Category Archives: travel

Though efforts to modernize Parisian dining with slick interiors and fusion cuisine should be commended, if you’re a visitor with only a few days to dine there, what kind of restaurant do you really want? Chances are it’s the beautiful Belle Epoque setting and bistro food of Chez Julien.

This gorgeous, mirrored jewel box of a restaurant, with a private upstairs dining room that’s often reserved by a fashion crowd during Paris fashion week, was established in 1780. It was revamped in 2007 by the Costes group, which seems to be snapping up Paris restaurants with the speed of Michael “Bao” Huynh in New York. (Given my previous experience that week with a Costes restaurant, I might not have gone had I known this, but Chez Julien is a radically different type of endeavor than Delaville.) (more…)

A huge amount of light and space, bordered by clean lines, with a stunning backdrop of the Paris skyline: Georges on the top of the Centre Pomidou is a veritable temple to modernity. But before you get all serious in the face of art, know that Georges is not nearly as austere as it seems. It’s New York’s Modern meets Fred’s at Barneys – a sleek, contemporary space that’s a real social scene, with forward-leaning French cuisine to match.

Though you could have a romantic dinner here, Georges is the perfect spot for a long, leisurely lunch. Just take the escalators to the top floor before you view the museum  and put your name in at the door. (more…)

Though New Yorkers may think of a cool restaurant as something new and trendy, one of the coolest restaurants Marie Fromage and I visited in Paris was also one of the oldest: Brasserie Lipp. Here the maitre’d will greet you with the hauteur befitting a place that’s been a see-and-be-seen destination since 1880. If you walk in without a reservation, they will look you up and down and see if they could possibly find a place for you, and the odds aren’t good. Fortunately for us, we made it to the back room, where we found a very good dinner and some familiar faces from Paris fashion week.

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Sometimes just getting a meal in Paris can be a titanic battle of wills. Take the steak frites place we tried to go to on a recent night. Though recommended by a seemingly reliable guidebook (plastered on the windows there), it was nearly empty at 9:30. We walked in, walked out to consider our options, then walked back in to give it a chance. “The kitchen is now closed,” the proprietress told us. “We can’t stay open just for you. We are tired.” It was a Friday night, and two in our party had put on five fashion shows in one day. Tired.

On to the next place: Delaville, a newish addition to the slew of Costes restaurants in the city. When we asked for a table in the shabby chic dining room, we were referred to a tall guy who barely paused between waiting on tables, bartending, and managing the staff to tell us that the wait for a table would be at least an hour, though there was no sign of anyone else waiting. We were welcome, however, to eat in the bar, so we settled in there. Our table on the cold, glassed in patio had all the charm of the old Dallas BBQ on 8th Street. Ah, Paris. (more…)

By Parisian standards, La Ferrandaise is a very young bistro. Open only a few years, manned by a chef who has yet to see a gray hair on his head, this spot in St. Germain falls into the same traditional category as venerable institutions that have been open a hundred years or more. Yet it hasn’t had any trouble keeping up: it was packed on a recent night, and it won the Lebey award for Best Parisian Bistro in 2006.

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