSport · tennis, padel, polo, golf
Book the court · the green · the chukkers — handled personally.
Tennis · MembersThe private racquet club in the Bois de Boulogne — the only serious tennis option in the city, members and invited guests only.
Clubs & members rooms
Get on the list — handled personally.
Private club · 6eThe rue Princesse members club — the dining room on the first floor, the late club on the second, the Paris private club that does not need explaining.
Club · 8eClub · 16eThe rue de Presbourg club with the Arc de Triomphe in the front window — the late dinner, the rooftop, the after that runs to 06h.