Paris is hosting the summer Olympics this year, but while athletes might need to watch their diet, visitors can indulge in the city's culinary delights. Photo / Tamara Hinson
Paris is hosting the summer Olympics this year, but while athletes might need to watch their diet, visitors can indulge in the city's culinary delights. Photo / Tamara Hinson
This year Paris hosts the summer Olympics. Sadly, its athletes will have to steer clear of its calorie-laden culinary delights. The good news? The rest of us can let loose, and Tamara Hinson has the lowdown on where to go when hunger strikes.
It’s a sunny Saturday afternoon on Paris’s Rue Montorgueil, in the 1st and 2nd arrondissements, and the only thing missing is a resident strolling along with a garland of onions around his neck. This semi-pedestrianised thoroughfare is famous for its food and feels fabulously French. I suspect Claude Monet would agree — in 1878, he painted La Rue Montorgueil, à Paris. Fête du 30 juin 1878, which depicts the street filled with fluttering French flags.
It’s got a rich history. One of its oldest businesses, L’Escargot, was founded years before Monet immortalised the street. Escargots are, unsurprisingly, the speciality here and a huge golden snail presides over the entrance. But I’m not talking about just any snails. These are Burgundy snails, blanched and marinated in a court-bouillon (broth) and served with truffle, brie or espelette pepper.
Got a sweet tooth? Do as I do and head across the road to Charles Chocolatier, a family-run business founded in 1910. Inside this cacao-scented paradise I find everything from Eiffel Towers to handbags sculpted from the finest chocolate. Still not achieved that all-important sugar high? Pop next door to Amorino, where the brand’s famous gelato is sculpted into the shape of a flower and served in a cone. I recommend the mango flavour, made with the juice of mangoes imported from India.
Charles Chocolatier, established in 1910, offers a variety of chocolate sculptures, including Eiffel Towers and handbags, while Amorino serves gelato sculpted into flower shapes. Photo / Tamara Hinson
For me, Rue Montorgueil is the star of the show in Les Halles, a neighbourhood named after the market that once stood here, and which dated back to the 11th century. In the mid-1800s, celebrated French architect Victor Baltard designed a beautiful glass-and-iron market hall for Les Halles, and it became one of Paris’ most celebrated landmarks. It was demolished in the 1970s and is now (somewhat depressingly) home to a Westfield-owned shopping mall. On the plus side, the window display at its Lego store includes a rather wonderful Lego sculpture depicting a patissier and a plate of macarons. I also recommend the nearby Eglise Saint-Eustache — head inside this enormous church to admire the eclectic architecture. Constructed in 1532, its numerous restorations have resulted in a building with Gothic, Renaissance and classical styles, and it’s also got France’s largest organ (head here on Sundays for free concerts).
But back to the food. Montparnasse is another neighbourhood that feels gorgeously Parisian, with footpath cafes where seating spills on to pavements and fragrant tangles of flowers droop over pinstriped awnings. A pause for a sundowner at small bar Le Tournesol offers the perfect opportunity for some people-watching. I lose count of the pampered pooches tottering past — almost all with bright white fur, which somehow repels the urban dirt that clings to dogs elsewhere.
For sheer variety, it’s got to be Pigalle. During the 19th century, this neighbourhood was a hangout for France’s most famous artists. Today it’s known for the diversity of its cuisine. At Hotel Rochechouart, which has a beautiful art deco facade dating back to 1929, I dine at its recently opened restaurant, Maggie. It’s known for its steaks and seafood, although for dessert it’s got to be the crepe cake, which has already amassed an army of fans. Finish with a cocktail on the hotel’s rooftop — Paris seems larger and flatter from up high and the lack of skyscrapers barring the Eiffel Tower, which I spot in the distance — adds to the sense that time stands still here.
Paris is renowned for its macarons — delicate and colourful sandwich cookies made from almond flour, egg whites and sugar, and filled with various flavoured ganaches, buttercreams, or jams. Photo / Tamara Hinson
I’d also recommend a wander around Le Marais, famous for its ancient buildings, church-lined streets and rainbow-hued pedestrian crossings (it’s Paris’ most LGBTQ-friendly neighbourhood). It’s got some of the city’s best vintage shops and feels fabulously eclectic — I never quite work out the nature of the business that has a taxidermied, feather hat-wearing fox in the window — and my favourite spot is Mousse, which is both a hairdresser and a coffee shop. It’s a world away from my next pitstop — La Reserve Paris, a luxury hotel close to the Champs-Elysees but feels deliciously under the radar. This is where you’ll find Le Gabriel, with its three Michelin stars. My advice? Head to the hotel’s other (and slightly cheaper) restaurant, La Pagode de Cos, helmed by the same chef, Jerome Banctel. If possible, bag a table in the hotel’s cosy The Duc de Morny Library. Here, Banctel serves up French classics alongside modern delights. Highlights include the lobster roll with wasabi mayonnaise and the blue lobster salad.
Le Marais, Paris's most LGBTQ-friendly neighbourhood, boasts ancient buildings, church-lined streets, and eclectic shops like Mousse, a combination hairdresser and coffee shop. Photo / 123rf
Finally, Parisians love a brunch, and one of the most decadent examples is the one served in The Peninsula Paris’ Le Lobby. Yes, it’s expensive (€185 or $332 per adult), but I’m pretty sure I ate the equivalent in scallops alone. No expense is spared — there are huge plateaus of oysters, enormous joints of ham propped artfully against fearsome-looking slicing machines, and dozens of cheeses arranged with the flair of a Louvre curator. Desserts, if you’ve got room, range from beautiful cakes to a towering chocolate fountain. The setting is equally stunning — Le Lobby, with its delicate mouldings and potted palms, is an explosion of Belle Epoque, and Marcel Proust and Picasso were once regulars (a hotel first opened at this spot in 1908). Proust was also a fan of the Ritz Paris, and its Salon Proust, named after him, is where you can enjoy one of the city’s finest afternoon teas. Here, the highlights are the madeleines — these tiny cakes, which have the fluffiness of a cloud, are the signature desserts of hotel pastry chef Francois Perret.
La Reserve Paris, a luxury hotel close to the Champs-Elysees, offers culinary delights at Le Gabriel, awarded three Michelin stars, or its slightly more affordable restaurant, La Pagode de Cos.
A final tip. Staying at a hotel that has bikes for guests to use is a brilliant way of offsetting the calories, or at least the guilt pangs relating to overindulgences, and you’ll see more of Paris from the saddle than you will from the Metro. I recommend the Canopy by Hilton Paris Trocadero, which has a gorgeous rooftop from which you can soak up views of the Eiffel Tower. Oh, and bikes to hire of course, if you can drag yourself away from the rooftop bar …
