A visit to some of Paris’ 100 award-winning bistros.
I have visited Paris twice in my life (so far). The first time was 18 months ago when, en route to London for a food blogging conference, I took a little detour to the city of lights. I rented a tiny studio apartment for five days and explored as much of Paris as I could on foot. I fell in love with what I saw.
As much as I love food, I confess that during this trip I was too shy to eat out anywhere. I’d never explored a city by myself like that before and I was hesitant to do the whole dining solo thing. I don’t speak French very well and I was unsure if English translations would be provided on the menus. Besides that, I had no idea where I should go – there were so many different places to choose from! How could you narrow it down? So, during that visit, I mainly subsisted on filled baguettes and pastries from the many, many boulangerie pâtisseries dotted around the beautiful city.
My second trip to the city was an entirely different culinary experience. A few weeks ago I was invited by the Paris Conventions and Visitors Bureau to visit Paris and discover the best Parisian bistros and unknown gourmet places that the city has to offer.
In 2010, UNESCO declared French cuisine a ‘world intangible heritage’. French gastronomy was singled out as a “social custom aimed at celebrating the most important moments in the lives of individuals and groups”, and with this trip, I had the chance to experience this first hand with a wonderful small group of journalists and bloggers.
Bistronomy is a revolutionary new culinary movement that has been sweeping through France. It’s a fairly new term, coined in the 90s, a combination of the words bistro and gastronomy. It essentially describes a hybrid dining experience midway between casual dining and an inventive, experimental culinary experience but at moderate, affordable prices. Think Label Rouge Scottish salmon with hazelnut cream (pictured above) served on a tin camping platter. You sip a glass of fine red wine while you’re sitting on a high stool perched next to a narrow countertop within sight of the chef. Everyone’s smiling. The market where all the fresh ingredients were purchased is right next door. €20 for a three-course meal. Le Refêctoire.
Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, describes bistronomy as “a symbol of Parisian spirit, the Parisian bistro is an essential part of our lifestyle. Source of attractiveness and fame, it creates a bond – between people, between cultures, but also between tradition and contemporaneity.”
For the first time, 100 bistros have been recognised and celebrated for their contribution to the Paris culinary scene with a special award – the Paris City Medal; the ceremony for which was held at the rather lavish and extravagant city hall.
You can find the link for the names and addresses of all 100 bistros, carefully selected by some of France’s top chefs including Stéphane Jégo from L’Ami Jean and Alain Ducasse, at the bottom of this post. It’s well worth checking out this list if you are planning a visit to Paris and trying to decide where you want to eat.
Following the awards ceremony, we food bloggers and journalists were treated to a cocktail buffet hosted by some of the winning bistros. Set in the opulent surroundings of the Hotel de Ville, the headquarters of the Paris municipality since 1357, it was a feast for both the eyes and the belly.
What a feast it was too! Signature dishes from many of the awarded chefs were served, including cassoulet, duck ravioli (pictured below), chilled asparagus soup, fois gras, pots de fleur made with cacao and mushroom ‘volcanic soil’ with a creamy puy lentil base, champagne, cheese, bread and all sorts of delicious desserts. So much beautiful food!
As part of our 48-hour trip to the city, we visited as several of the recently awarded bistros as well as being treated to a cookery class, an outdoor market tour and (after a 3:30 am start!) a rather thorough tour of the Rungis International Market, the world’s largest commercial food market.
The bistros varied from a simple street food style establishment (Le Refêctoire) to a full three-course restaurant dining experience in a private room on the second floor of a listed building where Hemingway himself used to visit (Pharamond, pictured below). €35 for a three-course meal.
One of my favourite bistros we visited was Anicia Bistro Nature par François Gagnaire in the 6th arrondissement. This experience was, what I think, what Parisians are talking about when it comes to bistronomy: good food, good wine and excellent company in an informal, almost art-gallery-like premises. The organic, finest quality food was presented in an artistic manner, from slices of fresh vegetables hung on a wire clothes line, to the pot de fleurs with a volcanic soil made from cacao and ground mushrooms on a base of creamy puy lentils.
Puy-en-Velay lentils featured heavily throughout the meal, as they come from the L’Auvergne region where the chef originates. Dessert even involved a puy lentil creme brulée, which was a rather interesting culinary experience!
Although the price tag is quite hefty (€120 all inclusive) I would really recommend this dining experience to anyone wanting to try something a bit quirky and unusual while visiting Paris.
Le 153, a cocktail bar located on Rue Saint-Martin, is well worth a visit too, especially the top floor featuring a mixology room in the middle of a boudoir (pictured below). Prices for cocktails range between €12-14.
Parisians, I am told, do not shop at supermarkets. They go to outdoor markets and independent shops each specialising in their field of expertise. There are the bakeries, the cheesemongers, the fish shops, the chocolatiers. Each establishment features its own unique product, excelling in the creation or distribution of it.
As part of our culinary visit to Paris we were taken on a food walking tour, courtesy of Bubble Globe, to discover and taste test our way through some of these speciality shops.
This method of shopping, I believe, creates greater care and pride in the finished dish made at home. We Brits could really learn a thing or two from the Paris markets, I think.
The chefs at Parisian bistros and restaurants, however, purchase many of their ingredients from the Rungis International Market – the world’s largest wholesale food market where only the finest of produce is sold. Covering over 234 hectares it consists of food halls so large employees use forklifts to move around (and they don’t like it if you get in their way!).
Our tour began in the cavernous, ice-cold fish hall and took us through several meat halls including one where we stopped and watched a man skillfully carve the face off a cow, remove its tongue, crack its skull open with a machine and remove its brain. Thirty minutes later we were sipping champagne and taste testing caviar and it hadn’t yet gone 7:30 in the morning.
Other halls include several dedicated solely to fruit, vegetables and flowers. 1.7 million tonnes of produce pass through the halls each year.
Highlights of the visit included a sneak peek of their cheese vault, an area not usually open to visitors, and spotting some Cooke Aquaculture Scotland fish boxes whizzing by in the fish hall. I wondered if they had come from Shetland.
The Rungis International Market is not generally open to visitors – you have to join an arranged tour with a guide in order to see it, such as the Discover Rungis Market with a Chef run by Bubble Globe.
Now, no trip to Paris is complete, for me, without attending a cookery class! As part of our Parisian culinary tour, we learned how to make choux pastry at L’Atelier des Sens. Under the expert guidance of Mark Singer, an American in Paris with over 20 years experience in running his own businesses in bistronomy style, we made choux pastry swans, creme patissiere, chocolate eclairs and other choux pastry delights. A separate recipe post will follow soon!
I hope I’ve whetted your appetite with this account of my second visit to Paris. Never again will I get caught out with not knowing where to eat – there are 100 award-winning Parisian bistros to discover!
OTHER PARIS STORIES YOU MIGHT LIKE
Coffee in Paris (an account of my first visit to the city)
My Geocaching Adventures in Paris
Duck Breast with Fig Sauce – La Cuisine Paris
Ten More Things to Do in Paris
48 Hours in Paris
Yummy Paris!
FURTHER INFORMATION
The Diversity of Parisian Bistronomy: 100 Places to Discover
With huge thanks to Sophie from Travel-Insight.fr who was our guide for the duration of the trip and a huge thank you to the City of Paris for inviting me along to enjoy this once in a lifetime experience. This is not a paid post, although all travel, accommodation, meals and experiences were provided. As always, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
Adventurer. Expat Canadian. Foodie. Loves bikes. Calls Shetland home.
Terrigal Restaurants says
food here is awesome!!
khan says
I always try to eat as much local cuisine as I can when I am in a new
CatherineRose says
There are certainly worse things than surviving on boulangerie fare in Paris, but it sounds like this time around was quite the culinary extravaganza (although the deconstructing of the cow’s head sounds like a bit much for me! You have a stronger stomach than I do). Making chou pastry looks almost as nice as eating it 🙂 #AllAboutFrance
Helen says
SUCH gorgeous food photos! Making me wish I could get over to Paris more often. Probably some of the best food in the world!
Kavey at Kavey Eats says
It was such a lovely trip, wasn’t it? And so delicious! It went by far too fast, but was so lovely to share it with you and so good to relive via your post.
Catherine's Cultural Wednesdays says
What an amazing trip, useful to know about the 100 bistro list it is always good to have pointers in a strange city. #AllAboutFrance
Listofhospitalsinindia says
What an amazing trip.
Yvonne @ Lost with Yvonne says
This looks like such a wonderful trip! I mean you can’t beat eating at some amazing places! Went I visited Paris I don’t think we really did any bistros, we mostly ate at little hole in the wall places that looked cool and shopped in the stores for all the baguettes and wine ha. But next time I’ll have to check out some of these places!
Adam Lewis says
We visited Paris on our honeymoon and tried to eat off piste but it was a bit of a struggle at times. This guide will certainly give us a bit more confidence and direction next time.
Jane @ Raincity Librarian says
Oh, my mouth is watering, what an experience!!
Richard says
Thanks for posting this! It’s great to have the new list of “top 100 bistros”, but a little intimidating to think of navigating through it. This is a helpful guide to where to start. I’ll definitely be looking for the Auvergnat place (Anicia Bistro Nature) when I get to Paris in a few weeks; it’s great to see the featured wine from St. Pourcain, too.
Diane says
Excellent pics! I can almost taste the food!
The Rungis market tours look great. Super early wake-up time though but I bet they’re worth it. Thanks for your mouthwatering post!
#allaboutfrance
Claire at Tin Box Traveller says
What a wonderful treat to be take to all these wonderful places and experience the very best Parisian food. I’m dribbling a bit reading this! Thanks so much for linking up with #MondayEscapes
Anna says
I love Paris and the French cuisine. I admit though that I err more on the baguette/patisseries/crepes side than the bistros and fine dining! #mondayescapes
Mrs Lighty says
Wow what an amazing trip! The food market looks fantastic!! I used to work for a tour operator that offered culinary tours of Paris and they used to make me drool with hunger. I recognise many of the bistros mentioned here xxx
Phoebe | Lou Messugo says
What an absolutely perfect Paris experience, I’m not sure there could be anything better! (However I’m not sure I could stomach watching a cow’s face be taken off, brains removed and then caviar tasting all before 7.30am!) #mondayescapes (I’d love it if you’d link up to #AllAboutFrance again, which is now on, or wait till next month, back on 6 July.
Phoebe | Lou Messugo says
thanks for linking to #AllAboutFrance 🙂 great to have you back!
Peta says
Oh I love how you have brought Paris to life..
Candace says
Oh wow! Both of your trips to Paris sound amazing to me. Such a shame they didn’t come the other way round and you had the confidence to go out and explore on your solo visit
Katrina gehman says
i love eating my way through cities as well. we usually plan around our next meal. these look amazing
Alayna says
I don’t know how the French stay so thin with such amazing food!
Kate - gluten free alchemist says
The perfect place for a foodie trip for sure. Sounds like you had an amazing time x
Lindsey London Mumma says
Well hello! This food all looks scrumptious. You certainly ate your way through Paris, but you certainly did it in style/
Garf says
It is definitely a beautiful place to visit. The fish and seafood pic makes me want to start preparing my meal right away.
misty nelson dawn says
What a beautiful place to visit I love to go there too and try their food.
Kiwi says
Wow Paris just has this air of sophistication. I would love to visit that world market!
Donah @ SJB says
I just love Paris. Although the food is a bit expensive but still worth it. I can still remember, we almost tried any delicacy we met on the way that we thought, we could only see in Paris.
Jayne @ Sticky Mud and Belly Laughs says
Anicia Bistro Nature par François Gagnaire looks amazing and your stunning pics capture it so well. So glad you had such a fab time 🙂
Nini Perez says
What a wonderful trip! 🙂 I was about to say I’m totally for solo dining (as my appetite has increased to such a great extent for almost 2 years now) but then I remembered I might have to read the menu and I’m pretty sure I’ll pronounce something wrong. Hahaha! But sigh, it’s a lovely place to be when it comes to culinary.
Annemarie LeBlanc says
With every trip I always make sure it will be a culinary experience to remember. I love to sample local cuisine and then treat myself to a dinner at a high end restaurant. Thanks for sharing your experience. Your photos of the bistros and the food are fantastic.
Cynthia Nicoletti says
So beautiful. Every picture caught my eye !! Amazing place to visit and dine.
Musings of a tired mummy...zzz... says
Paris and French cuisine in general is famous for its quality and finesse. I struggled on my visits though because I’m vegetarian and wheat free so was unable to have all the amazing patisserie 🙁
Ana De- Jesus says
Anicia Bistro Nature par François Gagnaire sounds wonderful. I love the sound of the puy lentils brulee now that is something new I would like to try! x
Fashion and Style Police says
Paris is an expensive city but I like it. Can’t wait to visit it again. The international food market sounds great.
Jennifer says
Your trip sounds amazing!! I would love the experience to try the fine cuisine by the local chefs. The international market also looks really good! I love visiting local markets in the U.S., but I can tell Paris markets are so much more amazing!
Amanda Tento says
This looks like an amazing experience. I hope you enjoyed it! When are you going back? 🙂
Cal at Family Makes says
I love the concept of Bistronomy! I havn’t heard this term before, despite spending every summer in France (in the countryside though, not in Paris). I’ll certainly remember it now though, after your wonderful and very comprehensive article. Thank you for this brilliant information.
Tiara Wilson says
Seriously so envious of your beautiful trips that youve been taken. You are capturing and enjoying some of the best cities in the world. <3
Aduke @ Aduke Schulist says
What a fun trip. The details in that architecture are amazing.
Sarah | Boo Roo and Tigger Too says
I’d love to visit Paris, although my poor attempt at learning French when I was at school puts me off a little
David Elliott says
If I get the chance to go to Paris I will definitely be checking out some of these bistros. I am not sure I am a full foodie but I love different culinary experiences and I know going to France there would be culinary experiences to die for.
Jackie says
The trip sounds lovely and your photos are amazing. This is an awesome guide and if I ever visit I would like to see some of them myself in person.
Sally - My Custard Pie says
What an incredible experience – I bet you didn’t want to leave! I’d never hear of bistronomy but it sounds exactly the way I like to eat.
Cristina Leau says
I’m glad you had a great time. I was only once in Paris for a couple of days, and didn’t quite eat their food. More like you did on your first time. I have to save this list for my second visit to Paris
Anosa says
Trying out the local food is a must for me when traveling. I would love to try those. Definitely worth the visit.
Kaylee says
This trip seems like it was packed with things to do which is great. I love all of the different food options!
Rhian Westbury says
Your trip sounds insane. I always find the food in Paris so unique, I am heading back in a few weeks and I can’t wait to try some more x
Carol Cassara says
What I love about travel is the chance to eat what the locals eat. And in Paris, you’ll never go wrong with your choices!
Elizabeth O. says
One of the best places to enjoy good food is Paris and it’s so nice that you got to try different things while you were there. The food there is worth the travel.
Anosa says
Paris for sure is really a must visit for every one. It is a dream destination. Would never get over the view at the top of the Eiffel tower.
Karen says
Wow! How things change in 18 months! Looks like you had a magnificent time. I’m bookmarking this post for future reference, merci Elizabeth!
Andrea @ The Petite Cook says
Paris is one of my favorite cities, and the food is simply amazing! Sounds like you had a spectacular experience at Anicia Bistro, the dishes look incredible!
Jenni says
I’ve visited Paris once, but I can’t remember much of what I ate. Maybe it’s time for another visit!
Kate says
I live in Paris as an expat – how lucky am I! And I just love the foodie heaven that I’m surrounded by. We have been to so many wonderful restaurants, the quality here, for the price too, is just phenomenal. I love all the recommendations here and am going to work my way through them as a list! Thanks, Kate (p.s. You’d love the Salon de Argriculture expo if you are ever in Paris around that time you should be sure to check it out).
Ophelia Tang says
Your trip sounds amazing. You definitely made me want to visit Paris ASAP. Thanks for sharing.
XOXO
Elizabeth Brico says
Wow. This sounds incredible. What is that cocktail in the picture? It looks amazinX
I think us muricans could learn more than a thing or two from the Parisian food shopping style. Though I’ll admit that grocery stores are, if nothing else, convenient.
Julie says
Wow! What an amazing experience! I too would have been too shy to eat on my own years ago…but I’ve come along way since then. I guess it also comes with age. We were in Paris this past fall and I so wanted to take a cooking class but couldn’t manage to fit it in! Thanks for sharing!
Mindi Hirsch says
Wow! Your photos are totally inspiring me to return to Paris to experience bistronomy in person. Everything looks truly fabulous
Amber Myers says
Yes please! I would LOVE to eat through Paris. I love French food so much.
Rhonda Chavez says
This sounds amazing! The pictures are so good. Paris food sounds so good.
Corinne & Kirsty says
These pictures are amazing! So dreamy! I am from Paris originally but never watched it from this perspective! so much to do, to see, to eat! I am getting hungry! Really sounds like you had an amazing experience! xx corinne
Muna Kenny says
The food and the environment served in is just amazing. I would love to dine there sometimes maybe in the near future 🙂
lena says
WOW! Your photography is amazing! Love the delicious sightseeing – everything is just yum! And the market – is like A Bordein show – looks so cool!
tara pittman says
Lots of good eating. That market looks amazing.
Nadine Cathleen says
Oh Parisian everything really is amazing 🙂 Your photos are so stunning and really give a good picture what it’s like to stroll around in Paris and explore all the great things to do there 🙂 I really need to plan my next Paris trip!
Jessica Taylor says
This looks like an amazing experience! The food looks heavenly!
leah says
I wasn’t over struck with Paris as a place BUT they do have some fantastic restaurants! Their pastries are just… wow. Glad you had a great time!
nique wallace says
These pictures are like spot on so clean what camera used to take them? I really need to visit other countries omg the way you make the place sound so amazing
Michelle @ Greedy Gourmet says
I don’t think there’s any doubt that the French take their food seriously. Looks like you’ve had a wonderful experience!
Sylvester Vanessa says
That is a beautiful trip! You are brave for going at it alone but also for still finding a way to enjoy yourself. Dreamy post!
Hannah Hossack-Lodge says
What a wonderful looking trip and so much delicious food! I’ve never visited Paris before, I looks like I need to fix that!
Jo of Jo's Kitchen says
What an amazing trip. Such a wonderful experience. I would love to go to Paris again
Elizabeth says
It really was an amazing trip. One of the highlights was seeing the Eiffel Tower lit up at night too, something I missed when I visited the first time as I didn’t want to be alone out at night. So beautiful!
Claudia Krusch says
I am hoping to go to Paris this winter. These all look like great places to check out when I go.
Elizabeth says
The list of 100 best bistros is definitely worth checking out! I hope you have a lovely time 🙂
Shannon says
I love the architecture of the buildings! The food looks amazing too, what an awesome thing to experience!
Elizabeth says
It certainly is a stunning place, and the food… oh my goodness 🙂
Akamatra says
I loved Paris and I really want to go again! It sounds like you had a great time!
Elizabeth says
I had an absolutely amazing time. More than I could ever dream!
robin rue says
That sounds amazing. I always try to eat as much local cuisine as I can when I am in a new place 🙂
Elizabeth says
Then you’ll love this list of 100 bistros 🙂 Definitely worth checking out!
Jay Colby says
Sounds like a wonderful time. I’ve always wanted to travel to Paris.
Elizabeth says
It’s a city definitely worth visiting, for sure! So beautiful!