Announcing a brand new Masterclass at La Cuisine Paris!
Spring 2020 is especially exciting for us this year as we unveil our brand new, day-long baking Masterclass! We're calling it The Best of Paris Pastry - and you'll see why when you discover all the amazing things you'll be making during one fun-filled day of baking. Find our first classes already live and available to book right here! We hope you'll be as excited about it as we are and we can't wait to see you there!
Table Square : A new reason to explore La Defense
Set to open in April, Table Square will occupy 4,500 square metres of the impressive Esplanade de la Défense and will be devoted to our favourite subject - gastronomy. Some big names are lined up for this grand project, including triple Michelin-Star chef Anne-Sophie Pic, and double-Star chefs Akrame and Oliver Bellin, who will have their own outposts on the Esplanade. Here'ds a round-up of the main attractions: Anne-Sophie Pic will be bringing her unique take on French fast food to Daily Pic, then there'll be bistro dining at affordable prices at Eclipse, street food inspired by the bounty of the sea at Mersea, a meat feast including Teppanyaki and donner at Grillé, an Italian-New York vibe at IT Trattoria, and the very first ekiben-ya (roughly translated as a 'Bento Station') for the perfect Bento box - ideal for a picnic lunch in the esplanade! We'll be keeping an eye on this project and will bring you the latest as it unfolds!
Michelin magic in 2020
A big headline for Michelin Stars this year went to chef Kei Kobayashi, who has become the first Japanese chef in France to earn three Michelin Stars for his restaurant Kei in the 1st Arrondissement. In broader French gastronomy terms, the biggest upset this year was the news that L’Auberge du Pont de Collonge - more commonly known as simply Restaurant Paul Bocuse (just outside Lyon) - had lost its third Michelin Star after 55 years.
Back in Paris though, a huge accolade goes to chef Stéphanie le Quellec of La Scène, whose restaurant went straight in at Two Michelin Stars (who needs one when you can hop straight to two?) You'll find her restaurant in our gourmet guide to the 8th arrondissement.
In Paris alone, 12 restaurants earned their first Michelin Star, so if you want to keep up with the newly decorated 'restos' on your next Paris trip, here are the chefs and addresses to check out...
2020 New 1* Restaurants
Fleur de Pavé, Sylvain Sendra, 2nd
Marcore, Marc Favier, 2nd
Anne, Enzo Scaramuzzino, 3rd
Le Sergent Recruteur, Alain Pegouret, 4th
Solstice, Eric Trochon, 5th
Le Jules Verne, Frédéric Anton & Kevin Garcia, 7th
Pavyllon, Yannic Alleno, 8th
Aspic, Quentin Giroud, 9th
L'Innocence, Anne LeGrand & Clio Modafarri, 9th
Le Rigmarole, Robert Compagnon, 11th
L'Oiseau Blanc, Léo Besnard, 16th
Jacques Faussat, Jacques Faussat, 17th
Faham by Kelly Rangama, Kelly Rangama, 17th
La Scène and the following new 2 Michelin Star Restaurants in Paris have all been added / stayed put on our Handy Map of 3* and 2* Michelin Restaurants in Paris!
L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon Etoile, Thierry Karakachian & Lionel Bravard, 8th
L'Abysse Pavillon Ledoyen, Yannic Alleno, Yasunar Okazaki & Sarah Fresco, 8th
Le Taillevent, David Bizet & Antoine Petrus, 8th
Notre Dame news
The Treasures of Notre Dame will soon be available to view at the Hotel de Dieu
You may never have taken particular notice of the enormous Hotel de Dieu on the same plaza as Notre Dame, but this historic hospital is considerably older than the cathedral itself. Not in its present form of course, however there has been some form of 'hospital' in this very location since 651AD. It was even founded by a Saint - Saint Laundry, to be precise! That's why you'll find it in our Map of Lesser Known Historic Gems in Paris!
So it certainly seems a sensible location for the display of treasures rescued from Notre Dame! Originally planned to begin in April, this exhibition is now expected in June of this year. This will be a long-term exhibition featuring 150 works, to include chalices, reliquaries, paintings, sculpture, and even the copper rooster that topped the Notre Dame spire, and was found in the rubble after the fire. We'll keep you updated, as this is sure to be a fantastic insight into the history and future of Notre Dame!
Notre-Dame Crypt and Plaza is planned to re-open in March
After an extensive clean-up of the areas around Notre Dame following the terrible fire last spring, the beautiful square in front of the cathedral and the historic, fascinating crypt beneath the cathedral is set to re-open some time this month. We'll keep you updated!
Paris is testing all-night running of certain Metro lines!
As part of a test scheme running for six months since September 2019, the Metro Lines 1, 2, 5, 6, 9 and 14 will run throughout the night every 10 minutes on Saturday March 14th. This is to test the viability of longer weekend Metro running times! In London, 5 Underground lines run throughout the night on Fridays and Saturdays, so we should know soon if a similar scheme is to be adopted in Paris too! Watch this space!
New reads!
As you may have read in our last newsletter, David Lebovitz' new book, Drink French, will be out soon - find out more here, but this month we're also bringing you some other great reads to look out for! First, Lindsey Tramuta, author of The New Paris, has added follow-up book to our bookshelves: The New Parisienne. Find out all about it here.
The First Four Arrondissements of Paris are closed to traffic on the 1st Sunday of every month
Anne Hidalgo, the current mayor of Paris, is known for her green initiatives and for making Paris more people and bike friendly (and less car friendly!) It was Hidalgo who transformed the banks of the Seine into the pedestrianised activity filled urban spaces they are today, and she is also working at great pace to add 870 miles of bike lanes to the city. (In fact, bike use was stated as being up 54% in December of 2019 compared with the year before). As part of these green initiatives, the first four arrondissements of Paris (including our own, the Fourth) are closed to traffic on the first Sunday of every month, meaning you can explore in the peace and quiet in the very heart of Paris! The next date for pedestrianised streets is Sunday 1st March, so put on your comfy shoes and get out and walk down the middle of the road between 10am and 6pm - just because you can!
