MICHELIN Guide

cafe

“Let's start with a slow morning at Maison Fleuret. It's a charming little coffee shop in a former bookstore in Saint-Germain-des-Prés which is historically the city's literary heart. The owners have kept walls of books as an homage to the space's past. So come for that, come for the cakes that are made fresh each morning, the delicious coffee… Hard to beat that - and linger with a book.”

restaurant

“Allard, which opened in 1932, is a great example of this. It's a MICHELIN-selected restaurant. Here it's all about those classics and comforting dishes, so you'll find things like escargots and duck foie gras confit. Or, the star of the show, the duckling with bright olives. Wow. Everything's gotten a lighter touch since Alain Ducasse took over in 2013.”

bar

“After the speakeasy heyday in Paris, the city's cocktail scene has really evolved with places like this: Cravan. And it's the perfect spot before dinner or for a nightcap. The focus is on a fermented tea from Maison Ogata. Inside, we add a sake with a slight chocolaty note, and an almost unaged cognac that brings white-almond and white-flower aromas. It’s quite well-rounded yet powerful at the same time. This was fantastic.”

restaurant

“I have reservations at Colvert, another fantastic restaurant in the neighbourhood. Okay, so it looks like a bistro, it feels like a bistro, but it's been reinvented a little bit. The chef Baptiste Borderie brings a more modern flair through his work with sauces, flavour pairings and textures especially. The clafoutis food for dessert was a really nice touch because instead of sour cherries, he incorporated plums and served it with a scoop of almond cardamom ice cream on top, which I found very warm and a little bit spicy.”

hotel

“I woke up at Maison Proust, one of the many hotels with a MICHELIN Key, which is basically the equivalent of a star for hotels. Very obviously, as the name implies, inspired by the world of Marcel Proust. It's super romantic. There's an underground spa and a heating pool that you can privatise, and it just so happens to have one of my favourite cocktail bars, where Colin Field, the former head bartender at the Ritz, makes a special appearance a few times a month.”

restaurant

“We're headed to Dandelion, which I've loved since Antoine Villard and Morgane Souris opened it last year. It feels a bit like someone's beautifully designed home in the countryside. It's also what you might call a neo-bistro. We really imagined Dandelion as a modern bistro. We wanted it to feel very Parisian. At the same time, it's a modern bistro because we also wanted to give it a chef’s touch, along the lines of cuisine d'auteur. We didn’t want tablecloths or overly formal service, but we wanted that refinement to come through on the plate, with a fine dining approach underpinning it.”

experience

“It would really be a shame to come to the neighbourhood and not take a digestive walk to the Musée Delacroix. It's in the very quiet, Square Furstenberg, where Eugène Delacroix lived and worked until his death. These intimate house museums that I personally love because they're far from the crowds of the Louvre. It's a much slower, calmer experience.”

shopping

“as of this summer, Debauve et Gallais. It's best known for having invented the chocolate that one could bite into instead of drink, and that was designed originally for Marie Antoinette.”

experience

“I started with a sweet snack right in my favourite green space in Paris, the Place des Vosges. It's among the oldest planned squares, and it was built for Henry IV. That's your little history lesson. But around it you've got grand hotels particuliers, you've got art galleries, a few cafés...”

experience

“A quick walk away, another cultural outing. Hunting and Nature Museum is surprising and it's wonderful and it's where ancient and contemporary works explore the relationship between humans and the living world. And you honestly can't spend time in the Marais without coming here. It's an experience.”

restaurant

“before we end our journey at 19 Saint-Roch, where the chef is putting his own spin on classic French dishes.”