Tasting the Parisian Table, Neighbourhood by Neighbourhood

Parisian food is not found only inside restaurants. The morning market, the lunchtime counter, the early-evening glass of wine, the dinner table. To savour that flow of the day, the best way is to stay as if you lived in the neighbourhood. Here, from three neighbourhoods in the heart of Paris, is an introduction to Parisian food.

The 2nd: a market street and the evening table

The kitchen of the 2nd is rue Montorgueil. Along this pedestrian street are cheese shops, fishmongers, pastry shops and terrace tables. If you are staying in an apartment with a kitchen, gathering your breakfast here becomes one of the pleasures of the day.

In the evening, the choice widens. On rue Vivienne, Daroco is an Italian restaurant in Jean-Paul Gaultier's former boutique, a large space with a wood-fired oven that comes alive every night. In a cobbled alley of the Sentier, Frenchie is Grégory Marchand's restaurant: a place where seasonal cooking is prepared with precision, and where booking is recommended.

The streets around rue Sainte-Anne are also known as the Japanese quarter of Paris, with ramen shops and Japanese grocers gathered together.

The Upper Marais: the market and the artisans

In the Upper Marais, in the 3rd, head at lunchtime to the Marché des Enfants Rouges. It is the oldest covered market in Paris, lined with counters serving dishes from around the world, where you lunch shoulder to shoulder.

For buckwheat galettes, there is Breizh Café. Its Breton crêpes, made with carefully chosen ingredients, are simple yet uncompromising. For something sweet, the salon of Jacques Genin: caramels, chocolates, and pastries finished only once you have ordered.

Saint-Germain-des-Prés: classic elegance

The 6th, on the Left Bank, is a neighbourhood of historic cafés and classic food culture. Time spent watching the boulevard from the terrace of the Café de Flore, where Sartre and Beauvoir were regulars, is also part of Parisian food.

At Pierre Hermé on rue Bonaparte, try the Ispahan, with rose, lychee and raspberry, and the seasonal macarons. For a special evening, Restaurant Guy Savoy, at the Monnaie de Paris on the banks of the Seine, is one to consider.

Booking, and the choice of an apartment

For popular restaurants, booking early is reassuring. Our concierge is available seven days a week and helps secure tables even before you arrive. A particular restaurant on a particular evening: that is exactly the kind of request our concierge is there for.

And then there is the freedom of having a kitchen. Set out the cheese, bread and fruit you bought at the market, and enjoy a relaxed dinner at the dining table. All our apartments are air-conditioned, with equipped kitchens and generous dining rooms for entertaining.

Everyday becomes theatre. The apartments are presented neighbourhood by neighbourhood on the neighbourhood pages, and all together in the collection. For a journey through Parisian culture, see also this suggested itinerary.

The ACT 3 Team