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Paris is undergoing something of a culinary renewal after a period of perceived stagnation. The recent trend at modern restaurants such as Spoon, Food and Wine is for more imaginative menus that feature revamped versions of classic French dishes alongside more worldly influences, particularly Asian and North African. Excellent modern Asian and North African restaurants in their own right include Asian and Le Buddha Bar. Traditional French cooking is very meat based, as a glance at any brasserie menu will show. Old favourites, from moules marinières (mussels), and andouillettes (pork intestine sausages) to cassoulet (a stew of white haricot beans and several different meats) predominate. Non-meat dishes in cafes are usually limited to chèvre chaud (hot goat's cheese on salad), tartines (open toasted sandwiches), omelettes and baguette sandwiches, and a solitary vegetarian option is only just beginning to appear, grudgingly, on gourmet restaurant menus. Vegetarian restaurants are a new and limited phenomena and many vegetarians seek out alternative cuisines.
There are Asian communities dotted around the city, but the most important 'Chinatown' is around boulevard Masséna and avenue d'Ivry in the 13th arrondissement. Hectic fast-food noodle bars include many Vietnamese places, where the steamy air is heavy with the aromatic scents of lemongrass and coriander. The Marais is awash with kosher restaurants doing a great trade in falafel and salads. North African restaurants in Belleville and elsewhere serve couscous and tagine, an aromatic stew cooked in a clay, conical pot, often flavoured with cinnamon, prunes, raisins and almonds . Head to the rue d'Odessa in Montparnasse to find a clutch of crêperies serving sweet and savoury pancakes, or fish-eaters might prefer rue Sainte Anne and the surrounding streets in the 2nd arrondissement for the Japanese sushi and saki.
Enjoy a quintessentially French petit déjeuner by ducking into any café for buttery croissants and chocolat chaud (hot chocolate) or coffee. If you want coffee with milk, ask for a noisette. They will bring you an espresso and a small jug of hot milk which is much tastier than the average, watery café au lait. Other Parisian drinks include infusions (herb teas), un panaché (shandy), sirop de grenadine (pomegranate syrup), citron pressé (freshly squeezed lemon juice served with sugar to taste). Water can be carbonated (l'eau minerale gazeuse), still (l'eau minerale plate), somewhere in-between (Badoit), or from the tap (l'eau du robinet).
Bookings are essential on Saturday nights and Sunday lunchtimes, and are recommended at other times. Curiously, many gourmet restaurants close at the weekend, or at least on Sunday, so the good restaurants that are open tend to fill up quickly. Like other businesses, many restaurants close for the month of August.
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Travel Guides | Paris | Eating And Drinking Paris
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