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Café de Flore
Café de Flore is a terrific spot for a coffee or a Cognac after dinner, because despite its popularity with tourists, this historic St.-Germain café still attracts an intriguing crowd of locals, including French celebrities. Open daily.
Café de l’Homme
Café Marly
In the courtyard of the Louvre with a view of I.M. Pei’s pyramid, this café has a great terrace for lunch or dinner in the summer. The menu offers classic French fare from the Costes brothers, but what you really come here for is the view and the only-in-Paris crowd.
Café Messika
Carette
This famous tea salon (the original branch is at Place du Trocadéro) opened on Place des Vosges in 2010 and as expected it’s a madhouse, especially on weekends. It's only worth swallowing the steep prices if you come early enough to score a table in the arcade overlooking the beautiful square.
Champeaux
This brasserie and bar, conceived by Alain Ducasse and Parisian restaurateur Olivier Maurey, opened its doors in Spring 2016 as part of the new Les Halles Food Market. The vision was “a brasserie for the 21st century” that would revitalize its historic neighborhood, and the restaurant has achieved exactly that. Designed by groovy-cool firm Ciguë, with an elegant open space and sleek, industrial design, the dining room evokes the grandeur of an old-fashioned railway station. Large bay windows, white marble surfaces and exposed-beam ceilings give way to the restaurant’s centerpiece, an old-fashioned ticker-board that announces daily specials—additions both to the menu and wine list. Despite its minimalist design, however, the all-day eatery maintains the spirit of a 1920’s Parisian brasserie, with a cozy, buzzing atmosphere that is effortlessly chic.
The menu, complete with signature soufflés and other French staples, adds an innovative twist to classic bistro fare. Chef Bruno Brangeo (formally of Alain Ducasse’s École de Cuisine) marries brasserie favorites with new flavors and lighter ingredients, creating mouthwatering dishes such as salmon with passion fruit and duck parmentier.
CoCo Restaurant Palais Garnier
Ducasse sur Seine
Forest
Francette
Georges
Another crowd pleaser from the Costes brothers, Georges sits atop the Centre Pompidou, or Beaubourg as many Parisians call it. In warm weather there are tables outside and with giant windows, even those inside can enjoy one of the best views of rooftops in Paris. From Notre Dame to Montmartre, you can pick out all of the greatest monuments as you eat classic French food in a modern space. In the vein of other Costes hot spots like Café Marly and Hotel Costes, Georges is a good lunch choice for families (kids love riding the escalators all the way up to the sixth floor) and for Sunday dinners. Open for lunch and dinner every day except Tuesdays.
Gigi
Girafe
GrandCoeur
Set in picturesque 18th century courtyard in the Marais, this contemporary brasserie boasts one of the cities loveliest cobblestone terraces and a dining room with dramatic stone arches and exposed wood beams. Both provide a magical backdrop for Argentine-born chef Mauro Colagreco’s celebrated cooking—a new take on traditional French cuisine that combines local delicacies with exotic flavors.
Hôtel Particulier
One of the prettiest spots in town (which is admittedly the main draw) this boutique hotel which has hosted Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, is tucked in a hidden gated passage. Cross the patio garden to the front door of the white standalone house and inside, the restaurant takes up the ground floor and is best appreciated at lunch or brunch for its garden views. There’s a beautiful cocktail bar downstairs, the Très Particulier, which opens out onto the garden.
L'Oiseau Blanc
L'Oiseu Blanc crowns the palatial Peninsula as a rooftop restaurant, bar and terrace with a spectacular 360 degree view of Paris. The restaurant and bar, which has a retractable glass roof, offers French bistro fare and classic cocktails with an innovative twist and modern flair.
La Grande Cascade
Built as a hunting pavilion for Napoléon III, this restaurant, tucked away in the Bois de Boulogne, is undeniably romantic. The dining room, with curved glass windows and sumptuous crystal chandeliers, overlooks a sweeping lawn lined with centuries-old trees, and a brigade of minutely attentive waiters stands at the ready. Since the arrival of chef Fréderic Robert, La Grande Cascade is one of the best restaurants to sample the Escoffier-inspired Grande Cuisine that won France its original gastronomic laurels. Cheeses come from Quatrehommes, and an expert sommelier creates a superlative wine list. During good weather, meals are served on the beautiful terrace. Open daily. Accessible only by car or taxi.
La Plume at Madame Rêve
La Suite Girafe in Rooftop Paris
La Tour d'Argent
Recently revamped by third-generation owner, Monsieur André Terrail, this is one of Paris’s most exclusive spots. Tethered to the River Seine it has wrap-around windows with views of Notre-Dame Cathedral and the surrounding Haussmannian buildings. Chef Yannick Franques puts a lighter spin on traditional French classics like the signature dish of pressed duck. The wine list is also a landmark in itself and is so huge that it has to be wheeled out on a trolley, which is no surprise, considering the restaurant has one of the biggest and oldest collections of wines in its maze-like subterranean wine cellar. One of the city’s oldest restaurants, said to have opened in 1582, it has an unrivaled rollcall of A-list diners, from monarchs to politicians and Hollywood stars. Today, there’s a must-book rooftop bar and a ground-floor salon that serves lunch and drinks, and there’s even an apartment with more of those “big” Paris views that you can have all to yourself for the night.
Le Ciel de Paris
The soaring Tour Montparnasse is often bemoaned as an eyesore, but the skyscraper undeniably offers some of the best views over Paris. There’s really no better way to take in a romantic sunset or—after dark—a magical view of the Eiffel Tower’s sparkling lights, than from the 56th floor with a glass of bubbly.
Le Jardin
On the seventh floor of the Cheval Blanc Paris, Le Jardin is all outside with a front row view of the Seine.
Le Jules Verne
Le Perchoir
Le Perchoir, which means “the roost,” is appropriately perched a top of a seven-story office building in the 11th arrondissement and accessed through an unmarked (but bouncer-staffed) entrance on rue Crespin du Gast. The rooftop bar serves wine, beer, and delicious cocktails, with gorgeous views (sunset over Sacré Coeur!). Reserve ahead.
Le Tout-Paris
Loulou