Heidi Ellison
What’s New in Paris: NATA
Paris Update What’s New in Paris SPIRITUAL & PHYSICAL SUSTENANCE Paris has plenty of yoga centers, but few in the 20th arrondissement, and even fewer with their own organic vegetarian cooking school and regular meditation sessions in a peaceful studio … Read More
Distrito Francés, Rococo, Osè
Lunching in the Northern Faubourgs The homey setting upstairs at Distrito Francés. One day in August I went to the Rue du Faubourg Saint Martin to try a new Mexican restaurant, Distrito Francés, and was delighted to discover that a … Read More
Le Siècle de François Ier
The Rebranding of a Warrior King
Five centuries after the beginning of his reign (1515-47), François I is remembered as an enlightened monarch, a man of letters and patron of the arts who imported great Renaissance arts and artists, among them Leonardo da Vinci, to France … Read More
975
Bistronomy Reaches Outer Limits (of Paris)
It’s a sure sign of approaching gentrification when a restaurant like 975 opens in one of Paris’s quartiers populaires, in this case the area around Métro Guy Moquet in northwestern Paris, not far from the Périphérique.
A Mère
A New Lab for Creative Cooking
For once, I beat the quick-off-the-mark food bloggers to a new Paris restaurant: A Mère. And what a find it is! While it won’t win any awards for decor, it ticks all the other boxes for a favorite restaurant: reasonable prices; high-quality, seasonal ingredients; great creativity; and attention to detail.
Beaurepaire Revisited
Basquing on the Terrace of a Summer Evening
Summery weather and an evening reading at Shakespeare & Co (Zadie Smith and Nick Laird), could lead to only one conclusion: dinner at one of Paris’s top terraces, the nearby Beaurepaire. A meal there was also an occasion to check on the evolution of a restaurant first reviewed here in 2012.
La Dispensa
Little Italy Moves to the 10th
Paris has lost a wonderful little Italian restaurant, Caffè dei Cioppi, but has gained La Dispensa. Sicilian chef Fabrizio Ferrara has closed his trattoria in an alleyway of the 12th arrondissement and opened a lunch spot/Italian deli on an equally obscure side street in the 10th, where I treated myself to lunch the other day.
The Cost of Courage
Fighting the War From the Inside
One aspect of the popular international sport of France-bashing involves attacks on the country’s collaborationist record during World War II, so it is refreshing to be reminded occasionally that collaboration was not the whole story and that there were many … Read More
Le Musée de l’Annonciade
A Day in Saint Tropez: Beyond the Bling
The last thing you would expect to find in Saint Tropez, best known for its bling, is a museum. And not just any museum, but the Musée de L’Annonciade, housed in a charming little deconsecrated 16th-century chapel right next to … Read More
GrandCœur
Paying Court in the Marais
Paris is seriously lacking in restaurants with quiet terraces where one can have a meal in peace on a summer evening. And, when such a place does exist, the restaurant is often not up to par – it’s almost as if the owners figure they don’t have to make an effort because they know they will fill their tables anyway.