Le Pétel

A more joyfully textbook neighbourhood French restaurant you’d be hard pressed to find. Le Petel in the very residential Paris 15th is so innocently and gloriously anti-fashion that being here inspires a physical longing for a life that’s always as honest, simple, warm and… well, good. None of your try-hard ‘contemporary touches’ here. You sit surrounded by familiar wood panelling, small red lamps, big mirrors, cream table linen, glowing candles and red upholstered banquettes. Stomach and soul are nourished by traditional market-inspired dishes like Magret de Canard with fresh figs, and seabass in a cream and cider vinegar sauce, chalked up on a blackboards. Le Petel is packed most evenings.