The journalist and children’s author pick an old and a new favourite restaurant and recommend an off-the-beaten-track Paris food market
EATING OUT
Le Bal Café
6 Impasse de la Défense, 75018 Paris; +33 1 44 70 75 51, www.le-bal.fr
A brilliant neighbourhood café-restaurant (and art gallery) close to Place de Clichy, serving modern British food and some of the best coffee in Paris.
Le Chateaubriand
129 Avenue Parmentier, 75011 Paris; +33 1 43 57 45 95
Basque chef Inaki Aizpitarte’s highly regarded restaurant in the 11th arrondissement. “An old favourite.” – Marie-Odile
Le Verre Volé
67 Rue de Lancry, 75010 Paris; +33 1 48 03 17 34, www.leverrevole.fr
Tiny wine bar near the Canal St Martin.
David Toutain
29 Rue Surcouf, 75007 Paris; +33 1 45 50 11 10, www.davidtoutain.com
“A new favourite. It’s just perfect if you have something to celebrate. I think he’s a real genius and I’m hard to bluff.” – Marie-Odile
BUYING IN
Marché Gros-la-Fontaine
37 Rue Gros, 75016 Paris (between rues Gros and la Fontaine); +33 1 45 11 71 11
“This market isn’t very well known but I go every week (it’s open Tuesdays and Fridays). There are very good shops because it’s a very bourgeois arrondissement, but at the same time it’s a very family-friendly place. You can get really good fish here.” – Marie-Odile
Terroirs d’Avenir
6 Rue du Nil, 75002 Paris; +33 1 45 08 48 80
“I only go here occasionally because it’s very expensive. Some guys have been buying up a whole little street in the centre and opening food shops. So there’s a perfect butcher with matured meat and just nearby there is a fishmonger with very good fish from the Atlantic. They kill the fish the Japanese way and wrap it in brown paper with a string, like buying a cake. There’s also a place for vegetables and fruit sourced from very good producers from all over France, and of course a very good coffee shop. It’s beautiful. I took my son to have brunch there. He looked at the people and said it’s like a sect.” – Marie-Odile
Marché de Barbès
Boulevard de la Chapelle, 75018 Paris (Open Wednesday and Saturday mornings until about 2pm)
“This is a very interesting market with a lot of Arab food stalls. It’s very cheap and very busy – particularly crowded during Ramadan in August. They cook dishes and sell them in the street.” – Marie-Odile