[UPDATE: In the fall of 2018, Merguez & Pastrami closed, and the space will become Saul’s, a restaurant by the same owner, offering similar specialties.] The most interesting neighborhood right now in Paris is the 9th arrondissement. Walk in any various directions from a métro station after you land there, and you’ll find yourself in a completely different neighborhood, whether it’s surrounded by stately buildings on…
[UPDATE: Fulgurances in Paris has closed.] It’s been a hectic year and I haven’t gotten out as much as I’d like to, in spite of a long list of places I’m trying to visit in Paris, and a more I plan to check out this fall. Early in the summer, I reserved a table at Fulgurances, intrigued by the food of Israeli chef Tamir Nahmias,…
Shortly after I had arrived in Paris, I was having dinner with Romain at Bistrot Paul Bert. Nearby, a couple was speaking English and when I struck up a conversation with them, I asked how they knew about the restaurant. They mentioned they saw it on a “Best of” list in a culinary/travel magazine. So it wasn’t a secret back then, nor it is now. And with good…
I remember being déçu (disappointed) a few years back when I signed up to go to a barbecue dinner in Paris and I was super-excited to attend. But instead of being served platters of long-cooked meat, I found myself being handed a plate of a piece of beef cooked on a regular grill: I’d forgotten that the word “barbecue” in Europe usually means “grilled.” (Shhhh. Don’t tell…
[UPDATE: The restaurant has changed its format offering a fixed-price meal (currently €67) that includes starters and main courses, but not desserts or sides. I haven’t been back since they instituted the change.] When Daniel Rose opened his first restaurant, Spring, it was a small, seasonally driven restaurant on an unremarkable street in the 9th arrondissement. Word quickly spread about the talented chef, who helped fuel a revolution…
I’d been anxious to eat at Honey & Co. in London, which was at the top of my list of places to try there, but never made it. One of the underrepresented foods in Paris is Middle Eastern food. With a large population from that part of the world, most of the restaurants are snack bar-like stands. And even at the standard Middle Eastern restaurants,…
[UPDATE: Pasdeloup has closed, and new owners opened Kubri in the space, an excellent Lebanese-inspired restaurant that’s well worth going to.) It wasn’t until recently that I became very in awe of bartenders. I used to just go in and order a beer when I was younger, not really aware that these people are the pastry chefs of the beverage world. Now that I’m older,…
[UPDATE 2020: The Beast closed during Covid and has not reopened, which may be permanent. Will update this post if the restaurant reopens.] I’ve been taking a breather writing about American-oriented businesses in Paris. Not because I don’t like them, but because there were so many of them that it was hard to keep up, and they were no longer a novelty. And while the hamburger craze…
It was quite a summer, starting with sipping homemade cherry wine, a picnic at Versailles, checking out the Le Creuset factory, and frying up a batch of “French” fried chicken in a sizzling pan of duck fat. A few weeks later in the season, I was pulling a cherry clafoutis from my oven, grilling deviled chicken, and pickling strawberries, to take care of the overload from the outdoor…
Join me on my Spring 2026 book tour for my latest book, The Great Book of Chocolate
A
Get David's newsletter sent right to your Inbox!
Sign up for my newsletter and get my FREE guidebook to the best bakeries and pastry shops in Paris...
