Please do note the publish date: 2018. What was once new, is no longer new, and some have closed (Noted below). Thus is the life cycle of a city filled with new, exciting, restaurants, and chefs that sometimes move on to other ventures.

New restaurants! How exciting. If you’re anything like me, your Paris restaurant list is always growing. You have your all-time favorites, while also trying new spots, so it can be hard to keep up. But keep up we must, because good things are happening.

There are 8 new restaurants/wine bars on the restaurant surveillance radar that are glowing bright above the rest.

Le Fooding, of course, is all over it with its small army of food gnomes. But I think I have ONE new yet-to-open restaurant that the gnomes haven’t announced yet. A good one, too. (#3)

Here are 8 new must-try Paris restaurants & wine bars (2018):

1. Capitaine

Oh Captain, my Captain. How’s this for a resumé:

Astrance – 3 Michelin stars

Arpège – 3 Michelin stars

Ambroisie – 3 Michelin stars

Le Servan – Awesome on all accounts

Yah, that’s Baptiste Day, the capi-tain of Capitaine.

It’s really something to have that kind of a restaurant pedigree under your belt, for one. But then he took his fine dining precision and hopped into the wild and fun, super cool upper food circle of the 10th and 11th, the undisputed neighborhoods of the natural-wine loving and food obsessed. Le Servan is a favorite in that sect, so the man has street cred.

Le Fooding reports, “The night we went, there was a selection of mouthwatering hors d’oeuvres to share, like these mischievous pork meatballs with mayonnaise (€8) or the light vegetable tempura with a glass of white wine from the Domaine Giachino in Savoie (€6.50), which paired wonderfully.” While they didn’t love one of their dishes, they did mention a “divine, juicy pigeon on a bed of arugula and chanterelle mushrooms with a plum-coffee paste (€38)”.

You can get a 3-course lunch for 29€ or dinner for 40-60€.

Restaurant Capitaine

2. Buffet (Under new ownership/Name, Le Buffet)

I’ve made it no secret that one of my long-time favorite spots has been Au Passage, and that my favorite spot this year has been Le Grand Bain, which is run by the former head chef of Au Passage. Also a massive fan of Martin Boire & Manger, which is a sister restaurant of Au Passage – they have shared staff and chefs.

Steak Frites

This style of cooking is my wheelhouse. That made it sound like I’m good at it, but I’m good at eating it. Well, if we can expect the family to keep the reputation strong, then Buffet is being head up by an Au Passage alum. Plus Edward Delling-Williams of Le Grand Bain and ex-Au Passage and Martin chef Peter Orr have both given the thumbs up. So we can expect good things.

Rabbit pot pie, with a carrot etched into the top

One of those good things being good natural wine, whoop whoop. For a lunch steal, they offer entrée/plat/dessert at lunch for 19€. Be right over. You know what is impossible to do, though? Google “Buffet Paris”. That will not get you there.

Buffet

www.restaurantbuffet.fr/
8 Rue de la Main d’Or, 75011 Paris, France
01 83 89 63 82

3. Robert (Permanently Closed)

4. C.A.M. (Permanently Closed)

5. Benichat (Permanently Closed)

6. Café du Coin

Lisa Klein Michel / luckymiam

Remember when Bones became Jones? And though the atmosphere and feel of the place changed a little, the food was (and is) still really good? Florent Ciccoli, owner and chef at Jones, opened the new restaurant Café du Coin.

You can get a freaking good deal at lunch with formules between 12-19€. At night, plates are between 5-9€, which by the way, is also a freaking good deal. Natural wines between 3-5.50€ a glass make me curse America for its $16 glasses of wine. And that’s the generic crap wine. Go, eat well, and be happy.

Café du Coin

Address: 9 Rue Camille Desmoulins, 75011

Mon-Fri 12:15pm-2:30pm and 6:30pm-12am (Closed Sat/Sun)

01 48 04 82 46

3 course lunch menu: €19 (3 courses); À la carte €35-ish

7. Coup d’Oeil

And finally, David Rougier (ex-Etna) opened his own spot. I fully expected this to be a solid, fun wine bar with a great selection of wines (mostly, if not all, natural), but it’s much more than that.

They are cranking out some really great looking food. I have yet to try it, but the place looks great and so do these plates.

They are open Tuesday through Sunday for both lunch and dinner. At lunch, you can get a plat du jour for 17€, OR for just ONE EURO MORE, you can get a starter/main or main/dessert for 18€, OR…wait for it…for only one. more. euro. You can get all three courses! Entrée/Plat/Dessert: 20€. That is a no brainer. I really hope it wasn’t a typo on the chalkboard I looked at. Doesn’t seem possible, right? That’s a lunch steal, man.

Coup d’Oeil

Open Tue-Sun Lunch/Dinner (Closed Mon)

80 Rue Sedaine 75011

8. Double Dragon

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