14 editor-picked french fine dining restaurants across 8 cities.
A guide to french fine dining restaurants worth a trip, by city. We list operators, signature dishes, and the rooms locals book first.
Martin Wishart's Shoreside Leith dining room in Edinburgh, opened in 1999 and Michelin-starred since 2001, the city's longest-running modern French tasting kitchen.
Signature: Roast quail with foie gras and morel, Ravioli of langoustine
Order: The eight-course Tasting Menu or the half-priced lunch tasting served Tuesday to Friday.
Tip: Lunchtime four-course menu at GBP 50 is the value play; same kitchen, same sommelier, half the dinner price.
Le Cirque at Bellagio is the Maccioni family Strip room since 1998, a Michelin one-star French dining room closing permanently after dinner service on August 23 2026.
Signature: Black truffle risotto, Foie gras brulee, Paupiette of black sea bass
Order: The black-truffle risotto with parmesan crust; long-running signature plate.
Tip: The room closes for good after dinner August 23 2026; book at least four weeks ahead while it remains open.
Takao Takano in Lyon's 6e is the two-star tasting room where the chef applies Japanese training to French sourcing across a six-course set.
Signature: Tasting menu only, Japanese-French technique
Order: Tasting only; let the kitchen drive.
Tip: Book three to four weeks ahead; lunch is the easier seating than dinner.
Tetedoie sits on the Fourviere hill above Lyon's old town, where Christian Tetedoie cooks a one-star menu from a glass-walled dining room with the city below.
Signature: Tasting menu, Local Rhone produce
Order: The five-course tasting; the view sells the room twice over.
Tip: Reserve a window seat; the bistro Phosphore on site is the cheaper alternative.
Circle in Lyon's 1er pulls a single seating around the kitchen counter for a chef's-choice tasting; an intimate, ten-cover room run by a young couple.
Signature: Tasting set, Seasonal carte
Order: The full tasting; there is no carte at dinner.
Tip: One service per night, Wed-Sat; book three weeks ahead via Instagram.
Soma on Place Saint-Paul in Lyon's 5e is the small modern-French room with a single chef's-choice tasting and a natural-wine pairing every weeknight.
Signature: Chef's set, Natural wine pairings
Order: Whatever the chef sends; the tasting changes weekly.
Tip: 12 seats only; book three weeks ahead via Instagram DM.
Semo on Rue des Fantasques in Lyon's 1er is the small-plates wine bar where the chef-couple run a tight evening menu paired with a natural cellar.
Signature: Daily small plates, Wine bar carte
Order: Order four small plates between two; the cheese board is the closer.
Tip: Closed Sunday-Tuesday; book a fortnight ahead.
Les Mauvaises Herbes on the Croix-Rousse slope in Lyon's 1er is the vegetable-forward bistro on Rue du Jardin des Plantes with a daily set and herb-led plating.
Signature: Vegetable-led plates, Daily set
Order: The set menu; the herb-led starter is the highlight.
Tip: Closed Sunday-Monday; lunch is the price-point entry at 24 EUR.
Une Table au Sud in Marseille's 2e holds a Michelin star above the Vieux Port quay, Ludovic Turac at the pass since 2010 with a Provencal-Mediterranean tasting menu.
Signature: Tasting menu only, Provencal fish
Order: The EUR 95 lunch tasting; the best value reading of the kitchen's work.
Tip: Closed Sunday and Monday; book a window seat over the Quai du Port at sunset.
Eric Ripert's three-Michelin-star seafood room in Midtown New York City has held its stars since 2005. Tasting menu $268, mostly raw and barely-cooked fish.
Signature: Smoked salmon tartine, Black bass with herbed escabeche
Order: The Almost Raw, Barely Touched, Lightly Cooked tasting.
Tip: Lunch prix-fixe at $98 is the entry point; same kitchen, same plate, half the price of dinner.
Two centuries of dining-room history at Le Grand Véfour, the Palais-Royal mirror-and-velvet salon where Paris cooked dinner for Napoleon, Colette and Cocteau.
Signature: Ravioles de foie gras, Soufflé
Order: The ravioles de foie gras at the chef's prix-fixe lunch.
Tip: Tuesday-Friday lunch is a third the price of dinner and books two weeks out, not four months.
Table Bruno Verjus in Paris's 12e cooks ingredient-first: produce sourced by name, fish breathing that morning, no dish served twice in a row.
Signature: Langoustines, Sea bream
Order: The 7-course tasting menu and a pairing of growers' wines.
Tip: Two Michelin stars and number 8 on The World's 50 Best 2025. Book eight weeks out for dinner, four for lunch.
Forsythia in Philadelphia is Christopher Kearse's modern French bistro on Chestnut Street in Old City, a 2025 Michelin Guide selection with rabbit porchetta and bouillabaisse.
Signature: Escargot, Duck a l'orange
Order: The escargot with parsley and shallots; the duck if it appears on that night's tasting menu.
Tip: Happy hour from 16:30 weekdays runs half-price oysters and a French 75. Walk in for it.
Glasswing inside The Amauris hotel on Kaerntner Ring in Vienna holds a Michelin star for chef Alexandru Simon's modern French cuisine with regional and Mediterranean touches, opposite the State Opera.
Signature: Tasting menu, Seasonal vegetable course
Order: The full chef tasting; the cellar weight is on Austrian growers.
Tip: The street-level Glasswing Bar & Bistro pours the same cellar without the dining-room lead time.
More cities are in research. Want french fine dining covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.