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Michelin stardom: haute cuisine hot spot Taillevent

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Paris for food-lovers
Taste your way around town – plus the sneaky way to bag a table at the top restaurants

If you’ve got food on the brain, few cities are likely to indulge you more than Paris. Here food is not simply nourishment but a serious way of life, as the patient queues outside chic pâtisseries attest. For a perfect gourmet weekend, arrive early on Friday night to get a meal at the relaxed Taillevent, where young chef Alain Solivérès turns out flawless haute cuisine. You might start Saturday with breakfast at Bread & Roses, a bright bakery-deli-café near the Luxembourg gardens run by the Anglophile Philippe Tailleur. Alongside some of the best croissants in town, you’ll find organic breads such as a mini-baguette loaded with currants. Feature continues

Next, stroll over to the Marché Saxe-Breteuil, an open-air market with a view of the Eiffel Tower and some of the finest produce in town. Here, you might slurp a few fresh oysters or experience a mouth-puckering year-old goat’s cheese. Nearby is Le Moulin de la Vierge, where behind the painted glass façade you’ll find stacks of crusty round pains au levain and buttery chaussons aux pommes. The ideal match would be some beautiful cheeses from Fromagerie Quatrehomme.

St-Germain is a chocolate-lover’s paradise, as proved by recent arrivals Patrick Roger and Jean-Charles Rochoux who both produce whimsical sculptures as well as intense ganache-filled chocolates. Probably nothing is more indulgent, though, than a pâtisserie from Pierre Hermé, which looks like an elaborate jewel and costs only slightly less.

Next the Marais, where dazzling new pâtisserie Pain de Sucre turns out creations such as the Lili, an éclair filled with verbena mousseline and peach. Save room for dinner in one of the city’s many bistros run by brilliant young chefs, such as Le Temps au Temps.

Superior saucisses

On Sunday morning soak up the atmosphere at the market street rue Lepic. Les Petits Mitrons sells cakes that are as delicious as they are rustic (try the chocolate-orange tarts). Turn right in front of the fish shop Pepone into rue des Abbesses, a lively Montmartre street that was recently made more pedestrian-friendly. Cave des Abbesses is an inviting wine shop with a little bar tucked into the back. Take a right on rue des Martyrs, which lower down is also lined with food shops such as Fromagerie J Molard and the bakery Arnaud Delmontel, famed for its Renaissance baguette.

In most neighbourhoods food shops close on Sunday afternoons, but the Ile St-Louis is an exception. You’ll even find a classy bistro open for Sunday lunch, the Alsatian-inspired Mon Vieil Ami. Later, follow the crowds to Berthillon Glacier for the most intense ice cream in town.

Where to sleep
To avoid the wait at two of the city’s most popular restaurants, book a room in their adjoining hotels. Stay at the Hôtel Pont Royal and you can jump the queue at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, which only takes reservations for the earliest sittings. Le Comptoir du Relais is booked up months ahead for its single-sitting, prix fixe dinner, but tables are set aside for guests at Hôtel Relais Saint-Germain.

Addresses
Arnaud Delmontel 39 rue des Martyrs, 9th (00 33 1 48 78 29 33/www.arnaud-delmontel.com) Métro Pigalle. Open Mon, Wed-Sun 7am-8.30pm.

Berthillon Glacier 31 rue St-Louis-en-l’Ile, 4th (00 33 1 43 54 31 61) Métro Pont Marie. Open Wed-Sun 10am-8pm except during school holidays.

Bread & Roses 7 rue de Fleurus, 6th (00 33 1 42 22 06 06) Métro St-Placide. Open Mon-Sat 8am-8pm.

Caves des Abbesses 43 rue des Abbesses, 18th (00 33 1 42 52 81 54) Métro Blanche or Abbesses. Mon-Sat 9.30am-9.30pm.

Fromagerie J Molard 48 rue des Martyrs, 9th (00 33 1 45 26 84 88) Métro Pigalle. Open Tue-Sat 9am-1pm, 4-7.30pm, Sun 9am-1pm.

Fromagerie Quatrehomme 62 rue de Sèvres, 7th (00 33 1 47 34 33 45) Métro Vaneau or Duroc. Open Tue-Thur 8.45am-1pm, 4-7.45pm, Fri, Sat 8.45am-7pm.

Hotel Pont Royal 7 rue Montalembert, 7th (00 33 1 42 84 70 00) Métro Musée d’Orsay. Doubles from €380.

Hôtel Relais Saint-Germain 7 carrefour de l’Odéon, 6th (00 33 1 43 29 12 05/www.hotel-paris-relais-saint-germain.com) Métro Odéon. Doubles from €275.

Jean-Charles Rochoux 16 rue d’Assas, 6th (00 33 1 42 84 29 45) Métro Sèvres-Babylone. Open Mon 2.30-7.30pm, Tue-Sat10.30am-7.30pm.

Marché Saxe-Breteuil av de Saxe from Place Breteuil to av de Ségur. Métro Ségur or Sevres Lecourbe. Open Thur, Sat 8am-1.30pm.

Mon Vieil Ami 69 rue St-Louis-en-l’Ile, 4th (00 33 1 40 46 01 35) Métro Pont Marie. Open Wed-Sun 12noon-2.30pm, 7-10.30pm. Closed first three weeks Aug.

Le Moulin de la Vierge 166 av de Suffren, 15th (00 33 1 47 83 45 55/www.lemoulindelavierge.com) Métro Sèvres-Lecourbe. Open Mon-Wed, Fri-Sun 7am-8.30pm.

Pain de Sucre 14 rue Rambuteau, 3rd (00 33 1 45 74 68 92) Métro Rambuteau. Open daily 9am-8pm.

Patrick Roger 108 bld Saint-Germain, 6th (00 33 1 43 29 38 42/www.patrickroger.com) Métro Sèvres-Babylone. Open Mon-Sat 10.30am-7.30pm.

Les Petits Mitrons 26 rue Lepic, 18th (00 33 1 46 06 10 29) Métro Blanche. Open Mon, Tue, Thur, Fri 7am-1.30pm, 2.30-7.30pm, Sat, Sun 7am-8pm.

Pierre Hermé 72 rue Bonaparte, 6th (00 33 1 43 54 47 77) Métro Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Mabillon or Saint-Sulpice. Open Tue-Fri, Sun 10am-7pm, Sat 10am-7.30pm. Closed first three weeks Aug.

Taillevent 15 rue Lamennais, 8th (00 33 1 44 95 15 01/www.taillevent.com) Métro Charles de Gaulle Etoile or Georg V. Open Mon-Fri 12.15-1.30pm, 7.15-9.30pm.

Le Temps au Temps 13 rue Paul Bert , 11th (00 33 1 43 79 63 40) Métro Faidherbe Chaligny. Open Tue-Sat 12noon-2pm, 8-10.30pm.

Compiled by Rosa Jackson, editor of the ‘Time Out Paris Eating & Drinking Guide’. See www.rosajackson.com for details of her gourmet Paris itineraries.

For the full guide visit our Paris site