Dining in Paris

Eating well is one of the greatest pleasures of visiting Paris. Even if you're staying in an apartment, you'll want to sample some of Paris' many dining options. It's hard to get a bad meal in this city, and you don't have to dine at the big-name restaurants to eat well. In fact, some of our best discoveries have been tiny, little-known restaurants.

This fall, Gail, I, and our family group dined around in Paris, and so did former editor Susannah Clark and her husband, on a separate trip. Susannah (SC) sampled a couple of Paris' more pricey bastions of French cuisine, while we (MT), with a large group in tow, mostly took the "low road." Here are our reports.

L'Arpege (SC): This Michelin three-star restaurant across the street from the Musee d'Rodin offers outstanding, inventive, and expensive cuisine in a chic, unassuming little dining room. Chef Alain Passard's degustation menu was one of the best dinners I have ever had—and, at 1,500FF (about $215), one of the most expensive. The service was outstanding; forgo five dinners elsewhere for one here. 84 rue de Varenne; Tel: 01-45-51-47-33; fax: 01-44-18-98-39; www.alainpassard.com

Spring 2002