Le Rigmarole in Paris pairs Robert Compagnon's binchotan yakitori grill with Jessica Yang's hand-rolled pasta. A nightly tasting menu only, no a la carte.
Signature dishes: Charcoal-grilled chicken thigh, Hand-rolled pasta
Must order: Trust the kaiseki-style yakitori order; ask for the pasta as an extra course.
Tip: One seating at 19:30 and one at 21:30. Book six weeks out for weekends, four for a Tuesday.
Address: 10 Rue du Grand Prieuré, 75011 Paris
Le Saint-Sébastien is the Paris 11e wine-bar bistro that pours a tighter natural-wine list than its size suggests, with smoked herring and beef tartare to match.
Signature: Smoked herring with potatoes, Beef tartare
Order: Smoked herring on warm potatoes, beef tartare cut by hand, a glass of muscadet.
Tip: Lunch is the easier ticket than dinner. Closed Mon-Tue, full Wed-Sun service.
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.
Le Saint-Sébastien is the Paris 11e wine-bar bistro that pours a tighter natural-wine list than its size suggests, with smoked herring and beef tartare to match.
Signature: Smoked herring with potatoes, Beef tartare
Order: Smoked herring on warm potatoes, beef tartare cut by hand, a glass of muscadet.
Tip: Lunch is the easier ticket than dinner. Closed Mon-Tue, full Wed-Sun service.
Braden Perkins and Laura Adrian's Verjus in Paris's 1er runs a no-choice tasting menu and a bar-à-vins below, both built around growers' wines and seasonal produce.
Signature: Tasting menu, ingredient-led
Order: Whatever course features fermented or pickled produce that night.
Tip: If Verjus is booked, the Verjus Bar à Vins downstairs takes walk-ups and runs the same wine list.
Racines in Paris's Passage des Panoramas pours an Italian-leaning natural-wine list and serves hand-rolled pasta from Simone Tondo. Twelve tables, all dinner.
Signature: Hand-rolled pasta, Aged beef
Order: Whatever filled pasta is on, a steak with rocket, the panna cotta.
Tip: The Passage des Panoramas closes its gates at night; ring the bell to be let through.
Le Bistrot Flaubert in Paris's 17e is the Michel Rostang bistro annex now run by Nicolas Baumann and the Groupe Éclore team. The cooking discipline holds; the room runs at half mothership prices.
Signature: Veal liver, Floating island
Order: Whatever offal main is up, the chocolate dessert, a glass of saint-joseph.
Tip: Lunch is the steal: a two-course set for under €35, including a glass of wine and coffee.
Tomy Gousset's Tomy & Co in Paris's 7e earned a Michelin star in 2018 and still runs the seasonal kitchen everyone in the embassy quarter books for a long lunch.
Signature: Sweetbreads, Pithivier of game
Order: Sweetbreads in winter, pithivier of game in autumn, the soufflé to finish.
Tip: Closed Sunday and Monday. The five-course tasting at €98 is the deal of the room on weeknights.
