Restaurants - Paris e-guide: The Travel Guide with its Own Website - page 32

Restaurants

8 F5

Au Bon Accueil a success story
14 rue de Monttessuy, 7ème • 01 47 05 46 11
Open lunch & dinner Mon-Fri
Lying in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, this bistro is
teeming most days and nights (often with out-of-
towners in the tourist season). Owner Jacques Lacipière
has refurbished it to give it a trendier edge and better
lighting, but the seasonal menu remains good quality
and the service is always agreeable. Moderate

8 F5

Café Constant simply delicious
139 rue St-Dominique, 7ème • 01 47 53 73 34
Open lunch & dinner Tue-Sat
As head chef at the luxury hotel Le Crillon (see p177) ,
Christian Constant trained many of the best bistro
chefs in Paris today, including Christian Etchebest of
Le Troquet (see p55) . Constant is gradually colonizing
the rue St-Dominique with this eponymous café; his
classic restaurant, Le Violon d'Ingres; and most
recently, La Table de la Fontaine, an affordable fish
house. But Café Constant is the locals' favourite, and
it's here that the chef can express his casual side (he
is often seen having lunch here, which shows how
comfortable he is with this simpler style of cooking).
The menu is something of a nostalgia trip - oeufs
mimosa , pumpkin soup with Gruyère, veal Cordon
Bleu, profiteroles and île flottante , all prepared just as
they should be. Like the food, the setting doesn't put
on airs - white walls, old tile floors and red banquettes
- and the staff are exceptionally friendly. Moderate

Best Places to Buy Food to Go
Long limited to a sandwich or a quiche, takeaway
food in Paris is growing more varied by the minute.
For salads, hot dishes and perhaps a slice of pâté,
stop by any neighbourhood charcutier/traiteur ,
where you will be charged according to the weight of
your order. The gourmet counters at Le Bon Marché's
Grande Epicerie offer more exotic options, as do

those at Galeries Lafayette . British-style sandwiches
are sold at the popular Cojean , while top chef Alain
Ducasse and à la mode baker Eric Kayser provide
high-class sandwiches at Be . Perhaps the best meal
to go, though, is the fat falafel sandwich at LAs du
Fallafel , the pick of Lenny Kravitz and other
discriminating chickpea fans. For 5€, it's heaven on
a plastic plate. For contact details, see p219 .