Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Restaurants
8 G5
L'Ami Jean
Basque is best
27 rue Malar, 7ème • 01 47 05 86 89
Open lunch & dinner Tue-Sat
Some of the best bistro chefs in Paris come from the
French Basque region, and Stéphane Jégo, who owns
this tavern-like bistro, is one of them. Jégo cooks up
specialities such as
axoa
(veal stew) alongside more
modern inventions like marinated scallops with
shaved ewe's-milk cheese. Moderate
8 G5
Bellota-Bellota
simple Spanish pleasures
18 rue Jean-Nicot, 7ème • 01 53 59 96 96
Open lunch & dinner Mon-Sat
This breezy, tiled bar-cum-grocery is devoted to
Spain's finest ham: ruby-red meat from black-footed
Iberian pigs that graze on acorns (
bellotas
). And it's
the acorns that give the ham its wonderful flavour.
Excellent manchego cheese, anchovies, olives and
tuna are also on offer. Perfect for lunch or a late
15 A1
L'Arpège
art appreciation
84 rue de Varenne, 7ème • 01 45 51 47 33
Open lunch & dinner Mon-Fri
Chef Alain Passard caters for the serious food connois-
seur. His food is close to art, which seems appropriate
given that the Musée Rodin
(see p101)
is just opposite.
The wine list is almost as long as
War and Peace
, the
decor is discreetly modern and the prices are rather
steep. In recent times, Passard has shunned red meat,
preferring instead to serve fish, shellfish, poultry
and - his overriding passion of late - vegetables. In
L'Arpège's kitchen at least,
légumes
have finally been
granted their rightful place alongside fish and meat as
diet staples. Passard prides himself on retaining the
unique colours and flavours of his ingredients; conse-
quently, his food looks as if it has escaped the pages
of a glossy art mag. Tender lobster braised in Jura wine
and his signature dessert, a candied 12-flavour tomato
filled with dried and fresh fruit, nuts and spices, are
beautiful to look at and even better to eat. Expensive
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