Expert Edition: The Best of Paris from Paris By Mouth's Founder, Meg Zimbeck
You'll want to save this for your next trip to Paris
The Relisher is the place where the world’s top chefs reveal their favorite spots in their home cities. This week is an expert edition, where we speak with
the founder of Substack.Meg also happens to run the best food tour company in Paris (it’s been rated the #1 Paris food tour on TripAdvisor for more than a decade). Her tours have been featured by the New York Times and celebrated by renowned food writers
and .Below, Meg shares her favorite places in Paris, which are truly the best of the best recommendations whether it’s your first time or if you’ve been to Paris countless times.
*At the end of the interview, there is a Google Map link and a summary with links and price ranges for all the mentioned places.
Casual Restaurants
I hesitate to recommend Café des Ministères, because it’s incredibly hard to get in. Café des Ministères is not fancy – tables are bare and water is served in vintage liquor bottles. However, it has an authentic French charm. The menu matches the interior in its humble focus on flavor. If you manage to snag a table, order the stuffed cabbage (named the national champion of stuffed cabbages) – it’s a masterpiece stuffed with pork, duck foie gras and bread soaked in creamy milk. It’s the world’s most delicious meatball.
Pro tip: reservations open online 21 days in advance and fill up almost immediately. Be ready at 12pm (Paris time) to book for lunch, and 7:30pm (Paris time) to book for dinner. Café des Ministères is definitely a place I would recommend for dinner because of the sheer quantity of the food — you’ll need a nap if you come for lunch.
I also love Juveniles, which captures the quintessential mom-and-pop Parisian bistro feel, despite its posh location near the Louvre. Margaux Johnston's warm hospitality in the dining room pairs nicely with her husband Romain Roudeau’s talent in the kitchen and their stellar wine cellar — making it one of the most delightful and well-priced spots in the city.
Though the menu changes constantly, standouts include Roudeau's outstanding homemade terrine de campagne (a traditional meat and herb loaf dish) served alongside pickles, and his vanilla rice pudding with salted butter caramel.
For some spice, there’s Le Servan. Chef Tatiana Levha, who is originally from the Philippines, makes great use of ingredients from all over the world. Recent standouts included a savory tomato tart topped with edible flowers and ricotta, served alongside a generous portion of pigs' ears tossed in Chinese pepper and chili crisp.
Fine Dining Restaurants
My favorite thing to do is to go out for a fancy lunch and have a more casual place at night. Currently, my favorite fine dining restaurant is Alliance. It's an extremely small, intimate one-Michelin-star restaurant run through a partnership between a Japanese chef and a Parisian self-taught waiter and wine expert. What makes Alliance so special is how it delivers exceptional service, incredible food, and great value for the quality. Their lunch prix fixe menu is around 100 euros, which, while not inexpensive, is an outstanding deal for Michelin-starred cuisine in Paris.
Maison is really incredible, specifically for Sunday lunch. I specifically recommend Sunday lunch because this is when the chef prepares his largest tasting menu and puts forward his biggest culinary effort of the week. Given that there aren't that many restaurants open on Sunday in Paris, you’ll often spot many of Paris’ top chefs dining here. The restaurant itself is super cozy — the chef's cooking is largely done on a wood-burning stove, and there’s a fireplace, so it just smells delightful. It’s especially fun on a winter day. Parisians will easily spend five hours here and just hang out all day long on Sunday.
At La Tour d'Argent, you can definitely get the best wine in the city. They have a cellar that's hundreds and hundreds of years old — it's phenomenal, and not very expensive for what it is. You can get 20-year-old vintages for almost zero markup, and you select wine from this massive, bible-like wine list. The food is quite good. The restaurant is situated on a top floor overlooking Notre Dame and the Seine River, offering spectacular panoramic views.
Stepping off the elevator and into the dining room with its breathtaking views of one of the world's most beautiful cities from such an incredible vantage point — it's an unbeatable experience.
Note that most of the fine-dining restaurants can take from three to five hours. If you’re visiting for a short time, it may not be the best use of your time.
The Best Croissant in Paris
If you come to Paris, you must eat an excellent croissant. Most are good, but the ones from La Maison d'Isabelle will blow your mind (47ter Bd Saint-Germain, 75005). They win prizes regularly for the quality of their croissant, and rightfully so. There are typically lines but they’re not very long. Since there’s no seating, La Maison d'Isabelle is one block from the Seine River, and so it’s a good idea to have your croissant there.
Where to Indulge Your Sweet Tooth
There are so many incredible pastry shops in Paris. My personal favorite is Sain Boulangerie (I go to the location in Le Marais, though they have several throughout the city). I typically order their seasonal chaussons (fruit-filled turnovers), which are always incredible — apple in autumn or tart rhubarb in spring. Sain is the ideal spot to stop if you want to grab a quick coffee and pastry in the morning.
The individual desserts at Des Gateaux et du Pain are always mind-blowing. The dessert creations change with the season, as is true with every high-end pâtisserie in Paris. Right now in winter they are featuring a lot of peak-season citrus, chocolate and chestnuts. This place is ideal if you want to take a coffee break with desserts in the afternoon.
Chocolates Galore
The top-of-the top chocolatiers in Paris are Patrick Roger and Jacques Genin. Their chocolates are absolutely world-class and their boutiques are visually stunning — it's quite an experience to visit.
Two up-and-coming chocolatiers that I love are:
Les 3 Chocolats: This is a Japanese chocolatier who also makes desserts. She stands out to me as she's incorporating some flavorings that you don't necessarily see in France as often. For example, yuzu or other ingredients often associated with Asia rather than France. They're so balanced and so delicate and really phenomenal.
Maison Le Roux: The founder, Henri, is old-school French but in my opinion does not get the attention he deserves. He’s from Brittany, so many of his creations feature sea salt from Brittany, or salted butter caramel. He actually invented what we now call salted butter caramel — Henri was the first to highlight sea salt from his native region and combine it with caramel. So when you visit, you must order the bite-sized salted butter caramels and chocolates.
Favorite Cheese Shop in The World
Next door to La Maison d'Isabelle (the croissants mentioned above), is Laurent Dubois, my favorite cheese shop in the world.
If you come during the winter, get the Mont d'Or, a soft cheese. If you come in spring or summer, you're lucky enough to be in France during goat cheese season. There will probably be 50 to 60 goat cheeses that will be on display. I would go for something young and fresh — Selles-sur-Cher, which is an ash covered goat cheese, is exceptionally good to eat in Spring. Of course, you can always ask for guidance. I also recommend trying their Brie de Meaux.
Wine Bar
My favorite wine bar is Augustin Marchand d'Vins in Saint-Germain. It's tiny and they only have a few small plates for nibbling (the menu changes literally every week). I particularly love this place as the wines are special and the lighting is sexy. The owner will have suggestions and let you taste things — follow his lead.
Must-visit Restaurants for First-Time Paris Travelers
First-timers are going to want to eat some classic French cuisine. In addition to Café des Ministères and Juveniles (mentioned in my favorite casual restaurants above), I love:
Auberge Bressane for quenelles (a mixture of creamed fish) and soufflé
Chez George for steak frites (steak and fries)
L'Assiette for cassoulet (a rich, slow-cooked stew originating in southern France)
Favorite Boutique & Museum
I'm not much of a shopper, but if I had to choose my favorite boutique in Paris it would be Deyrolle. The shop, which is a few hundred years old, features exotic taxidermied animals arranged playfully in this gorgeous light green space with beautiful lighting. Picasso used to hang out here. It’s a fun, very weird place in the posh side of town.
The Musée Carnavalet, dedicated to Paris’ history, is definitely my favorite museum in the city. It's housed in a stunning old mansion right in the heart of the Marais district. It's an amazing place to immerse yourself in the history of Paris through the various objects — you'll discover here things like old maps of Paris and vintage shop signs that date back centuries. Keep in mind that advanced online booking is required.
Thanks for reading — Gabrielle
HERE is the Google Map link with all of the places mentioned.
SUMMARY
CASUAL RESTAURANTS
FINE DINING RESTAURANTS
La Tour d'Argent $$$
Alliance $$$
Maison $$$
PASTRIES & DESSERTS
Sain Boulangerie (for pastries) $$$
Des Gateaux et du Pain (for desserts) $$$
La Maison d'Isabelle (for croissants) $$$
CHOCOLATIERS
CHEESE SHOP
WINE BAR
RECOMMENDED PARIS RESTAURANTS FOR FIRST TIME VISITORS
BOUTIQUE & MUSEUM
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So happy to be featured in your incredible newsletter - thanks Gabrielle!