Restaurants

If there's one beautiful word that symbolises Paris, it is gastronomy. The French, always appreciative of the finer things in life, have a unique tradition of famous restaurants and great chefs. If you really love good food, you'll find true happiness here. The latest, most fashionable restaurants mix innovation with a hint of tradition to serve authentic French cuisine that's full of unexpected flavours. Although following the latest trends, they don't betray their roots. On the contrary, the café-restaurants, which are the pride of Paris, fit into the gastronomic landscape better than ever, with their beautifully presented and affordable food. Paris, always so cosmopolitan, has also been enriched by exotic cuisines from the four corners of the earth.

In Paris cuisine and history are intertwined. Parisians think of Maxim's and the Café de Flore as historic monuments just like the Eiffel Tower or Notre-Dame Cathedral. Visitors should eat in such places to soak up the atmosphere of the capital's glorious past; it's easy to imagine past celebrities dining in the luxurious period décor. If you look out at the terrace of the Dôme, you may even see the ghost of Jean Paul Sartre. After all, Paris is magic.

More recent restaurants have also succeeded in making their name alongside their illustrious predecessors. The card up their sleeve is not tradition but modernism: futuristic design, fashionable interiors and traditional French cuisine with a touch of originality. The Costes brothers lead this wave of classy, trendy establishments with their hotel-restaurant, Sanz sans, and Georges at the top of the Beaubourg Museum.