I’m looking for a few as well - any thoughts on the following:
Mathieu Pacaud - Histoires
Bistro Paradis
Uptown
XVII sur vin
Make sure you visit L’Avant Comptoir de La Mer, Yves Camdeborde’s new wine bar next door to the old Avant Comptoir. Very good seafood, blocks of Bordier butter all over.
Lori, never heard of any of those and I was in Paris for a month recently for work.
BTW, most restaurants were packed when I was there (late January-late February), locals were out in force as a way of saying “F U” to the assholes.
Michel - these are on John Talbot’s most recent list - some of these look amazing 
Ah OK. I was mainly going to small wine bars, as you can imagine, and didn’t do too many actual restaurants. The wine bar scene is so dynamic and interesting that I really wanted to explore it.
i have eaten at hexagone about three times and the food is quite good and in the same vein as l’ambroisie but modernized obviously. the lunch deal for 49 euro is the way to go. the wine list has insane markup even by new york standards though. i am not sure if paying a premium to eat in a different part of the same restuarant is worth it…histoires is basically at the same price point as l’ambroisie and i doubt the food is that much better/different from hexagone.
Were heading there next week and we have reservations at La Cagouille, David Toutain (lunch) and Passage 53. Planning on walking into Clamato, Frenchies winebar, Freddys for wine/schnacks.
Any advice on winebars would be great as well.
willy’s wine bar is pretty good for nice burgs/rhones
have fun, i’m mucho jelly
Went to Willis way back when - kind of a safe haven at the time where everybody spoke English.
What does everybody think about the natural wine movement that is prevalent in Paris and all other hipster central locations? Anybody have any advice on how to approach these types of wines in Paris?
Seems like Overnoy is the rage and hard to find.
I am sure I have quite a few of these natural wines in my cellar but haven’t really categorized them. Garagiste offers quite a few as well as Envoyer occasionally. I am all for clean/organic/bio whatever as long as they taste good.
Just curious why it is such a fad at the moment?
Natural wines are all the rage in Paris (and NY, SF, some other parts of the US), as you say Tom. Many are so-so, some are outstanding, some are undrinkable. And I say that as someone who imports some natural wines (which I find delicious, but I might be biased…). I think they’re all the rage because they’re fun and easy-going, easy to drink (“glou glou” as they say in French), and really meant as party wines. A few offer deep experiences, but most are lovely quaffers made by people who are a lot of fun to hang with.
A nice thing about the natural wine bars in Paris is they offer decent to very good food and a nice little fun wine at low prices in a low-key environment.
As much as I like Willi’s, ever since the expansion the wine prices have gone up and the food quality has been uneven.
Thanks Michel - what are some of your favorite winebars and why? Were staying in the 3rd (Marais) so anything in that area would be great.
OK here is a list of both wine bars and restaurants that I sent recently to some friends who are currently in Paris. These places are mostly not on the tourist track so it’ll be mainly locals (except for Yves Camdeborde’s places and the two Japanese udon joint). I am sure I forgot some, so apologies. Google is your friend for exact addresses, and you should RSVP ASAP as Paris nightlife is hopping despite (or maybe because of) the November attacks:
-Lucien La Chance, 9th= small but cool wine bar, outstanding food and lots of natural (but drinkable) wines (ok, some misses too)
-Gare au Gorille, 9th= cool tapas/wine bar, very very good food (veal tartar and lamb sweetbreads were OUTSTANDING when I went, so good we ordered them twice), good small producer wine list (including Belluard’s super rare Gringet and even rarer sparkling Gringet, both of which are outstanding, as well as wines from Remi Dufaitre)
-Chez l’Ami Jean, 7th= Basque restaurant, fills up fast, excellent food, try to sit near the pass and talk to Chef Jego, he’s a huge personality and very funny, good wine list
-Spring, 1st= American Daniel Rose, very good and high-end place, great wine list
-Frenchie & Frenchie Wine Bar, 2nd= excellent farm to table restaurant with wine bar across street, lots of cool names on the list (Gonon, Allemand last time I was there)
-Bistrot le Miroir, 9th= classic bistrot, I had several excellent meals there over the past few years, including a to-die-for pig’s foot, cool list, they have a wine store across the street (admittedly I’ve never been it’s always been closed when I was eating)
-Avant Comptoir & Avant Comptoir de la Mer, 6th= next door to each other, small standing tapas wine bars with outstanding food, VERY crowded so don’t be surprised if someone bumps into you constantly, these are Chef Yves Camdeborde’s places
-Cave a Michel, 11th= small packed wine bar with bite-size food. Lots of natural wines, some of which are good, others…
-Le Clown Bar, 11th= bistrot/bar with lots of natural wines, I’ve never eaten here, but I have drank way too much there
-Aux Deux Amis, 11th= speaking of drinking too much, I spent several nights eating great food and drinking WAY too much here. Good small plates and a tiny list of natural wines, however if you ask them nicely to see the rest of the wines in the basement they might take you downstairs, where there’s tons of cool stuff stashed away (careful, it’s a rickety ladder to get down there, in case they offer a tour). This is also a chef after-service hangout place, so it closes down VERY late… I left at 4am one night and things were still going strong…
-Chateaubriand & Le Dauphin, 11th= Chef Inaki Aizpitarte’s places, the first more traditional (and my preference, to be honest), the 2nd more modern and tapas-like. Both have good small producer wine lists, and both are packed so RSVP now
-Bistrot Paul Bert, Cave Paul Bert, le 6 Paul Bert, 11th= all on Rue Paul Bert, owned by same guy, the Bistrot is classic and outstanding food/wine list, the Cave is a small tapas wine bar with tons of natural wines (Prieur Roch for example), and the 6 is a small restaurant. All are very good
-Septime, Septime Bar a Vin, 11th= owned by Passard-trained chef, great avant-garde restaurant with cool natural wines and wine bar
-Pratz= a few blocks from Pigalle, a tiny natural wine bar with small dishes and things to buy to take home, some cool wines
-Sanukiya & Kunitoraya, 1st= great udon places, forget about the ramen in Paris, it sucks compared to NY, but be prepared to wait on line
Have fun!
Cheers! ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Michel’s list is excellent. I’d also add the following wine bars and wine bar/restaurants
Vivant (wine bar and adjacent restaurant), 10th
Au Passage, 11th
Semilla, 6th
Ellsworth, 1st, which is owned by the same folks who own and run Verjus and Verjus Wine Bar, also in the 1st
La Pointe du Grouin, 10th
Pierre Jancou (who owned Vivant, ran Heimat, owned Racines, etc) is soon to open a new restaurant on Rue Servan in the 11th. I’m a big fan of his, having frequented his prior ventures. He is a natural wine enthusiast and a fascinating guy. I look forward to going to his new place when we return to Paris in Sept.
I’m not a fan of Spring, but I am of Daniel Rose’s La Bourse et La Vie (which is a bistro, not a wine bar), 2nd
Thanks Michel - list looks great! I will look for some of your wines while there including the winery near My Etna as we will be in the area for a week.
Thanks to you as well - these should keep us busy!
Oooh I knew I’d forgotten some, great list Mark.
Tom, let me know if you’d like to visit any of our wineries, I can set it up.
Thanks Michel - is the one near Mt Etna worth venturing in to? Do you have any others on the island? If so set something up for Th Apr 7 or Fr Apr 8. We are staying here - http://www.monacidelleterrenere.it/home/
Tom, I’ll email you, it’s easier that way. But I’ll see if Gianluca can see you those days at Al-Cantara.
the food at clown bar is most excellent. a lot of chefs eat there on their day off as it is open sunday. restaurant ES on rue de grenelle is not to be missed; it is a tiny 1 star spot that seriously over preforms.
I’ll second Ellsworth for the good eats and the natural wines offerings. It’s also one of the very few local establishments with a very good brunch menu.
Clamato has a list that’s heavy on natural wines. Plus, the shared, larger-than-tapas, dishes are mostly very good, especially the seafood and vegetable-based ones.