I see Les Climats closed at the end of 2023.
Looks like they plan on opening again in a new space.
Old space was fantastic
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Thanks for sharing, Kevin. Count me as another who thinks six weeks in the Marais sounds fabulous! I think I need to put that at the top of the post-retirement “to do” list…
Thanks Todd and Kevin for those excellent reports! Several of those spots on both lists are among my considerations for our trip coming up in May. Although some have been previously discussed up-thread, it’s always great to hear recent first hand experiences. It certainly heightens my anticipation!
We had a great experience at Septime last year, but I really want to hit up Clamato this time. Parcelles and Enfants du Marché are also on our list and will add Le Mazenay for consideration. Todd, I’m glad you had a great experience at Verjus. We enjoyed it once pre-pandemic and nice to hear it’s still doing well. Jeff already has us lined up for dinner at a.t. (excited about that)
Thanks all you Paris food lovers: keep the recommendations coming!
Have been doing some damage to my old hunting ground.
Galleries Lafayette
Our room wasn’t ready, which my wife took as a sign to go shopping. I picked up some iberico charcuterie, bread, Bordier (Roscoe onion, which is my favorite), mont d’or, and then crashed a Nicolas for a hotel drinker. If you’re new to the Paris game… there’s a Nicolas wine store every three to four blocks and they tend to have entirely uninspiring wine but can surprise you with random specials in a fridge unit. Galleries has everything under the sun (I considered picking up an older Rougeard), but is usually over priced. Pre-party pic below.
Night 1 dinner was at Juveniles, an old favorite that was top of my list for bringing visitors. It’s generally English friendly, in a very walkable location, and they ALWAYS have a deal in the Rhone section. (Spoiler alert: 2017 Clape Cornas at 148 euros - “you have a decanter, right? Is it poor form to do the Mollydooker Shake with this thing?”)
The other reason I love Juveniles is that the food isn’t pretentious; it’s always fresh, reasonably priced and feels like it’s one or two steps above “Sunday dinner with grandma in Provence” cooking. I snapped a couple of pages of their wine list, as well, because it’s WB 
Expand the “Summary” tab for several pages, as well as their BTG list for an idea of their typical list.
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We happened to drink the '17 Clape when we were there a few weeks ago as well (also drank a PYCM St. Aubin Hommage à Marguerite) and ended up sitting alongside Tim Johnston, who is the original owner. He was fun to talk to and he generously shared a couple glasses of the '13 Clape with us, which I think is ultimately the better wine, but was not as forthcoming as the '17 (the '13 was also from a magnum). Your assessment of the food is spot on. We though it was delicious.
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Night 2 was at Semilla, which I was happy to see open in a Sunday evening. I enjoyed the table location, as I had direct line of sight into the kitchen and got to watch the prep all evening. The service was great, and English friendly, even when it came to the plate and wine descriptions.
We ordered the five course tasting menu and wine pairing… but I don’t know that I’d go that route again. I watched that salt-crusted fish go out twenty times and had food envy. The five courses that we won looked great, but were hit or miss, with monkfish being a complete whiff (somewhat rubbery and the flavors didn’t work for me). The wine had standard 2.5-3x mark-ups (for the ones I recognized) which is why we opted for the pairing. We’d go back and choose our own adventure to give it a second chance, but would definitely pass on the 5 course. Pics below in the summary for easier thread navigation.
I usually avoid all Nicolas shops…good tip.
Juveniles has been such an easy and reliable “go to” recommendation…for decades. Pretty sure my first visit was late 90s.
RT
Me, too. I’ll likely keep up that winning strategy, but every once in a while, even a blind pig finds an acorn.
This kind of seat is my favorite in a restaurant. It’s dinner theater!
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This thread makes me happy. I appreciate all who contribute!
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sit at the table closest to the kitchen pass-thru at L’Ami Jean. The Jego Show, including kitchen choreography, is more than worth the cost of dinner.
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but he doesn’t lose his shit anymore right? one of our times there it got pretty hairy.
We sat at the table right at the kitchen at l’Ami Jean one night and it was pretty ugly with the chef yelling at all the servers. And the food wasn’t that good either.
Other Semilla note - I really dislike places that take bread from tables and recycle it. We were there when it opened and started with the fresh bread… but they were recycling baskets like crazy and reserving. Yech.
love the pic-nic pic
i never heard of that bordier flavor (yum)
yet another reason i can’t wait to go back!
Something that put me off eating there.
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Chef Jego has mellowed. His cooking is better than ever.
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This is great - thanks so much for your contributions here and in other threads about Paris. I’m trying to make a reservation at Juveniles for our trip in a few weeks. They don’t take reservations by email - phone only. I’ve asked our hotel to call them and make a reservation, but it hasn’t happened yet. If I call them directly, I don’t speak French well at all - are they OK with English speakers on the phone?
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In this case certainly.
Juveniles is one of the most English-friendly places I’ve encountered in Paris. Absolutely.
Most places are pretty cool if you lead with “Bonjour” and then just ask “ parlez vous anglais?” so it doesn’t feel overly presumptuous that you expect them to speak English. In two years living there, I got attitude twice - once from a local butcher that genuinely didn’t speak English (and somebody in line immediately stepped in to help) and once at Starbucks, of ALL places… and the guy was just an ass.