Luxury and the Frenchie alleyway: where Verjus, Spring and Cédric Grolet's pastry shop sit a five-minute walk apart.
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.
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.
La Poule au Pot in Paris's Les Halles cooks the Henri IV chicken-in-the-pot at its historical address. The menu of grand-mère bistro classics has not changed.
Signature: Poule au pot Henri IV, Soufflé Grand Marnier
Order: Poule au pot Henri IV for two, soufflé Grand Marnier to finish.
Tip: The room is small and warm. Book a banquette table over the centre seats.
Le Petit Bouillon Pharamond in Paris keeps the 1879 dining room intact and the carte true to its Norman roots: tripes à la mode de Caen, Calvados sorbet.
Signature: Tripes à la mode de Caen, Camembert flambé
Order: Tripes à la mode de Caen, Camembert flambé in Calvados, sorbet to finish.
Tip: The room is listed Historic Monument. Sit on the upper level for the tile mosaics.