EATING (mostly in the 11th arrondissement – this my favourite part of Paris):
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Vantre (@restaurant_vantre): 19 Rue de la Fontaine au Roi in the 11th. Best food I have ever tasted with a wine-list as big as an encyclopedia. Simple cuisine done well, and has a fabulous list by the glass too – Michael the sommelier previously worked at Rockpool Bar and Grill.
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La Servan (restaurant_leservan): 32 RUE SAINT MAUR. OMG – so delicious with a short, fabulous wine list. Great service in a cute little venue – super chic. The owners have opened a more ‘asian’ focused venue down the road called Double Dragon – I ran out of time, but the place looked really cool and low-key.
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Café des Musees (cafe_des_musees): 49 Rue de Turenne. Closer to the Marais than the 11th - I love this place. In fact, I love it so much I have a new rule, that I try not to go to a restaurant too many times (especially not twice in one day!). The chef is Japanese, but is so focused on traditional cuisine it wins awards all the time. The style is very professional and upmarket – but it’s a tiny eatery/café but with real pizzazz.
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Parcelles (@parcelles_paris): 13 Rue Chapon. The latest little place (in the Marais) that everyone is desperate to go to – it’s tiny, but they were so nice to me that they found me a tiny corner to sit in (the manager worked at Nomad in Sydney for three years!). Beautiful ‘local’ cuisine – with traditional ‘nose to tail’ style. My colleague from the UK was super surprised that I knew about this place let alone got a seat for lunch! Lucky to be an Aussie!!
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Yard (@yardparis): 6 Rue de Mont-Louis: Right at the top of the hill in the 11th arrondissement (near Pere Lachaise cemetery). I think the chef is Aussie James Henry (formerly of Bones). Really market driven the food is different every day and it is clear that the food is about as local to Paris as you can get. Everything is delicious – but the venue has a dining room and a ‘comptoir’ for a more casual feel.
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Septime (@septimeparis): 80 rue de Charonne. Lovely little place – but SUPER POPULAR and HOT RIGHT NOW, so try and secure a reservation; some places are kept at the bar – but you’ve got to be really lucky! Great food, but the beverage selection is something else – mostly natural wines (inc. Pet Nats etc) and a really fun experience.
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Bistro Paul Bert (@bistropaulbert): 14 rue Paul Bert. Iconic restaurant and of course it’s fabulous – which means a lot of English speakers in the background… but great food and great atmosphere. I once had the most memorable evenings here…but it does feel a wee bit touristy.
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Chez Julien (@chezjulienparis): We stayed on the top floor of this building in 2016 and took almost half of the photos of our four-week sojourn to Paris from the windows! Right across from Pont Louis-Philippe and Ille Saint Louis and super close to Notre Dame (the clanging of the bells at 8am told me I had to get out of bed!) this is one of the most romantic restaurants in Paris. In an old bakery that was founded in 1770 (1770!) and taken over by the folks who own the Hotel Costes. Food is pretty classic, but the place has all of the Ambience de Paris you could hope for! Our first night here was our first night in the apartment, and after the epic flight and 50 glasses of Champagne we were pretty smashed – and we sat next to a sunburnt Heston (poor bloke!).
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Habile Restaurant: (16 Rue de Lancry @habile.officiel) A wee bit further away and technically in the 10th – this is a restaurant that is so fashion it has its own fashion collection! Good food and quite reasonably priced and a very fashion crowd too… https://habile.com/en
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Bars:
Le Mary Celeste: (1 rue Commines 75003 - cnr rue de Turenne www.lemaryceleste.com) This place is lovely for an aperitif with super simple food eg. charcuterie. it’s down the road from my hotel and is packed with young, cute Frenchies. If you go too late it will be too rammed with people and more of a ‘social experience’ rather than a fabulous wine list.
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The Delicatessen Place: (5 rue Jean Pierre Timbaud) Open 7 days and super popular - https://www.instagram.com/delicatessenplace/?hl=en a really cute bar and snack place with groovy wines and super low key food. Very cool peeps and a little bottle shop next door that you will 100% find something to squeeze into your suitcase.
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Les Amoureuses. 3 Rue des Tournelles. Chic Wine Bar with nice wines and friendly team. You can have a drink on the side bar if full. https://maps.app.goo.gl/3X8HM73y9DgjDcXx5
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Little Red Door: (60 rue Charlot 75003 www.lrdparis.com) this little place regularly wins those ‘best bar’ awards – but I’m never sure who actually runs the award program to make this little place ‘award winning’ - so who knows. It’s fun – great cocktails and interesting wines and you can go on your own, but they will make you share a table with people you don’t know.
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Bar Fleury: (177 rue Saint Denis) Mad Champagne bar operated by Morgane Fleury of the Fleury Family in Courteron (Cote des Bar). It’s not open every day and has no website – but I’ve been once on a Thursday evening and it was fun (mad – but fun).
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Maison Proust: (26 rue Picardie 75003) Super upmarket – but nice and quiet. This place is a hotel and a bar brand new and a scorching homage to Marcel Proust (I know – not the happiest chap to inspire a fun night out!) but the bar and hotel is deluxe! Sumptuous interiors and a super wine and cocktail list. www.maison-proust.com/en/maison-proust
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L18 Oberkampf: (18 rue Operkampf 75011) Run by a lovely bunch of young people, this is a cute little bar/bottle shop with simple food, but really interesting wine.
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Vins de Pyrénées: (25 rue Beautrellis 75004) This is a pretty classic, good value bistro with all the classics and a good wine list – but upstairs on a Friday night is the 1905 bar. So fun, with live music and gets super packed with all sorts of people. Chaos – but really memorable. Closes 2am.