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Paris: Top 9 restaurants of your favorite movies and series
Restaurants in Paris
Paris, the capital of the country of gastronomy, can only welcome the best in terms of restaurants. Here are 9 must-sees seen in your favourite films and series, to be found in the Paris guide of the 1000 cult places of films, series, music, comics and novels.
1. Drouant, the most literary of restaurants
In The SuckerLéopold Saroyan tries to convince Antoine Maréchal to drive a car from Naples to Bordeaux, as “compensation” for the accident. “Le Bègue” and his men are waiting in a convertible outside and a waiter brings them the plan, drawn earlier by Léopold Saroyan to his accomplices, as well as the recording of the conversation.
The jurors of the Goncourt and Renaudot prizes have a lifetime cover there. Since 1914, the first people have been meeting there on the first Tuesday of every month, always around the same table, with the name of each person engraved on the back of the armchairs and on the gilt cutlery. Founded in 1880, the most select of Parisian restaurants was directed since 2006 by Antoine Westermann, Alsatian like the Drouant family, of which he is a distant relative. The three-star chef sold it in the spring of 2018 and it is now Émile Cotte, Chef des 110 de Taillevent, who officiates in the kitchen, offering a menu imagined around seasonal products. A page has been turned, an exciting new chapter begins.
Address: 16-18 Rue Gaillon, 75002 Paris
2. Joël Robuchon’s workshop
In The Nanny, during their shopping, Fran and Maxwell stop for lunch in this restaurant offering a superb view of the Arc de Triomphe from its terrace. Famous in the 1960s, the establishment was relaunched in 2017 by chef Éric Frechon. The episode in the Ville-Lumière has a special flavour for the actress Fran Drescher since it was during a flight to Paris that she met the CBS boss at the time, Jeff Sagansky. She took the opportunity to explain to him, with her husband, Peter Marc Jacobson, the idea of the show. The first episode aired less than a year later.
Desacralizing French gastronomy through a cuisine that is accessible to the eyes of the guests, this is the concept of the Workshops of Joël Robuchon, the world’s most starred chef. The second to open in the capital is revealed at the mezzanine of the Drugstore Publicis. You can sit on stools, facing a counter behind which the brigade officiates, or in the dining room and savour the dishes imagined by the maestro and brilliantly executed by Mélanie Serre, the restaurant’s Executive Chef since 2015.
Address: Publicis Drugstore, 133 Av. des Champs-Élysées, 75008 Paris
3. Kong, the most “perched” of restaurants
In Sex and the city, during lunch between Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Juliette (Carole Bouquet), her fiancé’s ex-wife, opinions are divided about the location. For the Frenchwoman, the chairs are “hideous” while the American thinks that the Kong is one of the most chic and Parisian places there is. Summum of glamour, the Kong is located at the same address as the Kenzo bubble. A world apart.
Kong on top of a building, it had only been seen at the movies. Until 2003 and the opening, by Laurent Taïeb, of this restaurant on the fifth floor of the Kenzo building, facing the Pont-Neuf, a huge glass roof offering a breathtaking view over the rooftops of the capital and the Seine. In the decoration, Philippe Starck – whose emblematic Louis Ghost chair is customised with geisha portraits – and in the stove, Vincent Ressel for a Paris-Tokyo style kitchen. Go for the Kong Plate, the signature dish.
Address : 1 Rue du Pont Neuf, 75001 Paris
4. Le Train Bleu
In Nikita, the scene where Bob (Cheky Karyo) offers a gun as a birthday present to Nikita (Anne Parillaud) takes place in the restaurant room of the Blue Train.
Gilding, sculptures, mouldings, chandeliers and frescoes cover all the walls of the Train Bleu, giving this restaurant, opened in 1901 in the heart of the Gare de Lyon, the look of a museum. Twenty-seven French artists, including some Prix de Rome winners, have worked on this unique decoration, which also includes 41 paintings executed on marouflaged canvas. Renovated in the summer of 2014, the establishment also shines with its plates: roast monkfish, virgin sauce with candied lemons and pequillos, a collection of tomatoes and anchovies from Collioure like a mille-feuille, or Foyot veal chop, Camus artichokes in variation, veal juice linked with duck foie gras. The best stationmaster, without question.
Address : Place Louis-Armand, 75012 Paris
5. Chez Julien
In Gossip Girl, the opening episode of Belles de Jour, Blair and Serena meet in front of this café after a day of shopping. They then cross the street to have a drink at the Café Louis-Philippe.
Its ceiling, covered with frescoes, is that of a former 19th century bakery. In a 1900’s style redesigned by the decorator Gérard Cholot, Chez Julien, located in front of the Ile Saint-Louis, is one of the most chic restaurants in the Marais. With a hushed atmosphere, lilac-coloured walls and speckled mirrors, it is in this Belle Epoque setting that Chef Helmi Derbal happily reinterprets certain classics. Its chateaubriand in pepper sauce crust would also deserve to be listed as a historical monument.
Address: 1 Rue du Pont Louis-Philippe, 75004 Paris
6. Prunier
In Yves Saint Laurent, the couturier was a great regular at this Art Deco style restaurant. Founded in 1872 by Emile Prunier with the maxim Everything that comes from the sea as its motto, this caviar producer has the particularity of producing his own caviar. Bought in 2000 by Pierre Bergé, the establishment pays tribute to Yves Saint Laurent every year by offering a box of Saint James caviar, the decoration of which is inspired by the designer’s greeting cards.
Founded in 1925 and dedicated to “everything that comes from the sea”, Prunier remains an exceptional marine table under the leadership of Eric Coisel. This classified luxury brasserie, in Art Deco style, also produces its own caviar in Montpon-Ménestérol, in the South-West. Among the other must-haves, don’t forget to make room for the “Christian Dior” egg.
Address : 15 Place de la Madeleine, 75008 Paris
7. Le Square Trousseau
In Santa Claus is a Stinker, Zézette (Marie-Anne Chazel) and Thérèse (Anémone) cheer each other up by having a drink at the bar of this restaurant. Inspired by a local woman, the role of Marie-Anne Chazel required special dentures in order to give the actress her special elocution.
Wooden countertop covered with pewter, stucco mouldings, old photos, mosaics and mirrors, the Square Trousseau is not lacking in charm. Mickaël and Laurence Jarno, at the helm of this period brasserie, offer traditional cuisine revisited with a fine selection of wines.
Address: 1 Rue Antoine Vollon, 75012 Paris
8. Le Flore en l’île
In The Nanny, Maxwell and Fran decide to take a gourmet break on the Île Saint-Louis in front of this restaurant where Berthillon ice creams are served, reputed to be the best in Paris. The view of the cathedral is unique from the terrace of the establishment.
A Viennese inspired style of service and French cuisine. Taken over in the spring of 2016 by a new team, Le Flore en l’île took the opportunity to design a more contemporary map. Hearty brunch, ice creams and sorbets from Berthillon, a pleasant stopover just a stone’s throw from Notre-Dame.
Address: 42 Quai d’Orléans, 75004 Paris
9. Bistrot La Renaissance
In Inglourious Basterds, Shosanna (Mélanie Laurent) meets a German war hero for the first time in this café. The man enables him to achieve his goal by meeting Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz), the Nazi colonel responsible for the death of his parents. It was only after seeing this bistro in Claude Chabrol’s film Le Sang des autres that Quentin Tarantino decided to shoot this scene there. Opened in 1904, the establishment has kept its retro decor.
The Bistrot la Renaissance was founded in 1904. And nothing’s moved, or almost moved, since 1920. With its large marble and wood counter, stained glass windows and period ceramics, and a menu built around a few classics, the place is a popular stop for restaurant lovers.
Address : 112 Rue Championnet, 75018 Paris
The Fantrippers Buying Board
Cult! movies: 100 mythical places of cinema [French Edition]
Since the dawn of cinema, films have invaded the world and highlighted sometimes unexpected places. Every film location has its secrets. The latter are sometimes as exciting as the feature films themselves.
Did you know that the cemetery where the final duel of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly was built from scratch and that no body lies there? Or that the bus ofInto The Wild has been moved to discourage fans from spending the night there? From the story of the construction of The Bridge on the River Kwai to the incredible encounter during the shooting of the last scene ofIndiana Jones and the Last Crusadeembark on an exciting world tour with the greatest stars of the seventh art. Shiver in the real haunted house ofAmityville and discover the terrifying anecdotes of the making ofApocalypse Now in the Philippines. Visit the building of Blade Runner before stopping at Hogwarts and finally landing in Jurassic Parkin the middle of the Hawaiian archipelago. What if we also took you behind the scenes of the making of the Hobbits’ village of Lord of the Rings ?
Produced by a team of pop-culture specialists and enhanced by numerous anecdotes, Cult! movies tells the secrets of the places that made the history of cinema.
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Interest for fans
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By Damien Duarte
Passionné par la culture pop depuis son enfance, ses références vont de Donald Duck à Batman en passant par Marty McFly. Fantripper dans l'âme, voyager sur les traces de Ghostbusters, James Bond ou des héros de romans comme Cotton Malone fait partie d'un séjour idéal et réussi !