These Are Going to Be the Hottest Tables in Paris
Paris has always been a training ground for emerging talent in every field, from fashion to design. But nowhere has that been more apparent in recent years than in food. Meet a few of the chefs on the verge of culinary stardom.
Eugénie Béziat
Before she was plucked by the Ritz from the kitchen of La Flibuste on the Côte d’Azur, where she earned the restaurant a Michelin star, Béziat was virtually unknown in Paris.
The Restaurant: Espadon at the Ritz Paris. The reason for all the fanfare is Béziat’s cooking, which is infused with flavors and techniques drawn from her Mediterranean origins, African upbringing, and French culinary school training.
The Vibe: It’s the kind of place you’d take fine dining groupies who want to be able to say they were there before it turned legendary.
The Order: Both the five- and eight-course tasting menus feature Béziat’s signature dishes, like grilled lobster in a bissap bisque served with cassava semolina and sea urchin.
Pierre Touitou
As a teen he apprenticed at the Plaza Athénée and with Pierre Gagnaire in London. Paris bohemians discovered his cooking at the hip natural wine bar Aux Deux Amis, before he graduated to the 10th Arrondissement’s Vivant and Déviant.
The Restaurant: 19 Saint Roch. Touitou transformed a rundown Japanese restaurant a block from the Tuileries into a retro-chic neo-bistro. Its design mirrors the chef’s pared-back cooking style: No dish features more than a few elements.
The Vibe: Equal parts serious and casual, with an ’80s pop playlist (think Etienne Daho’s “Week-end à Rome”) to dial up the energy.
The Order: The menu changes seasonally, but any meal should include the lo bak go, a Chinese turnip cake riffed by the chef as a panisse—it has become the house’s signature hors d’oeuvre
Mashama Bailey
Already a star in the U.S., the chef behind the Grey in Savannah is known for having reclaimed Southern African-American cuisine to highlight its mixed West African, indigenous North American, and European roots.
The Restaurant: As yet unnamed. The 7th Arrondissement corner café-bar will likely have a streamlined menu built around the kind of “cravable” food she and business partner John O. Morisano have become renowned for delivering stateside.
The Vibe: The ambition is jazzy, hot, and fun. Southern style meets French flair.
The Order: It’s too early to tell, but if her past work is any indication, expect soul food with a French inflection.
Hanz Gueco
The Sydney-born chef trained at Manresa in Los Angeles, cooked at RyuGin in Tokyo, and eight years ago landed in Paris, where he brought the fresh eyes and creative freedom of an outsider to Verjus, a semi–fine dining standout.
The Restaurant: Cheval d’Or. A crimson storefront and a vintage wooden fridge are among the few remaining details from Cheval d’Or’s previous incarnation as a Chinese restaurant—a perfect backdrop for Gueco’s remix of French-Chinese cooking.
The Vibe: Given the bohemian neighborhood in the 19th, it’s hip with an artsy, natural wine–loving, streetwear-sporting crowd.
The Order: Focus on the mashups, such as croque madame with shrimp, fried egg, and chili oil, the lamb pithiviers with Sichuan peppers, and the tortellini ragu swimming in a mapo tofu sauce.
Craving Le Sushi?
In Paris great French food is a given. But this group of excellent Asian restaurants makes the case for stepping away from the escargot. —Patrick Li
Benchy: Visit this tiny café in the heart of the 6th Arrondissement for the highest-quality sandos, onigiri, and pastries.
Bar Des Prés: It’s like dinner at the home of your richest friend in Paris, but with an unbelievable selection of sushi and cocktails.
Takara: If you want reliably excellent, comfortable sushi, the Paris version of NYC’s Omen never fails to satisfy.
Poké Bio: Order the classic banh mi off-menu. You won’t be disappointed by the delicious and bright flavors.
"The power lunch spot in Paris is Yen, a Japanese restaurant just down from Café de Flore. Get the tempura zucchini flowers and have someone point out Catherine Deneuve's agent at the next table." —Marisa Meltzer
Then a Nightcap?
Last June, after three decades of making perfect martinis at the Bar Hemingway in the Ritz Paris, Colin Field announced he was retiring. But a life of leisure didn’t quite stick. “I’m always thinking about cocktails,” Field tells T&C. “It’s not entirely about the drinks, though, it’s also about the people.” Luckily, his new gig—a residency that finds him behind the bar at Maison Proust, a boutique hotel in the Marais, every Friday night—gives him access to both. Now the challenge for Field lies in creating recipes that live up to the property’s namesake. “Proust is intellectual,” he says, “whereas the cocktails at Hemingway were more pretentious.” BYO madeleines. —Isiah Magsino
"Usually a bar with a line to get in is overrated, but not Little Red Door in the Marais. Every drink—they ingeniously incorporate whatever is in season—is a revelation. I know because I've had my fair share!" —Leena Kim
Autres Choses
Can't eat another quenelle? Try one of chef Assaf Granit's Mediterranean hits: the Michelin-starred Shabour or Boubalé, in Le Grand Mazarin hotel in the Marais.
Can an Eiffel Tower selfie be basic? Perhaps. But certainly not when you—or your butler—snap it from the Peninsula Paris's rooftop Secret Table for two.
This story appears in the Summer 2024 issue of Town & Country. SUBSCRIBE NOW
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