eat like Bourdain
🇫🇷 Where Bourdain Ate in Paris
21 places across No Reservations
“The way to learn about a country is through its food. And the way to learn about food is through Paris.”
Paris was Bourdain's culinary awakening. His first trip as a young man changed his life and set him on the path to becoming a chef. He returned many times across his shows, always with reverence for the bistro tradition and contempt for its pretenders.
What Bourdain Loved About Paris
The bistro — not the Michelin-starred restaurants but the neighborhood spots
Steak frites at a zinc-topped bar with a glass of Côtes du Rhône
The markets — Marché des Enfants Rouges, Rue Mouffetard at dawn
Offal and nose-to-tail cooking that the French perfected
The brasserie culture — oysters and Chablis at any time of day
Episodes Featuring Paris
Parts Unknown — S8 E4: Paris
A deeply personal episode during a difficult period
No Reservations — S6 E1: Paris
Revisits the city that made him fall in love with food
No Reservations — S2 E19: Paris
The first Paris episode — romantic and deeply felt
The Layover — S1 E1: Paris
An efficient but passionate 48-hour eating plan
Travel Tips for Eating in Paris
Tony's Advice
Skip the Eiffel Tower. Walk the Canal Saint-Martin at sunset with a bottle of wine and a baguette. This is the Paris Bourdain loved.
What to Skip
- ✕Restaurants that translate their menu into 6 languages
- ✕Anything on the Champs-Élysées
- ✕Overpriced cafés in tourist zones that serve frozen bread
Every Place Bourdain Visited in Paris
21 placesLe Royal
Rue De Grenelle
Coffee, croissant
Cantada II
Rue Moret
Absinthe fountain
La Tour Montlhéry - Chez Denise
Rue Des Prouvaires
Blanquette de veau (veal stew), rum baba (dessert), WINE
Robert et Louise
Rue Vieille Du Temple
French homestyle country cuisine
Pâtisserie Pinaud Pascal
Rue Monge
Bread and pastry bakery
Café de la Mairie
Place Saint-Sulpice
Sidewalk cafe
La Tete Dans les Olives
Rue Saint-Maur
Tony had lunch with Eric Ripert and 2 Parisian chefs
Les Cocottes
Rue Saint-Dominique
Casual, friendly Parisian cuisine
Frenchie
Rue Du Nil
One menu, prix fixe, the chef is the only one who cooks. The chef trained at Gramercy Tavern in NYC
Le Jeu de Quilles (closed)
Rue Boulard
Tony had breakfast here with Eric Ripert
Le Papillon
Rue Mouffetard
Tony, Eric Ripert, and Joel Robouchon ate oysters at this cafe
Le Châteaubriand
Avenue Parmentier
A single prix fixe menu every day
L’Avant Comptoir de la Terre
Carrefour De l’Odéon
Tony stopped by this small bar next to the restaurant and had small plates
Le comptoir
Carrefour De l’Odéon
Amuse bouche of foie gras; Crab with flying fish eggs and spring vegetables in a foie gras gelee; Blood sausage ravioli (one the best things Tony had all year); Roasted veal with sauteed chanterelles with an almond rhubarb jus; cheese platter. They do a bistro menu during the day with the best ouef mayonnaise (deviled eggs) on earth.
L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon
Rue Montalembert
Tony ate here with Joel supervising the meal. Gazpacho; sole meuniere; Robuchon mashed potatoes
Les Halles
Rue Du Cinema
Site of the original open food markets in Paris (now a park square)
Vadorin Maurice
Rue Lecourbe
Meat shop selling offal.
Hugo Desnoyer
Rue Boulard
Butcher shop with charcuterie
Rue Mouffetard
Rue Mouffetard
Open air market. Tony went there with Eric Ripert and Joel Robuchon
Sewers Museum
Quai d'Orsay
Public Sewer Museum
Le Bar de L'Hotel
Rue Des Beaux-Arts
Oscar Wilde died here
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