![]() ![]() If you have a sense of the neighborhood and what else is out there, you can plan your entire evening around it - maybe relax at a local coffee shop in late afternoon, and grab a pre- or post-dinner drink at a cocktail or wine bar close by. ![]() This is also useful if you’re planning to schlep out to the other side of the city to try a new restaurant. ![]() Then you’ll know where to look when you’re seeking that particular vibe or style. As you research restaurants or hear about places, make a mental note of the areas where they’re located, and try to build an awareness of their particular vibe and style over time. Paris is a city with two banks (I am Team Right Bank all the way), twenty arrondissements, and many micro-neighborhoods with different atmospheres, personalities, and business costs for restaurateurs. Paris has many options for non-restaurant meals that won’t make you feel cheap or deprived (I should write a post about those, no?). I only suggest that you get a realistic idea of what it costs to run a restaurant in a city like Paris, and judge prices accordingly.ĭepending on your budget, it is perhaps better to eat out less frequently, and have memorable experiences when you do. Or that you can’t be smart about it and go to the fancy places at lunch on weekdays to get the formule déjeuner. Or that you can’t find excellent food in simple, hole-in-the-wall restaurants. That’s not to say all expensive restaurants are good. Fresh ingredients cooked from scratch, skilled staff, and a pleasant décor you want to sit in, all cost money that the customer has to pay for. Paris is not a cheap city, and generally speaking, the good places aren’t either. Tip #3: If it sounds too good to be true… Please get in touch and I will be happy to provide more details! I am available to take you on a private walking tour to show you some of my favorite food spots. I have no use for crowd-sourced review websites: without knowing the people writing and their background, the litany of random opinions is meaningless to me. (For content written in French, Google Translate is your friend!) I don’t read everything they write (hello, overwhelm!), but when I need fresh recommendations, these are my go-to’s. I use the website Paris by Mouth and keep an eye on Esterelle Payany’s reviews in Télérama and François-Régis Gaudry’s blog at L’Express (he has a TV show on Paris Première and a radio show on France Inter if you can’t get enough of him). I get the weekly review from Le Fooding and the My Little Paris newsletter. I like to follow friends such as Caroline Mignot, Lindsey Tramuta (author of The New Paris!), and Aaron Ayscough. It can be bloggers, magazine columnists, or collective websites what matters is that there be a consistent viewpoint from one review to the next. Take the time to identify a few locals (native or not) whose voice and opinions resonate with you, whose dining temperament seems to align with yours, and follow their restaurant adventures. ![]() This is not to dismiss the reports of short-term visitors I myself like to write about my forays in other cities, but I don’t claim expertise and expect my readers to double-check against local sources. It is generally more reliable to get recommendations from people who actually live in the city, and can put a restaurant, chef, cuisine, or trend in the context of many more dining experiences. Keep all of those at the forefront of your mind during your search, so you can swiftly brush aside anything that looks kinda cool but isn’t the focus du jour. How many people are you eating with and what kind of diners are they? What style of cuisine are you into? What kind of ambiance do you want to spend the night in? What price level do you want to go for? Any food preferences or dietary constraints? This is the most basic thing, but many people skip that part.īefore you go down the rabbit hole of searching for “Best Restaurants in Paris”, take a moment to list (in your mind or on paper) the features you’re looking for. So before you make yourself crazy, let me offer you my Ten Paris Restaurant Tips. This is fertile ground for FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) and its sneaky cousin, FOPTWR (Fear Of Picking The Wrong Restaurant). Paris is an international capital of good food and gastronomy (the birthplace of it, even) so you want to make every meal count, yet you know its 40,000 restaurants are not created equal. Whether you live in Paris or you’re just visiting, chances are you spend a lot of time thinking, reading, talking, and fretting about restaurants. ![]()
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