Richard Hesse
La Vitrine & Garnier
Startling Surprises for Visiting Restaurant Critic
After a few months of life in a lively university town on the south coast of England, I was distracted by the siren call of Paris and decided, not entirely unwillingly, to heed it (and the request of my editor … Read More
Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée
Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée. For my last review for Paris Update for the foreseeable future, my editor treated me royally to the only Alain Ducasse restaurant in Paris (apart from the Jules Verne) that I hadn’t yet tried: … Read More
MBC
Chef Gilles Choukroun chats with a customer in front of his new decor by graffiti artist Da Cruz. When I reviewed MBC a couple of years ago, shortly after it opened, I ended the piece by saying I’d gladly go … Read More
Les Côtelettes, La Régalade, Wen Zhou
Les Côtelettes: good food and comforting, friendly ambiance. Editor’s note: Les Côtelettes has since closed, but La Régalade and Wen Zhou are still going strong. I often wonder how gastronomy guides keep up. Not the Michelin, of course, with its … Read More
Le Baratin
Le Baratin may very well be the ideal bistro. Photo © ParisUpdate.com Pros: Great, generous food; real atmosphere Cons: You really, really need to book ahead. All through dinner, my date and I were kicking ourselves for not having … Read More
Le Dauphin
Every dish at Le Dauphin is superbly executed and presented. Photo: ParisUpdate.com Pros: Great food, good wine list Cons: Noisy, cold interior, space at a premium I like marble. I do. A lot. It’s supposed to be cooler than the … Read More
L’Epicuriste
A smiling welcome, lots of space and fine food make L’Epicuriste worth the trip to off-the-beaten-track Paris. Photo: ParisUpdate.com Pros: Space, lovely staff, good take on bistro food Cons: Odd location (but decent Métro connection) Location is all, they say. … Read More
L’Ami Jean
With Friends like These...
Pros: Excellent food Cons: Grossly overcrowded space, unpleasant staff, rushed service L’Ami Jean is one of those places that gets talked about a great deal, which is why I have held off going there. When yet another glowing review popped … Read More
Brasserie du Louvre & Zerda Café
Aspirational Brasserie, Crowned Couscous
I have two typically French restaurants for you this week: a fine-dining restaurant that calls itself a brasserie and a couscous restaurant anointed Best in Paris by Le Figaro’s crack team of inspectors. The Brasserie du Louvre sits right on … Read More
Ecole de Cuisine Alain Ducasse
Alain Ducasse’s Paris cooking school. A few years back, a friend of mine who was principal of a technical lycée with a very high-powered catering section successfully rose to the challenge of making it one of the best in the … Read More