Owned by 160 years old dried seaweed and tea wholesaler from Tokyo Maruyama Nori, Jugetsudo tea salon and shop is like a tiny island of Japanese culture on the Left Bank of Paris. Here you can buy premium Japanese tea (like exceptional Gyokuro), beautiful artisan-made pottery or have a cup…

Two Michelin starred Jean François Piège (79 Rue Saint-Dominique 75007, tel. +33 1 47 05 49 75 ) is like no other gastronomic restaurant in Paris. Its tables are not covered with white tablecloths, the waiters are wearing jeans instead of black suits and the dining room looks more like…

Another very recent opening in Paris is Monsieur Blue (20, av de New-York 75116 Paris; tel. +33 1 47 20 90 47 ) restaurant at the Palais de Tokyo contemporary art center. Monsieur Bleu is definitely more about “see and be seen”, glamour, and the impressive location than the food,…

Located at the magnificent Éléphant Paname art and dance center, Goust (10 Rue Volney 75002 Paris; tel. +33 1 40 15 20 30 ) is the newest restaurant of “the world’s best sommelier” Enrico Bernardo. Spanish José Manuel Miguel is the head chef whose cooking is highly influenced by his Valencian origins.…

Even if Septime has been around for a while now, it’s still considered one of the hottest néo bistros in Paris and since a few weeks is among the 50 best restaurants in the world. I’ve been at Septime twice and I quite liked it the first time (see the…

When someone asked Pierre Gagnaire what was the style of his cooking, he simply answered that he doesn’t have any style and that for him the most important is how his dishes taste and bringing joy to his guests. I think nowadays so many chefs are focusing on style (“Scandinavian”, “local”,…

My dim sum lunch at Shang Palace (10 Avenue d’Iéna, 75116 Paris, tel. +331 53 67 19 92) this weekend was a real delight and I am taking back everything what I’ve said about Shang Palace in 2011. It is a great place.

So what exactly is Thierry Marx cooking at his 2 Michelin stars restaurant Sur Mesure is about?Modernist structures like the soufflé with Mont D’Or cheese whose sourness was unpleasant and somehow artificial?Foamy textures (and molecular techniques) like in the soya shoots and oysters risotto which should be once and forever…

It seems that the Saturne (17 Rue Notre-Dame des Victoires 75002 Paris,tel. +33142603190 ) chef focuses more on how beautiful his dishes look rather than how they taste. Raw mackerel, sea urchin and cauliflower starter sounded great but tasted bland and boring, same as the monkfish with leeks and mâche salad.…

I’ve already posted about this restaurant a few times, so I won’t review it again, but for me, Epicure (formely Le Bristol) represents a 3 Michelin stars restaurant how it should be. Everything, from the palatial surroundings, delicious food to the impeccable and smart service was perfection.